Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, who created the style called 'Bharata Nrithyam', is a dancer of:

Explanation

Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, born in 1943 in Chennai, is one of the most celebrated Bharatanatyam dancers, choreographers and dance scholars of India. She is known for her research on the karanas of the Natyashastra and for creating a style that she calls "Bharata Nrithyam".

Padma Subrahmanyam was born into an artistic family. Her father, K. Subrahmanyam, was a pioneering film director, and she began learning Bharatanatyam as a child from Vazhuvoor B. Ramaiah Pillai. She is not only a dancer but also a scholar, with a doctorate in dance. She made a deep study of the 108 karanas, the basic units of dance movement described in the Natyashastra of Bharata Muni and carved on the gopurams of temples such as the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram and the Brihadeeswara temple at Thanjavur. Based on this research, she reconstructed the karanas and brought them back into dance practice, creating the style known as Bharata Nrithyam, which is based on the techniques of the Natyashastra. She founded Nrithyodaya, a dance institution in Chennai, and has choreographed many dance-dramas. She is also a singer and composer, and has worked to promote Indian culture in countries such as Japan and Russia. She received the Padma Shri (1981), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1983), the Padma Bhushan (2003) and the Padma Vibhushan (2024).

Bharatanatyam is the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. Its main styles include Pandanallur, Vazhuvoor, Thanjavur and Kalakshetra. Other famous Bharatanatyam dancers include Rukmini Devi Arundale, Balasaraswati, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Alarmel Valli and Malavika Sarukkai.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kathak is associated with dancers such as Birju Maharaj.
• ✗Odissi is associated with dancers such as Kelucharan Mohapatra.
• ✗Kathakali is associated with artists such as Kalamandalam Gopi.