Puru Dadheech Biography 
Puru Dadheech is a veteran and renowned Kathak dancer, scholar and choreographer, who is active in this field since 1954. He is the first person ever to complete doctorate degree in Kathak dance form, and also the first ever dancer to receive the Mahamahopadhyay (Hon. D.Lit) from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal. He was one of the prominent students of Kathak dancer Sunder Prasad belonging to Jaipur gharana, who passed away in 1970. Puru is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contributions to Performing arts.
Puru Dadheech was born on 17 July 1939. He trained in Kathak from Pt. Durga Prasad, Pt. Sunder Prasad and Pt. Narayan Prasad. He completed doctorate in Kathak based on the research work, Kathak Nritya ka Udbhav aur Vikas by Prayag Sangeet Samiti. He later developed the first ever Kathak syllabus books which are instated in Kathak department of various universities. He has published several books on the subject. He was close to Mohanrao Kallianpurkar, Kathak dancer and teacher from Karnataka. Later he succeeded Mohanrao at Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University. He was the first ever Kathak artist who brought back Dhrupad to the formal Kathak stage.
He has participated in many seminars giving lectures about Kathak to students, and has also edited one magazine for Bhatkhande Hindustani Sangeet Mahavidyala. More than three decades, he has been giving guidance to students who are conducting research works on Kathak for their doctorate studies. He received Shikhar Samman Award in 2004 given by Madhya Pradesh state government. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2018, Maha Mahopadhyay from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal and Sangeet Natak Academy award by UP government in 1984 are other major honours received by him. He wrote and composed Naayak Bheda.
Published: January 05, 2020
Updated: January 05, 2020
