Santosh G. Nair

Santosh G. Nair is a Kathakali and Mayurbhanj Chhau dancer, choreographer, and contemporary dance innovator based in New Delhi. His journey began in 1986 under his father Shri Kalamandalam Padmanabhan as a Kathakali dancer. He furthered his training at the Kathakali Centre under Guru Sadanam Balakrishnan and later studied Mayurbhanj Chhau under Guru Janem Joy Sai Babu and modern dance with Narendra Sharma. In 1998, he founded Sadhya (Sanskrit for "An Achievable Task"), a dance company that bridges traditional and contemporary dance forms. Notable productions include The Game of Dice (2004), drawing from Kathakali and Mayurbhanj Chhau to tell a Mahabharata episode, and The Mystical Forest (2014) for the Kalanidhi Arts Festival. He has been awarded a PhD in Art and Culture Samman, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Guru Samman Award.