<p> <br />Samson will have a term of five years in office. She fills the post that had been lying vacant since the demise of incumbent Ram Niwas Mirdha. <br /><br />SNA vice-president and leading theatre director Ratan Thiyam of Manipur had been holding the charge of the chairperson’s office since Mirdha’s death in January this year.<br /><br />Samson, who is presently director of Kalakshetra Foundation is known for her choreography of group and solo compositions in Bharatnatyam. <br /><br />Author of a book titled “Rhythm in Joy”, Samson has received many honours, including the Padmashri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.<br /><br />The appointment came on a day which saw the presentation of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of the Akademi for the year 2009 to 33 young artistes who have made a mark in their respective fields of performing arts. <br /><br />Among the awardees in the field of music are Omkar Shrikant Dadarkar for Hindustani vocal, Murad Ali (Sarangi) and Sanjeev Shankar & Ashwani Shankar (Shehnai) for Hindustani instrumental, C S Sajeev for Carnatic vocal, Mysore A Chandan Kumar (Flute) and Trivandrum V Balaji (Mridangam) for Carnatic instrumental, Anil Srinivasan for creative and experimental music and Moirangthem Meina Singh (Nata Sankirtana of Manipur) for other major traditions of music.<br /><br />In the field of dance, those awarded were Ragini Chander Shekar (Bharatanatyam), Monisa Nayak (Kathak), Hanglem Indu Devi (Manipuri), Chinta Ravi Balakrishna (Kuchipudi), Lingaraj Pradhan (Odissi), Menaka P P Bora (Sattriya), Manjula B Murthy (Mohiniattam) and Swamimalai K Suresh (music for dance).</p>
<p> <br />Samson will have a term of five years in office. She fills the post that had been lying vacant since the demise of incumbent Ram Niwas Mirdha. <br /><br />SNA vice-president and leading theatre director Ratan Thiyam of Manipur had been holding the charge of the chairperson’s office since Mirdha’s death in January this year.<br /><br />Samson, who is presently director of Kalakshetra Foundation is known for her choreography of group and solo compositions in Bharatnatyam. <br /><br />Author of a book titled “Rhythm in Joy”, Samson has received many honours, including the Padmashri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.<br /><br />The appointment came on a day which saw the presentation of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar of the Akademi for the year 2009 to 33 young artistes who have made a mark in their respective fields of performing arts. <br /><br />Among the awardees in the field of music are Omkar Shrikant Dadarkar for Hindustani vocal, Murad Ali (Sarangi) and Sanjeev Shankar & Ashwani Shankar (Shehnai) for Hindustani instrumental, C S Sajeev for Carnatic vocal, Mysore A Chandan Kumar (Flute) and Trivandrum V Balaji (Mridangam) for Carnatic instrumental, Anil Srinivasan for creative and experimental music and Moirangthem Meina Singh (Nata Sankirtana of Manipur) for other major traditions of music.<br /><br />In the field of dance, those awarded were Ragini Chander Shekar (Bharatanatyam), Monisa Nayak (Kathak), Hanglem Indu Devi (Manipuri), Chinta Ravi Balakrishna (Kuchipudi), Lingaraj Pradhan (Odissi), Menaka P P Bora (Sattriya), Manjula B Murthy (Mohiniattam) and Swamimalai K Suresh (music for dance).</p>
