| Sangeet Natak Akademi | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SNA |
| Formation | 31 May 1952 |
| Headquarters | Rabindra Bhawan, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi, India |
| Chairperson | Leela Samson[1] |
| Website | SNA Official website |
Sangeet Natak Akademi (Devanāgarī: संगीत नाटक अकादेमी or, The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
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It was set up by the Indian education ministry in 31 May 1952 and became functional the following year, with the appointment of its first Chairman, Dr. P. V. Rajamannar. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, inaugurated it on 28 January 1953 in a special function held in the Parliament House. Academi's Fellowship and Award are considered very prestigious.
The academy functions as the apex body of the performing arts in the country in an effort to preserve and promote the vast cultural heritage of India expressed in the forms of music, dance and drama. It also works with, both, the governments and various art academies in different states and territories of the country.
The academy is also an important source of information and offers the following facilities
The academy's audio-visual archive has several audio/video tapes, photographs and films. It is the largest archive of its kind in the country and is extensively drawn upon by the India for research on the performing arts.dance cd for kathak artistof India.
The academy maintains a reference library consisting of about 22,000 books.
Books on several subjects including Dance, Drama, Music, Theatre, Sociology, Folklore, Tribal Studies, Indian History and Culture, Indian Art, Religion and Epics, Mythology, Anthropology and Reference works such as Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Yearbooks, Bibliographies, Indexes and Newspaper clippings about Academy Awards and eminent artistes in the field of performing arts, can be found here.
The library also maintains data files on awardees and fellows of the academy since its inception (1953) and along with those on other eminent personalities of the field.
The academy also has a museum-cum-gallery of musical instruments in Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi. There are more than 200 musical instruments on display here.
It also has a documentation unit that collects and records works of masters in the field of music, dance and theatre on audio and video to help researchers. The academy also produces several in-house publications.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is the highest national recognition given to practicing artistes. It carries a purse money of Rs. 50,000/-, a shawl, and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque).
Each year the Academy also awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships, 'Ratna Sadsya', to distinguished individuals for their contribution to the field of arts, music, dance and theatre.
Instituted in 2006, in memory of Ustad Bismillah Khan, this youth award is given to young artists for their talent in the fields of music, dance and drama.[5]
The Sangeet Natak Akademi currently confers classical status on eight other Indian dance forms: