Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair
{{Short description|Indian scholar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{family name hatnote|Vazhenkada|Kunchu Nair|Indian name|lang=Toponymic}}Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair, also spelt Kunju Nair, (1909-1981) was an Indian Kathakali dancer.
Life
He mainly served in PSV Natya Sangham, Kottakkal, since 1946, and from 1960 to 1972 at Kerala Kalamandalam.{{citation needed|date= August 2022}} He was the first principal of Kerala Kalamandalam, the premier performing arts institute of Kerala in south India.http://www.remashrikant-ecpa.com/ {{Dead link|date=March 2022}} A Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee,{{cite web | url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm | title=SNA Awardees' List | publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi | date=2016 | access-date=5 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530204253/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm | archive-date=30 May 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} Kunchu Nair was a student of Pattikkamthodi Ramunni Menon, and was noted for his subdued portrayal of lead Kathakali roles like Nalan, Rukmangadan, Dharmaputrar, Bhiman, Arjunan, Brahmanan (in the storyplay Santanagopalam) and Parasuraman (Sitaswayamvaram) besides in anti-hero slots like Ravanan and Duryodhanan.Kathakali Encyclopedia (Vijnanakosam), page 319
Nair died on 19 February 1981 after prolonged illness.{{citation needed|date= August 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}
{{Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winners of Kerala}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunchu Nair, Vazhenkada}}
Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Category:People from Malappuram district
Category:20th-century Indian dancers
Category:Teachers of Indian classical dance
Category:Indian dance teachers
Category:20th-century Indian educators
Category:Educators from Kerala
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