Kalamandalam Sugandhi

Kalamandalam Sugandhi is a Mohiniyattam dancer, choreographer and dance teacher from Kerala, India. She received several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship, Kerala Konkani Sahitya Academy Award and Kerala Kalamandalam Award.

Biography Kalamandalam Sugandhi was born on 1950 December 2, in a Konkani family at Valamgalam near Thuravoor in Alappuzha district to G. Sreenivasa Kamath and Anandi Kamath. The family had given her considerable support in making her a dancer. She started learning Bharathanatyam at the age of seven from Sathidevi, a graduate of Thrippunithura RLV College of Music and Fine Arts. After two years, she trained Bharathanatyam under Palluruthy Surendranath. She studied Mohinayattam in 1968, as part of the last phase of the Bharathanatyam diploma course. That is how she gets closer to Mohiniyattayam. Realizing Sugandhi's fascination with classical dance forms, Nair sent her to Vedanta Prahlad Sharma to study Kuchipudi.

Personal life Sugandhi and her husband K. R. Damodara Prabhu have two children, Nanditha Prabhu, who is the founder of Mythri Centre for Arts, Chennai, and Naveen D. Prabhu who is a colonel in Indian Army. Prabhu was an employee of FACT where she first joined as a Mohiniyattam teacher. Kalaratna award from Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi 2012