Yashoda Thakore

🪔 About

Dr. Yashoda Thakore is an acclaimed and accomplished Indian classical dancer, researcher, author, and educator, renowned for her expertise in Kuchipudi and Devadasi Nrityam. Descending from a long line of Kalavantulu dancers—a community of hereditary women dancers from the Godavari Delta—she is a sixth-generation Kalavantulu from her mother's side and actively works to recover and promote the Devadasi Nrityam tradition. Thakore received extensive training in Kuchipudi for 14 years under eminent gurus Padmasri Shoba Naidu and Vempati Chinnasaytam. She further honed her skills under Mrs. Swapna Sundari. Her passion for dance extends to academia, holding a Master's degree in dance and a Doctoral degree in Yoga and Dance from the University of Hyderabad, which she earned in 2007. Her PhD research focused on "The Interrelationship Between Yoga and Indian Classical Dance with Special Emphasis on Kuchipudi". As an author, Dr. Thakore published "Kaivalya-Joy in Yoga and Dance" in 2014. She also co-translated and critically edited the 13th-century Sanskrit treatise on dance, "Nritta Ratnavali," into English with renowned art critic Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, published in 2013. Her critical edition of "Nritta Ratnavali" has been approved for publication by IGNCA, Government of India. Dr. Thakore is the founder and teacher of the Rinda Saranya Kuchipudi Dance Academy, established in Hyderabad in 1997. She currently serves as the Chair for the Kuchipudi Department at the University of Silicon Andhra, California, where she teaches dance history, theory, and practice to graduate students. Her international engagements include being an Artist in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 and performing at Wesleyan University in 2019. Awards & Honours: Ugadi Puraskar (2017), Bangalore Nagaratnamma Award (2017), Women Achiever (2002), Gold Medal MA Dance, Senior Fellowship.