Sangeet Natak Akademi, the apex body in the field of performing arts in the country, was set up in 1953 for the preservation and promotion of the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in forms of music, dance and drama. The management of the Akademi vests in its General Council. The Chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years. The functions of the Akademi are set down in the Akademi’s Memorandum of Association, adopted at its registration as a society on 11 September 1961. The registered office of the Akademi is at Rabindra Bhavan, 35 Feroze Shah Road, New Delhi. Sangeet Natak Akademi is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. 

Sangeet Natak Akademi now has three constituent units, two of these being dance-teaching institutions: the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) at Imphal, and Kathak Kendra in Delhi. JNMDA has its origin in the Manipur Dance College established by the Government of India in April 1954. Funded by the Akademi since its inception, it became a constituent unit ... More