Prathibha Prahlad has served extensively on several Government Committees on culture and worked for the propagation of Indian performing arts.Prathibha Prahlad served as Member of the Executive Board of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi ( 1998-2003) and was the Culture Head of the Hannover Expo 2000 in Germany on a high Powered Cabinet Committee for Culture set up by the Union Ministry of Commerce. She was the convener of the Culture Committee of the Commonwealth Games 2010, a member of the expert committee that designed the Opening & Closing Ceremony of the Games. She has served on the expert jury for Dada Saheb Phalke Award of the Govt. of India, and on National Film Awards Jury for 3 years.
She was responsible for India Pavilion in HANNOVER EXPO 2000- as member of the Cabinet Committee for Culture of Ministry of Commerce,for where she designed the entire cultural component of the Indian Pavilion besides choreographing the main Indian presentation there.(ITPO –Ministry of Commerce)
She has also served as Member, Expert Committee for Tableaux Selection for Republic Day( Ministry Of Defence from 1999-2004 ),Member, Expert Committee for selection for Dance Scholarships-( Ministry Of Culture),Member, Expert Committee for Junior and Senior Fellowships-2001,2004,2005,2007,2009,2010,2012,2013-( Ministry Of Culture),Core Committee Member, Culture, for Afro Asian Games ( Hyderabad). Besides these, Prathibha Prahlad has also been member of Committee to design the Syllabus for dance for CBSE Boards -10th and 12th – 2008,2009,2010,2011.
She was also requested to design the model Question Paper for C.B.S.E Boards for general and practical- Arts-2009/2010 and was on N.C.E.R.T- Committee to design Syllabus and teaching methodology for cultural studies.
Prathibha Prahlad designed the senior syllabus for DANCE for MHRD (Ministry of Human Resources Development ) for their E-Patashala programme of procuring Masters Degree through online learning 2015-16.
Prathibha Prahlad’s other significant and unique contributions to the arts field include procuring travel concession in trains for all artistes travelling for performances ( Through Order of Ministry of Railways in 1996 ), dance direction & performance in the documentary film ‘Nectar in Stone’ on Belur & Halebid temples, which won the best film award from UNESCO , production and acting in popular TV serial ‘SHRUTI’ on the life of a dancer, making a film on 50 years of dance in Karnataka which won her a national award. She was responsible too for the structuring of the ‘Hampi Vijayotsav Festival’, which she handed over to the Govt. of Karnataka to organize. ‘Sharad Vaibhava’ and ‘Eka Aneka’ festivals of dance and music have won her the appreciation of the large artistic community.
Prathibha Prahlad performed extensively and organised programmes to collect funds for the PM’s Relief Fund through her programme ‘Karnataka for Kargil’( 1999), for which she received a special acknowledgement from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Prathibha Prahlad continues her work in culture as a special invitee to speak on ‘Culture-India’ at prestigious international festivals such as the Adelaide International Arts festival, Tokyo International Arts festival, China Shanghai International Festival, Taiwan International Arts Festival, Beijing International Festival, Festivals in Poland ,Denmark ,Israel and others. She was invited to present her production ‘Vande Mataram’ for the closing of Festival of India in Malaysia in June 2015.
Her recent tours abroad include China Shanghai Festival ( 2013, 14, 17, 18 ), In Feb 2017, Prathibha Prahlad opened the prestigious Sarajevo Winter Festival with her group the Prasiddha Dance Repertory. Thereafter, they performed in several cities in Bosnia, Herzgovina and Hungary. In October 2017, Prathibha Prahlad and Prasiddha Dance Repertory toured Georgia and Armenia for the 70th Anniversary celebrations of India’s independence.
She was specially invited as a VVIP Speaker at a conferences organized by CPAFFC ( a Govt. appointed body of China working in ‘Track Two’ diplomacy) to KUNMIMG ( 2019), Zhoushan (2018), Chengdu (2017) and as part of a visiting ICCR delegation to sign a Treaty with China to Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing in 2016.
She continues to be a frequent invitee to international conferences and Festivals and is very popular on the national & international arts circuit as a Speaker and a Performer. She was recently invited to be a Speaker on an online Forum of 150 Country Heads on Environment and Ecology, where the Head of United Nations for Environmental Peace was also an invitee as also Foreign Ministers of some European Countries, Ambassadors and others.
Born in Mysore, Smt. Prathibha Prahlad had her early training in dance under Smt. & Prof .U.S Krishna Rao. Years after her formal Rangapravesha on 1st January, 1977, Smt. Prathibha underwent rigorous training in Bharatanatyam under stalwarts like Padmabhushan Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan and Guru V.S Muthuswamy Pillai and in Kuchipudi under Guru Dr. Vempatti Chinna Satyam. By the time she was 20, she was an established professional dancer.
Apart from her tremendous and illustrious work in arts & culture, Prathibha Prahlad is known as a fierce advocate for all issues pertaining to ‘politics of culture’, ‘safety of the girl child’, women’s rights issues, and issues pertaining to redefining the idea of secularism.
