HYDERABAD: Renowned Kuchipudi dance exponent, Shobha Naidu, died in the wee hours of Wednesday at a private hospital in Hyderabad where she was undergoing treatment for the past few days. She was born in 1956 at Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh and had received her training in Kuchipudi dance from Vempati Chinna Satyam.
Naidu was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2001. In 1991 she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award and before that she was awarded the title of 'Nritya Choodamani' by the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha of Madras. She also served as the Principal for the 40 year old Kuchipudi Art Academy, Hyderabad and trained more than 1,500 students from India and abroad.