An eminent personality in Indian dance, Padma Subrahmanyam is an outstanding exponent of the art of Bharata. She was trained in Bharatanatyam under Vashuvur Ramaiah Pillai and Mylapore Gouri Amma. She also studied music with B.V.Lakshmanan.
A performing artist and scholar, Padma Subrahmanyam has conducted extensive research in Karana sculptures under the guidance of Dr.T.N.Ramachandran. She has received a Ph.D from Annamalai University for her thesis on “Karanas in Indian Dance and Sculpture”. She is also the author of Bharata’s Art; “Then and now”. She has utilized her research to create her own dance compositions and has evolved an individual style in Bharatanatyam which she calls bharatanrityam.

The grammar and aesthetics of Padma Subrahmanyam’s art, based on her Sukha Lasya technique, visualizes the dance as the embodiment of primarily the melodic mode. Her choreography bears the imprint of her expertise as a dancer, musician and scholar. Her one woman ‘ballets’ like Ramaya Tubhya, Namah, Krishnaya Tubhyam Namah, Jaya Jaya Shankara and her Kuravanjis have won her wide acclaim. Her compositions based on the early Tevaram hymns of the seventh to ninth centuries are notable additions to the dance repertoire. She has successfully adapted works of different languages for her dance.

Director of the Nrityodaya School of Dance in Madras, she has also produced a Telefilm, Bharatiya Natya Shastra.

Padma Subrahmanyam is a recipient of the Kalaimamani title, the Padma Shri, and the Kalidas Samman. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1983.