Dance historian and critic Sunil Kothari passed away on Sunday morning at a Delhi hospital after he suffered a cardiac arrest a month after testing positive for the coronavirus. He was 87.

“He had tested positive for Covid-19 almost a month back and was not in a good condition,” Vidha Lal, a family friend and herself a dancer, said.

Born on December 20, 1933, in Mumbai, Kothari qualified as a chartered accountant before turning to the study of Indian dance forms.

He authored more than 20 books on Indian dance forms, including Sattriya Dances of Assam and New Directions in Indian Dance, and also on Bharatanatayam, Odissi, Chhau, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and photo biographies of Uday Shankar and Rukmini Devi Arundale.

The dance scholar held the Uday Shankar Chair at Rabindra Bharati University, and taught in the dance department of New York University as a Fulbright Professor. He had received the Padma Shri.

Kothari was among the 27 artistes who were served a notice in November to leave their government-allotted homes by December 31.

The dance historian had said he felt “humiliated” on being served the “get out” notice.