Famous Dancers

Bharatanatyam was given its present-day form and shape by four famous Nattuvanars, widely known as the Tanjore Bandhu or Quartet. Their names were Ponaiyah, Chinnaiya, Sivanandam, and Vadivelu. They were nobles in the court of the Maratha ruler, Serfoji-II during the late 18th century. They predominantly improved and changed the Margam (Allaripu to Tillana). They also composed new dances and created the suitable music for these new items.

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai –

Born on September 22, in the year 1869 to Suryakumar Nattuvanar and his wife. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai went on to become a musician and scholar of repute. He was married to the daughter of the renowned Ponnaiya. Pillai trained under Kumaraswamy Nattuvanar when young and in 1934 he went to Madras (Chennai) on invitation from Rukmini Devi. Rukmini Devi then underwent a thorough training under him. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai died in 1954 leaving a gap that was never to be filled up.

As a modest guru, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was fondly called “Tata” by his students. He was the founder of the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam, known for its broad and graceful sweeping movements, perfect framing of Teeramanams, and exquisite Adavus. Some of his famous students include Thiruvalputhur Rajalakshmi, Pandanallur Jayalakshmi, Jeevaratnam, Chokalingam Pillai, Kandappa, and lastly his own son Muttaiah.

Balasaraswati– (1918-1984)

Known as a child prodigy, Balasaraswati was known to be the epitome of grace. She was an amazing dancer and learned under the great guru Kandappa. She completed her Arangetram when she was just seven years of age in 1925 at the famous Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kancheepuram. She was known for her enchanting Abhinaya and sanchari bhavas. She was also a great singer and this reflected in her dancing and movements. Balasaraswati won many laurels at the Edinburgh Festival and earned acclaim as a great dancer on international platforms thereafter, she was awarded many times by the government and other art organizations of repute. She also featured in a documentary directed by Styajit Ray. Dr Narayan wrote a book on Balasaraswati which was published in 1963.

Rukmini Devi

Born on 28th February 1904 into a Brahmin family in Madurai, Rukmini Devi hailed from Thiruvaiyaru village which we know has a rich association with Saint Tyagaraja. Her childhood was steeped in learning arts and culture. Her family had a rich background in music. She married Dr. George Arundale who was an educationist. She later traveled across Europe with her husband and gave lectures on Indian culture and art forms. While in Australia, she was a student of Anna Pavlova and learned Russian Ballet from her. Anna advised her to learn Indian Classical dance and so she came back to India. She went on to meet Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and began taking lessons from him. Along with her guru, she also studied dance from Gauri amma and Muthukumar.

Rukmini Arundale brought about lasting changes in the field of Bharatanatyam. Some of them are mentioned below:

1. She corrected the theory of dance and music

2. She designed the artistic costumes for Bharatanatyam.

3. She matched the costumes with beautiful jewelry pieces.

4. She laid a lot of emphasis on choosing the appropriate padams for a performance which infused it with ‘Bhakti’.

She went on to establish the world-famous Kalakshetra Dance Institute which later developed into a Bharatnatyam style of the same name. This style lays emphasis on correct body, hands and leg movements and thorough rigorous training. The art of Nattuvangam was also taught to the students for completeness. The students learn how to conduct dance and Music in choreography and composition. For this reason the institution gained a reputation as an international training center for the art of Bharatanatyam.

Mrinalini Sarabhai-

Mrinalini Sarabhai was a native of Kerala, educated in Switzerland. While in school she had received training in Dalcroze Eurythmics, which is a system of musical concepts through movements. She returned to India and trained in Bharatanatyam under the great guru Muthukumar Pillai. She also took lessons from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Chokalingam Pillai and Ellapa Pillai. She married Dr Vikram Sarabhai and settled down in Ahmedabad. In 1948, she founded The “Darpana” dance academy for imparting training in Bharatanatyam along with other allied arts. Sarabhai was also a well known choreographer of various dance dramas. She was known for her attempt to infuse contemporary style and interpretations to mythological themes. As a recipient of many awards from the Sangeet Natak Academy for her creative experiments, she also won the Padma Shri, a coveted award of the nation.

Yamini Krishnamurthy

Yamini was a keen and interested learner of dance from a very young age. She relocated to Chennai at the age of 5 to pursue dancing. She joined Kalashetra, a school of dance run by the legendary dancer Rukmini Devi. Her first performance turned her into a star. She became a well-known classical dancer and toured the world to give Bharatnatyam and classical dance performances.

She created awareness for Kuchipudi and received a lot of appreciation for her work in the field. She established the ‘Yamini School of Dance’ in Delhi where she imparted training to young dancers. Yamini also made a television serial about dancing which was aired on Doordarshan and was well-liked by the audience. She also wrote a book by name ‘A Passion for Dance’ that is still favoured by learners of the Bharatnatyam dance. She dedicated her life to dance so much so that she has remained unmarried till date at age 79 years.

Alarmel Valli

Alarmael Valli performed at the International Dance Festival of the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre De La Ville, in Paris when she was just 16 years of age. She was invited to perform there. Her dance style is unique and does not fit into any traditional category. Alarmel has evolved an individual style through her mastery of the art form and her performances seamlessly travel from the traditional to the modern.

Alarmel’s dancing is so full of appeal that it is easy even for a novice dancer or one with little knowledge of Bharatnatyam to connect to her style of dancing. She was a student of T. Muktha and took diligent music lessons from her. She thereafter went on to develop a musical style for her dance performances. This was entirely because of her firm grip on the ‘Sahitya’ of the music that was played for the dance. She literally writes the song with her body! She has performed at almost every cultural capital of this world. She has held many seminars and workshops, creating awareness for Bharatnatyam across the globe. Dipashikha was founded in 1984, to encourage new artists as a center for performing arts.

The names of Balasaraswati, Kamala Laxman, Mrinalini Sarabhai, are worth a mention for their passion for the art and the huge contribution they have made to this field. The reforms they introduced changed the art form for the better. Balasaraswati’s padas and illustrious abhinaya are memorable and are noted for their excellence. Dr. Padma Subramaniam’s extensive research in the field of karanas are praiseworthy. Smt. Mrinalini Sarabhai, Smt. Chitra Vishvesaran, Sudharani Raghupati, Dr. Padma Subramaniam and others did their own fruitful experiments that helped to improve the standards of the art form multifold.

I have also attempted to include brief details about a few modern Bharatanatyam dancers.

Chitra Vishweshwaran

Chitra Visweswaran is an Indian bharatanatyam dancer and a native of Chennai. She has been learning Bharatanatyam since the age of three and used to dance along with her mother, Rukmini Padmanabhan. She thereafter began teaching bharatanatyam at the very young age of 16 in Kolkata. She then opened her own dancing academy by the name of Chidambaram Academy of Performing Arts in the year 1975. She was an exponent in choreographing dance dramas and soon she started producing them as well. A few of her famous dance pieces include Krishnanjali, Saptha Sapthi, Stree Sakhti, etc. She is the recipient of many awards including the Padma Shri in 1992.

Harinie Jeevitha

Born in 1995, Harinie Jeevitha is a classical Bharatnatyam performer. Sheela Unnikrishnan who runs Shridevi Nrithyalaya is her guru. She started dancing at the tender age of six. She performs the Melattur style of dancing and is the recipient of many coveted awards including the Excellency award by VDS Arts Academy. Critics and connoisseurs have taken note of her passion for the art form. She has rendered performances in many places around the world to display her talent. Harinie plans on pursuing her passion for the dance for many years to come.

Malavika Sarukkai

Malavika Sarukkai is a classical dancer specialized in Bharatanatyam. She started learning the dance under Kalyanasundaram Pillai. Her first performance on the stage was when she was 12 and her talent and experience have continued to grow ever since. She has performed at several locations across the world. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 2002.

Savitha Sastry

Savitha Sastry is a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer who is known to experiment with the traditional format of the dance form in a manner so as to showcase thematic productions based on novel stories, and not based on Indian mythology or religion. Her innovations have made her famous and are considered a ‘path breaking’ by critics. She is referred to as the ‘renaissance architect’ of Bharatanatyam.