Legends of Indian Dance
Balasaraswati the celebrated Indian dancer was born on 13 May 1918. Her rendering of Bharatanatyam, made this style of dancing well known in different parts of India and also many parts of the world. Balasaraswati was a seventh generation representative of a traditional matrilineal family of musicians and dancers. Her grandmother’s grandmother, Kamakshiammal, danced and sang in the court of Tanjore. Her great-grandmother, Sundarammal, her grandmother, Dhanammal, and her mother, Jayammal were musicians. The initial inspiration within her to take up dancing came from seeing a performance of (Mylapore) Gauri Ammal when she was very young.
Her rigorous training in dance was begun when she was four under the distinguished dance teacher K. Kandappan Pillai. Balasaraswati’s debut as a dancer took place in 1925. She was the first performer of her traditional style outside of South India, performing first in Calcutta in 1934. She did not perform, as others did, the same limited choreography. At every concert there was an ongoing creative process. No dancer captured the public imagination as Balasaraswati did. Bharata Natyam to the public until then was an esoteric art practiced for the pleasure of a few connoisseurs. Outside the pale of the temple [and the royal court] there were hardly any public performances. Balasaraswati made the public aware of Bharata Natyam by the beauty and the eloquence of her dancing. She had mastered the art of music too. That is why when Balasaraswati came to the stage the dancer, the singer, the accompanist and the mood became one.
She went on to a global career that attracted international critical attention. New York Times” dance critic Anna Kisselgoff described Balasaraswati in a review in 1977 as one the “supreme performing artists in the world”. India Today, one of the leading news magazine of India, based on a survey, classified her as one of the 100 prominent Indians who have shaped the destiny of India. She has received numerous awards.
- The President’s Award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1955)
- Padma Vibushan from the Government of India for distinguished national service (1977)
- Sangita Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy, South India’s highest award for musicians (1973)
She was the only non-western dancer included in a compilation of the Dance Heritage Coalition, “America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100”
Balasaraswati died on 9 February 1984
You tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2cC2Y0mJvw&feature=related
(A must watch!!! Documentary made on Balasaraswati by Satyajit Ray which gives all the information about her. Watching Balasaraswati perform’ Krishna nee begane’ on the shore of the sea is a great experience. This video also has a Varnam performed by her)