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PAPER: 3 Detail Study Of , -Natuvnar, And Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 22 Researchers, Critics And Scholars Of Bharatanatyam

Other than those who physically taught the art form of Bharatanatyam, many scholars researched and wrote about it, thus helping establish it formally. While taught and dancers danced and popularised the art, it was these few scholars in last 100 years who made an impact and made the Bharatanatyam art form reach the world outside through essays, articles, books, films and documentation. We discuss here a few main ones who are national and internationally accepted names. There is a whole generation of youngsters who are trying to understand and advance the form through research. But still, the major focus of anyone who starts learning dance, remains on performance. We are yet to recognise the fact that practice and theory of any art, any subject goes hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other.

Dr. Vatsyayan / डॉ कपिऱा वात्स्यायन is a leading Indian scholar of classical Indian dance, and architecture and art historian. She learnt and Manipuri and joined the Culture Department under Education Ministry, Government of . She controlled many decisions and patronage systems of the Culture Department at Shastri Bhawan, Delhi, during the 1970s-80s. She was

1 the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for , Delhi. She is the author of several books including Dance Sculpture in Temple (1982), Traditions of Indian (1987), (1992), The Square and the Circle of the Indian Arts (1997), Dance in (2004), : The Natyasastra (2006), Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts (2007), Asian Dance: Multiple Levels (2011), etc.

Prof. Mohan Khokar / प्रो मोहन खोकर was a pioneering scholar, critic, historian and collector. He developed deep insights, sound instincts and sensitive responses vis-a-vis this haloed cultural heritage of the country. He acquired authority to discuss in depth and with conviction, the nuances of any classical dance form – Bharatanatyam, , , , , Kathak, Manipuri, Bhagavatamela, etc. He wrote 5 monumental books Traditions of Indian Classical Dance, Adavus in Bharatanatyam, Folk , Splendours of Indian Dance and . He was the dance critic for many distinguished papers, Indian and foreign. From 1958- 1960, he collaborated with Dr. Mulk Raj Anand in bringing out Dance Specials of the Marg magazine. His illustrated note on Indian dances in the Encyclopaedia Britannica was considered the best contribution from Asia. He produced two documentaries on Kathakali and Yakshagana for the University of Rome. Khokar served on the UNESCO Commissions for Dance. His greatest legacy to posterity is his priceless collection of archives which many prestigious institutions like New York Lincoln Centre, Stockholm Dance Museum, and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Encyclopaedia Britannica use as source material for their various projects. A special section of paper material in the Collection is the vast amount of correspondence

2 between Khokar and innumerable artistes, scholars and gurus of the dance world. The Mohan Khokar Dance Collection is now taken care of by his critic-historian son, Ashish Mohan Khokar.

E / इ. क्रिष्ण आयर was an Indian lawyer, freedom-fighter, dancer and activist who were responsible for popularizing the dying art of Bharatanatyam in . His involvement with the Bharatanatyam revival movement began when he joined a theatrical company called Suguna Vilasa Sabha and learnt Sadir, a sensuous and less respectful form of Bharatanatyam practised by devadasis. Krishna Iyer founded the Madras Academy and teamed with Rukmini to save the dance form from dying out. Krishna Iyer also patronized and wrote as an art critic for the Indian Express, Dinamani / ददनमणी and Kalki / कल्कक. Krishna Iyer vehemently protested against Muthulakshmi Reddy’s attitude towards Sadir in a series of letters published in the Madras Mail and sought to give the dance form a measure of respect by proposing a resolution at a 1932 meeting of the to rename it as ‘Bharatanatyam.’4 Through his exceptional writing skills he induced the public to understand the aesthetic value of the dance. As a good educationist he delivered a series of public lectures including lecture demonstrations to educate people on the essence of dance. His book on dance titled Bharatanatyam and Other Dances of India and one on music titled Personalities in Present Day Music are his two major works.

G Venkatachalam / जी वᴂकटचऱम was an outstanding art critic of the pre-independence era. Born in 1895, Govindaraj Venkatachalam

3 started his career as a journalist. He was for a time special art contributor to New India, a daily newspaper which was being edited by Dr. Annie Besant. He was also Assistant Editor of two art journals, and Roopa-Lekha / 셂ि-ऱेखा. A regular contributor to various journals in India, America and Japan, he was the author of many well- known books on Indian life and art like The Mirror of Indian Art, Modern Indian Painters, Travel Diary of an Art Student, Daughters of the Dawn, Pen Pictures and Sketches, Unheard Melodies, etc. His book , a rather sketchy and personal take on dancers and dance forms, served as base material for many, before serious and in-depth books on dance came after Independence.

With the help of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Ragini Devi / रागगणीदेवी wrote Dance Dialects of India, aimed at creating a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Indian dance and its cultural environment in India. In 1928, Ragini Devi published Nritanjali / न्रिता車जलऱ: An Introduction to Indian Dancing, the first book in English on Indian dance. Dancing in the Family (2001) authored by Sukanya Rahman is about her mother Indrani Rehman and grandmother Ragini Devi.

La Meri / ऱा मेरी was an American ethnic dancer, choreographer, teacher, poet, and scholar. She published a number of magazine articles and books, including The Gesture Language of Hindu Dance and Spanish Dancing. Usha Venkateswaran has written on Life and Times of La Meri: Queen of Ethnic Dances. Dutch dancer Saskia C. Kersenboom wrote Nityasumangali /

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न्रनत्सयसुम車गऱी: Tradition in (1987) about devadasi participation in temple rituals, devadasi repertoire, and rites of passage, through intense research work. and Serozh Dadachanji have together authored Indian Dancing.

When Nala Najan cut down on his dancing, he started to review performances and wrote many articles with insight. His columns about the New York dance scene in Sruti and Rasamanjari magazines were eagerly awaited. He made a video titled Dances of India. “His language was lucid and honest, descriptive and erudite, always interesting and never pedantic. He was one of the few dancers who made the successful switch to dance writing without sounding cynical or bitter.”5 Nala’s writings were scholarly and he wrote extensive private research notes.

Dr. V. Raghavan / डॉ. वी. राघवन (1908-1979) was a scholar and musicologist. He took his M.A. in Sanskrit Language and Literature with Comparative Philology and four schools of Indian Philosophy under Prof. S. Kuppuswamy Sastri; specialized in Alamkara and Natya Sastras and Sanskrit Aesthetics and earned his Doctorate in 1934-1935 from Profs. S. Levi, F.W. Thomas and A.B. Keith; studied Sanskrit on the traditional lines also and won medals and prizes for Sanskrit speaking and writing. He authored several books on music and on aesthetics in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of about 120 works and over 1200 research papers in the fields of Sanskrit and Indological research. Malavikagnimitra / माऱपवकाल्ननलमत्र Act-II with special reference to Malavika’s Dance (1964-65), South Indian Dance and Dance- (1964-65), Sri Narayana / श्री नारायण तीथथ

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(1965), An Introduction to Indian Poetics (1970), Natyakalai / ना絍यकऱई (Tamizh, 1974), Tradition in Asia (1980), and his works (1981), Kavya-Nataka-Samgraha / काव्य-नाटक-स車ग्रह (2002), Splendours of Indian Dance (2004) etc are some of his many works.6 His monumental work Bhoja’s Srngara Prakasa / भोज गश्र車गार प्रकाश (1962), a treatise in 36 chapters dealing with both poetics and dramaturgy is the largest known work in Sanskrit literary criticism and aesthetics. For this work and his commentary, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in 1966. It was later published as volume 53 of the Harvard Oriental Series in 1998.7

PV Subramaniam alias Subbudu / िी. वी. सुब्रमन्रनअम- सु녍बुडू (1917- 2007) helped make dance history. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, his acerbic wit, fearlessly bold comments and deep knowledge of music made readers eager to read his views. He always spoke his mind. Artistes both feared and loved him, the media idolised him, and readers lapped up every comment of his. As a critic, he lived a life akin to a political journalist, surviving death threats, physical assaults, lawsuits and tempting bribes with courage and humor. For someone who wielded tremendous influence in Delhi (because of his weekly column in The Statesman since 1950) and ’s arts scene (with a range of magazines and newspapers such as Ananda Vikatan and Indian Express) thanks to his refined knowledge of Carnatic music and classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Subbudu made sure his words and not artistes were remembered in his writings. Magazines and newspapers made sure they advertised Subbudu’s association

6 with them well in advance. Subbudu’s rise on the Indian arts scene ran parallel to the growth of Indian performing arts in post- independent India. The main reason for this was the democratisation of arts. Subbudu has left behind a legacy of words that had the power to make or mar artistes.8

Dr. B.M. Sundaram / डॉ बी एम ् सुन्दरम is a leading historian of South Indian dance and music. Hailing from a traditional family of musicians that can be traced back over 40 generations, he has published extensively on the performance cultures and communities of South India. His research spans a broad range of methodologies from manuscript preservation and editing to ethnography. His tireless commitment to dance history in the region has brought to light several pathfinding works, including Jati / वणथ ्वर जती, a unique text of devadasi dance compositions edited from manuscripts at the Thanjavur library. He is the author of major books on cultural history in South India in Tamil including Tala Sangraham (‘Compendium of rhythmic theory’), Mangala Isai Mannargal (‘The kings of ritual music’), Marabu Tanda Manikkangal (‘Women who gave the gift of tradition’), and Marabu Vali Perasarangal (‘The great hereditary masters of the tradition’), a book on nattuvanars (dance- masters) that received a major award from the Tamilnadu State Government. He has authored the only existing biographies of several prominent musicians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai, Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer and Kanchipuram Naina Pillai. He has also contributed a large number of scholarly works in English, including The Advent of Lavani in Thanjavur, The Origin and Evolution

7 of Nagasvaram / नाग्वरम, The Origin of Jalatarangam / जऱतर車गम, and a revolutionary essay entitled ‘Towards a genealogy of some Thanjavur Natyacharyas.’

Shanta Serbjeet Singh / शा車ता सरबजीत लस車ह is a senior arts columnist and critic, author and cultural activist. She has served, for more than twenty-five years as columnist, critic and media analyst for The Hindustan Times, The Economic Times and , India’s most important mainstream dailies, in English language. As elected Chairperson of APPAN, she has individually organized or helped organize 8 international symposiums and festivals in several Asian countries. Her publications include: ‘Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor,’ ‘The 50th Milestone: A Feminine Critique’ to mark India’s fiftieth anniversary of Independence. ‘Nanak, The ’ and ‘America and You’ (went into 22 editions) published by the United States Information Service, India.

Dr. / डॉ. सुनीऱ कोठारी is a dance critic, publicist-writer, with many books to credit. He did his Ph.D in dance on Kuchipudi, Natakam and Kuravanji dance drama tradition with reference to Theory as expounded in Natyashastra, and post- doctoral research on Dance Sculptures of Medieval temples of North with reference to Sangitopanisatsaroddhara / स車गीतोिनीषत्ससारोद्धार. He was a dance critic for the Times of India group for 20 years (1960s-80s). He has put together books for Marg after Mohan Khokar’s example including the second edition of Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Chhau Dances of India, New Directions in Indian Dance, Damaru, essays on traditional dance

8 and theatre, Photo Biographies on Uday Shankar and Rukmini Devi, edited / सत्सतररया Classical Dance of . He has written several articles for national and international journals. He has also won national awards and titles.

When S. Sarada / एस. शारदा attended Rukmini Devi’s dance rehearsals, she would notate the music and movements. Writing down the dance was the inspirational work of Sarada and her method is still followed in Kalakshetra. Sarada edited the material for all of Kalakshetra’s dance along with Venkatachala Sastry and Adi Narayana Sarma. Among her numerous scholarly achievements is her assistance to Tiger Varadachariar when he was composing music for Kumarasambhavam / कु मरस車भव車, for Andal Charitram / आ車डाऱ चररत्र車, Kannappar Kuravanji / कणप्िर कु रव車जी, Gita Govindam / गीत गोपवन्दम, Sakuntalam / शाक車ु तऱम, Matsya Avataram / मत्स्य अवतारम, and Kurma Avataram / कु म थ अवतारम. She also worked with Balu Bhagavatar of Melattur and Kalyaniammal and edited Dhruva Charitram, Usha Parinayam and Rukmini Kalyanam and made it suitable for Rukmini Devi. She helped edit and proof read publications of Papanasam Sivan, Krishnamachariar and others. She also helped edit the musical works of Neelakanta Sivan, the Keertanai Malai / कीतथने माऱ ई of Papanasam Sivan and Gana Manjari / गाना म車जरी , the works of Veena Krishnamachariar, all of which have been published by Kalakshetra. She helped edit the three volumes of the Sangeeta Ratnakara / स車गीत रत्सनाकर and Mela Ragamalika / मेऱा रागमा लऱका, both in Sanskrit, published by the Adyar Library and Research Centre. She wrote Rukmini Devi’s

9 biography titled Kalakshetra: Rukmini Devi.

Prof Parul Shah / प्रो िा셁ऱ शाह , Former Dean Faculty of Performing Arts as well as the Head of the Dance Department at the Sayajirao University of Baroda is perhaps the only Indian Performing artist who received the Senior Fullbright Fellowship (1991). Her research on the Analysis of Sthayi -s using Laban Movement Analysis is path-breaking in the serious . Since her PhD on Rasa Dance of Gujarat in 1984, till now she has presented more than 50 papers in internationally renowned dance bodies such as CORD, JADE, IMACO, APPAN, WDA and many such. Her association with UGC is very long in the area of dance curricula, testing and research. The present project of creating E- Content for Performing Arts-Dance is one of the most in-depth, extensive and futuristic exercises in the field of Dance Education and Research.

Leela Venkataraman / ऱीऱा व्य車कटरामन started her career as a writer on dance, beginning as the dance critic for the National Herald in 1980, after which she was with another daily, The Patriot. Selected as the dance critic for when the paper began its Delhi edition, she was with the paper for a long time. Her regular reviews in the Friday Review column earned a reputation for being the most incisive commentary on the dance scene in the capital and was looked forward to with much eagerness and enthusiasm among art lovers. Leela Venkataraman has written extensively for journals in India and abroad. Among her publications are Indian Classical dance: Tradition in Transition, Bharatanatyam: Step by Step, A Dancing Phenomenon: and Indian Classical Dance – The Renaissance and Beyond (2015). She is a regular contributor to Nartanam quarterly

10 journal and Sruti magazine. In her career spanning three decades, she has made a significant contribution to dance writing. She won the SNA award for her contribution.

Lakshmi Vishwanathan / ऱक्ष्मी पवश्वनाथन’s earliest research project was the of . She has since done few more such grant-supported books. Roli Books, New Delhi commissioned to write a biography of M.S. Subbulakshmi. Titled Kunjamma-Ode / कु न्ज륍मा-ओडे to a Nightingale (2003), this was the first book on the great vocalist with more than a hundred photographs from her own album. In 2006, Lakshmi authored the colourfully illustrated book Kapaliswara Temple - the Sacred Site of Mylapore. In 2008, Lakshmi released her latest book, Women of Pride - the Devadasi Heritage. Currently she is the editor of the Kalakshetra Journal, which was originally published by the founder Rukmini Devi.9

Dr. / डॉ िद्मा सुब्रह्मण्यम has numerous articles, research papers and travelogues to her credit like Bharata’s Art – Then and Now, Bharatakkalai Kotpadu (in Tamil), Natya Sastra and National Unity, Legacy of a Legend which is a collection of articles by her and for Dance. She wrote the script, scored music, choreographed and personally appeared in the 13-segment film Bharatiya Natya Sastra produced by Nrityodaya and directed by her brother V. Balakrishnan which was telecast on Doordarshan National network. Published in three volumes by Nrityodaya, Karanas - Common Dance Codes of India and Indonesia is the fruit of her decades of research. She has also written Epic Stories from Natya Sastra (for Children) and Natya Sastra Kadhaigal (for Children

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– Tamil).

Devesh Soneji / देवेश सोनेजी is the author of Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory and Modernity in South India (2012), a study that examines the social history of women in devadasi communities over the past two hundred years drawing from extensive archival and ethnographic work. He is the editor of Bharatanatyam: A Reader (2010), and co-editor of Performing Pasts: Reinventing the Arts in Modern South India (2008). Prof. Soneji is also the co-founder and director of The Mangala Initiative, a non-profit organization centred on social justice issues for hereditary performing artists in South India.

Ashish Mohan Khokar / आलशष मोहन खोकर served the Times of India as dance critic in Delhi for 20 years (Delhi from 1990 - 2000 and 2000 – 2009). He was the dance columnist for India Today, First City and Avantika. He edits and publishes India’s only yearbook on dance – attendance - and is curator of India’s largest dance materials - the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection. He has written over 40 books on Indian arts and culture. He chairs the Dance History Society of India and has pioneered academic dance, Discourses, with Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. He is the most widely read dance columnist from India on the internet.

Avanthi Meduri / अवन्ती मेदरु ी is the convener of the first post graduate programme in South Asian Dance Studies launched at Roehampton University in London in 2005. Her published works include (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of

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Indian Culture and the Performing Arts (2005), The transfiguration of Indian/Asian dance in the United Kingdom: contemporary Bharatanatyam in global contexts (2010), Nation, Woman, Representation: The Sutured History of the Devadasi and her Dance (1996), Bharatanatyam What are you? (1997) and History as an image: mimesis and parody in Bharatha Natyam (1990).

There is not enough space here to give justice to all those who are contributing immensely to the field. The Writers, Scholars and Researchers in the field of dance research and writing have enriched dance scholarship at large. Some of them are Acharya Kumar, Dr Pappu Venugopal Rao, Dr. Amrut Shrinivasan, Dr. Nandini Ramani, Dr Mandakranta Bose, Dr Arshiya Shethi, V R Devika, Smt. Manjari Sinha, Puranam and such. Apart from these there are regional scholars who have written on Bharatanatyam in their native language.

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