1. Saroja Vaidyanathan (born 19 September 1937) is a choreographer, guru and a notable exponent of Bharatanatyam. She was conferred the Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India. 2. Rama Vaidyanathan is an Indian Bharatanatyam artist from Delhi. She is married to C. V. Kamesh, CXO at Hitachi India, and son of "Saroja Vaidyanathan"
16/02.2019
Saroja Vaidyanathan
1. Introduction :-
Saroja Vaidyanathan (born 19 September 1937) is a choreographer, guru and a notable exponent of Bharatanatyam. She was conferred the Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India.
2. Early life and education :-
Saroja was born in Bellary, Karnataka in 1937. She received her initial training in Bharatanatyam at the Saraswati Gana Nilayam in Chennai and later studied under guru Kattumannar Muthukumaran Pillai of Thanjavur. She has also studied Carnatic music under Professor P. Sambamoorthy at Madras University and has a D.Litt in dance from the Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh.
3. Bharatanatyam career :-
Saroja gave up dancing after her marriage following conservative and adverse reactions to her performing in public venues and took instead to teaching children dance at home. Following her husband's transfer to Delhi in 1972, she established the Ganesa Natyalaya there in 1974. She was monetarily supported by well wishers and sponsors and the building for the Natyalaya came up at the Qutub Institutional Area in 1988. Besides the dance itself, students at the Ganesh Natyalaya are also taught Tamil, Hindi and Carnatic vocal music to give them a holistic understanding of Bharatanatyam.
Saroja is a prolific choreographer and has to her credit ten full length ballets and nearly two thousand individual Bharatanatyam items. She undertook a cultural tour of South East Asia in 2002, accompanying Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to the ASEAN Summit in 2002. She has also published her renditions of Subramania Bharati's songs and poems and some of his works have also been set to dance by her.
4. Books :-
Saroja Vaidyanathan has written a number of books on Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music including The Classical Dances of India, Bharatanatyam – An In-Depth Study, Carnataka Sangeetham, and The Science of Bharatanatyam.
5. Family :-
Saroja's (née Dharmarajan) parents were both authors and her mother Kanakam Dharmarajan was a writer of detective fiction in Tamil. Saroja is married to Vaidyanathan an IAS officer of the Bihar cadre. The couple have a son, Kamesh and their daughter in law Rama Vaidyanathan is a well known Bharatanatyam artiste of international fame.
6. Awards and honours :-
Saroja was conferred the Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India. She is also the recipient of the Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman of the Government of Delhi, the Kalaimamani title bestowed by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. She was conferred the title of 'Bharata Kalai Sudar' in 2006.
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16/02/20192.
Rama Vaidyanathan :- ( Daughter in law of Saroja Vaidyanathan )
Rama Vaidyanathan is an Indian Bharatanatyam artist from Delhi. She is married to C. V. Kamesh, CXO at Hitachi India, and son of "Saroja Vaidyanathan"
Rama Vaidyanathan is a leading exponent of Bharatanatyam, a popular classical dance form of India. She is undoubtedly one of the most sought after artistes of her generation having carved a name for herself in the Bharatanatyam World. She has trained intensively under the legendary dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy and the renowned Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan. Everyone who has seen Rama perform is struck by her unique thought process and fresh approach to dance. While deeply routed in tradition She has evolved her own individual style without forsaking the core principles of Bharata Natyam. She brings to her dance a rare sense of devotion and dedication, which leaves the audience with a sense of spiritual fulfillment.
Rama Vaidyanathan is one of India’s top Bharatanatyam performers and is well known all over the world. She has trained intensively under the legendary dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy and under the guidance of Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan. Rama has been featured at several major dance venues in India and abroad.
‘Everything is possible within Margam’ says Rama Vaidyanathan : DECEMBER 22, 2017 : Chitra Swaminathan : THE HINDU
Rama Vaidyanathan knows how to infuse freshness into the traditional repertoire
Space defines the life of a dancer. On stage or off it, there is a continuum of creative thought, an uninterrupted engagement with aesthetics. Rama Vaidyanathan’s facial expression during the photo shoot indicated it. From every angle, you could capture the contemplative look and restless energy. It’s 3.30 in the afternoon and she has just finished her solo rehearsal. You can hear the mild chatter of her students waiting for the training session. Clad in a maroon-green handloom sari with her waist-length hair let down and a hint of make-up, Rama quickly instructs her students, ensures hot coffee is served, before climbing two flights of stairs for the shoot on the terrace.
Every Margazhi, the Delhi-based Bharatanatyam dancer is in Chennai, her winter home. She is already through with three performances this Season, that she began by receiving the Nritya Choodamani award at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
“The two cities have seen my growth both as an individual and artiste. Personally, I have become confident and calmer, but more excited for the art. Because each day you discover a newer facet of the movement-rhythm-expression relationship,” says Rama.
‘Everything is possible within Margam’ says Rama Vaidyanathan
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| Rama Vaidyanathan |
A strong votary of the Margam (traditional Bharatanatyam repertoire), she usually doesn’t like to move away from it. “I don’t feel boxed in. On the contrary, it’s liberating. Margam offers unlimited possibilities for imagination. I have introduced contemporary poetry and themes in the format. I have performed padams based on thumri and abhang,” she points out.
This year, she introduced a piece on the Himalayas in the repertoire. For Rama, communicating through the body and expressing what she sees through her mind’s eye are significant. They sometimes push her to choreograph works that may seem to be beyond the traditional realm but emerge from a deeper understanding of the classical vocabulary. “You need to stay inspired at all times; it keeps the artiste tightly anchored to the art. For instance, while adapting the life and teachings of mystic saint-poets Janabai of Maharashtra and Lal Ded of Kashmir to dance, I gained rare insights into a woman’s psyche and spirit.”
Rama has also created a piece on something as basic as breath — ‘Shwasam’ — and how it energises the mind, body and soul of all beings. She premiered it in Chennai this December festival. Her choreographic work, ‘Vivartana,’ highlights the beauty of nritta and the way dance impacts dancers, the space around them and those viewing it. In ‘NaTyatra’, staged last year at the Serendipity Arts Festival, she worked with eight young practitioners of jazz, Kathak, Odissi, contemporary, ballet and Kalaripayattu. ‘Vrikshanjali,’ an ode to the tree, is a piece replete with poetic imagery while ‘Chithravalli’, a production close to her heart, focusses on miniature paintings of North India and is choreographed to Hindustani music.
“Conceiving and delivering these works are like tending to the baby in the womb. The anxiety, labour and the joy are the same. They are a measure of a dancer’s artistic sensibilities and her awareness of the surroundings,” says Rama, who was six, when at the insistence of her mother Madhavi Gopalakrishnan, she began to learn from the inimitable Yamini Krishnamurthy. She blossomed into a promising dancer under her celebrated performer-guru.
“She was a complete giver, who invested her energy and ideas in her disciples. I went to her like any other reluctant child of that age, who would prefer spending the evening outdoors than rehearsing steps and moves in a classroom. But she gradually helped me enjoy the process of learning the technique, feeling the emotion and expressing a message.”
‘Everything is possible within Margam’ says Rama Vaidyanathan
Rama was only 19, when she married the son of veteran dancer and guru Saroja Vaidyanathan. The journey in dance continued though. Under the guidance of her mother-in-law, she turned into a professional performer, lighting up the stage across the world with her training and talent.
“By 30, I had my two daughters (Dakshina is a dancer and Sannidhi, a mridangam artiste) and was back to active dancing once they were past the toddler stage. In a way it was wonderful because when you get a little older you are better equipped to tap into the emotions of the characters you portray. Also being in Delhi, I learnt to structure my dance to reach out to the non-Tamil speaking audience. I began to look at lyrics in Hindi, Braj and Sanskrit. I came up with my own atlas to map my art’s appeal,” says Rama.
Besides performing and choreographing, she is also the director of Ganesa Natyalaya, established by Saroja Vaidyanathan. “I enjoy every moment of interacting with the students at our school; it gives me new perspectives into the art. These days when I am creating a fresh piece of work, I often visualise it as a group choreography. I have got so much from the art form that I feel it is time for me to give back by training youngsters who can take this tradition forward.”
But she also warns of increasing mediocrity that is doing much disservice to Bharatanatyam. “We have lowered the standard with poor quality performances and productions. Arangetram, which has been turned into a commercial event, is doing the worst damage. Putting unfit and unprepared students on stage in the name of a debut performance is regressing the growth of the art. We need a sytem of filtering to get the best. Give the young, the courage, the power to question, explore and aim for excellence,” says Rama.
Rewarding Moment :-
The Nrithya Choodamani award has strengthened my conviction about creative choices. It also comes as an inspiration to keep this great heritage alive by respecting the past even while kindling new ideas. At moments such as these, you tend to look back on the dreams fulfilled and look ahead, to set fresh goals.
Mothers by Daughters and Others :-
I’m also coming!
- Rama Vaidyanathan
e-mail: vaidyanathan.rama@gmail.com
September 27, 2016
She was nine months pregnant with her fourth child and was an ardent dance lover. Never learnt it formally, but over the years had developed a deep understanding of the dance form as well as its content. She went to watch the prima donna Yamini Krishnamurthy perform at the College of Military Engineering, Pune, where her Army officer husband was posted. So overwhelmed was she by the dance that the infant inside her womb started kicking with great vigour. To top it all, much to the chagrin of the people around her she with her huge belly stood up on a chair to get a better view of the dancer’s feet dancing the Tarangam! “This child inside me has to learn dance from this dancer!”she declared to herself.
That night Madhavi Gopalakrishnan gave birth to me. We moved to Delhi, and when I turned six she took me to Yamini Krishnamurthy and enrolled me in Bharatanatyam classes. Looks like the choice of Guru was made even before I was born! Thus began my Mother’s selfless support in my journey as a dancer. For twelve years she accompanied me to my classes taking the long and tiring journey of two buses and one auto rickshaw ride, and that was just one way! The infamous Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses offered several adventures to the mother daughter duo, including jumping into moving buses, standing and jostling through the whole 45 minutes journey, and of course sometimes with me in and she out and the bus trudging off leaving her screaming in panic.
My mother, steeped in spirituality, was constantly engaged in deep studies of the scriptures. She gave discourses which have had a profound effect in shaping me. She was my in-house resource person, helping me with the research and interpretation of verses from the Puranas. Her whole life revolved around my dance, my programs, tours, rehearsals, students….. She was thrilled when I chose to marry a man whose mother was an established dancer, Saroja Vaidyanathan- hence quelling all her fears of her daughter not being able to pursue dance after marriage.
There was nothing more she liked than to accompany me to my performances in India and all over the world. Of course after every performance the customary review was a must! It was a blessing to have someone who praises or critiques you without an agenda, someone who says, “I’m also coming” to a performance with immense enthusiasm. Today, months after she has passed on, when I am on my way to a performance I still hear her say, “I’m also coming!” And I feel her sitting in the audience reviewing my performance giving me boundless strength, living on through my dance...
Ammay, this is for you.
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