Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service on South Central Railway and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer. She is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Kala Ratna Award of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to arts.
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Friday, August 21, 2020.7:50. PM.
Ananda Shankar Jayant - Classical dancer, Choreographer, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
===============================================================1. Profile :
Born 1961 (age 58–59), Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation Classical dancer, Choreographer
Years active Since 1972
Known for Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi
Spouse(s) - Jayant
Parent(s) - G. S. Shankar and Subhashini Shankar.
Awards
Padma Shri
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Kala Ratna Award
Nritya Choodamani
Kalaimamani Award
Natya Illavarasi
Nritya Choodamani
Nritya Kalasagara
Natya Kalasagar
Guru Debaprasad Award
Indian Express Devi Award
Alliance University Nritya Saraswati
Vidya Tapasvi Award
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2. Introduction :
Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service on South Central Railway and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer. She is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Kala Ratna Award of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to arts.
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3. Biography :
Ananda Shankar, born in a Tamil Brahmin family from Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu to G. S. Shankar, an officer with Indian Railways and Subhashini, a school teacher and a musician, was brought up in Hyderabad where she did her early education at St. Ann's High School, Secunderabad.
She started learning classical dance at the age of 4 under Sharada Keshava Rao and, later, K. N. Pakkiriswamy Pillai, and in 1972 at the age of 11, she joined Kalakshetra of Rukmini Devi Arundale where she trained in Bharatanatyam under teachers such as Padma Balagopal, Sharada Hoffman and Krishnaveni Laxman. After six years of study, she secured her diploma and post graduate diploma from the institution in disciplines of Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, veena, dance theory and philosophy.
She returned to Hyderabad at the age of 17 and founded Shankarananda Kalakshetra, a dance school with eight students, which has since grown into a dance academy, associating such artists as Partha Ghose, Mrunalini Chunduri, Sathiraju Venumadhav and Dolan Banerjee among others. In Hyderabad, she also learned Kuchipudi under Pasumarthy Ramalinga Shastry.
Concurrently, she pursued her academic studies and after completing her master's degree in Indian History and Culture from Osmania University, she passed the civil services examination to join the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), thus becoming the first woman officer of the service on South Central Railway While serving IRTS, she continued her studies to secure an MPhil in Art History on a UGC research scholarship and a doctoral degree (PhD) in tourism; her thesis being Promotion of Tourism in India - Role of Railways.
She resumed her dancing career after her cancer days which lasted two years. Under the aegis of her dance academy, she composed many dance ensembles like What About Me? (1999) and the subsequent Dancing Tales - Panchatantra, based on the ancient Indian fables of the same name and performed on many stages including in Cambodia. Buddham Saranam Gachchami, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Sri Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, Buddham Saranam Gachchami, Expressions of Truth (on Gandhian ideals), An Easel Called Life, Navarasa - Expressions of Life, Darshanam - An Ode to the Eye, Kavyanjali and Tales from the Bull and the Tiger (2019) are some of the dance productions choreographed by her.
She also continued her motivational talks and was one of the speakers of the Inspire series at the India Conference at Harvard held at Harvard Business School in February 2016 as well as at Columbia College Chicago and at Oberlin College, Ohio. She guest-edited the 16th edition of Attendance-The Dance Annual Magazine of India, and has released a desktop app for practicing dance.
Ananda Shakar is married to Jayant Dwarkanath and she works as an officer at the Centre for Railway Information Systems, Secunderabad.
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4. Awards and honors :
The Government of Tamil Nadu honored Ananda Shankar with Kalamamani Award in 2002 In 2004, she received the Natya Illavarasi title of the Sree Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, New Delhi[20] and two years later, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai awarded her the title of Nritya Choodamani in 2006.
The Government of India awarded her the civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2007, the same year as she received the title, Nritya Kalasagara from Kalasagaram, Secunderabad. and the Government of Andhra Pradesh included her in the Ugadi Day honors list for the Kala Ratna award in 2008.
Natya Kalasagar title of Visakha Music Academy reached her in 2010 and she received three awards in 2015, Guru Debaprasad Award of Tridhara, Devi Award for Dynamism and Innovation of the Indian Express and Nritya Saraswati title of Alliance University, Bengaluru.
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5. Belle with beautiful eyes : 31st Mar 2018 : AuthorJaya Vellampalli
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Dance is the tool of communication for her and she believes in sending across her message using it as a medium for communication. Known for her unique choreography, she has dedicated her life to dancing and hasn't stopped till date.
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5.1 Belle :
About 53 years ago, at Marredpally Subramanya Swamy temple, a stranger suggested to a mother to train her daughter in classical dance. And the reason she gave was that the girl has big and beautiful eyes. This incident was the first step in the making of one of the great dancers who has expertise in both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles of dance.
Dance is the tool of communication for her and she believes in sending across her message using it as a medium for communication. Known for her unique choreography, she has dedicated her life to dancing and hasn’t stopped till date. This is Ananda Shankar Jayant, a renowned dancer and Padmasri recipient from our very own city.
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5.2 Kalakshetra days :
It was at the age of 11 that Ananda Shankar Jayant joined Kalakshetra. She was there for six years and earned a diploma and post-graduate diploma in various streams such as Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, veena, dance theory and philosophy. Ananda says that it was a totally different world where everything is completely dance-driven. She shares that Kalakshetra gave her a complete understanding of dance. “It taught me the aesthetics and the philosophy behind it. The institution changed the way you look at dance and it is not just an art form for me; it is my life. This kind of thinking comes only when dance becomes a part of your soul,” says Ananda.
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5.3 Relation with Rukmini Devi :
“We used to call her athai. I was the youngest of the students, so she had a soft corner for me and liked me a lot,” shares Ananda who feels the most amazing experience was “working under her choreography”. This was a huge learning experience, the way she deconstructed the music, her thought process, and understanding of the concept were what made it entirely different. “Even for the smallest roles, she would explain everything in detail. These kinds of inputs actually helped me a lot,” she adds.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4 First woman railway officer in SCR :
Ananda Shankar Jayant was always inclined towards education. Even though she had to discontinue her studies, she took a concrete decision to continue formal education as well. “I always knew I had to support my dancing, and education was the only way I could do it. So, after finishing my correspondence in commerce, I understood that it is not for me,” says Ananda who then decided to go for a master’s degree in Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology at the Osmania University.
That was when she saw students giving Railways exam and decided to give it a try. “In fact, when I was studying for the exam, my mom would ask me not to prepare because she was scared that I will give up dancing. I cracked the exam and went on to become the first railway office in South Central Railways division,” she adds.
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5.5 Meeting Jayant :
“We met in the beginning of my professional career. Jayant was working with Modi Xerox and came to our office for some Xerox machine installation. I was handling everything regarding the installation, and that’s how we met first. Later, we became friends and the rest is history,” says Ananda with a smile.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6 Fight with cancer :
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5.7 Unique choreography :
Recalling her first choreography, Ananda says it was in the year 1987 that she choreographed ‘Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum’ and then ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’, “where I experimented with Jazz music”. Then came ‘Buddam Sharanam Gachchami’, ‘Navarasas’, ‘Panchatantra’ and many more. The artiste says that dance is like a spiritual journey for her. “It is the best communication tool and I base my subjects on anything that inspires or bothers me. My idea is to use dance as a tool to spread across the message,” she adds.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.8 Younger generation & dance :
In the recent times, youngsters are coming forward to learn dance forms, but nobody is ready to take it up as a full-time profession. Though sad, this is the reality. It is difficult to survive because there is no money. “The lack of ‘sabha’ culture is also affecting the prospects of this art form. The change has to come in people’s mindset. How many people would invest time and money to go watch a classical dance performance,” questions Ananda. The most difficult part is to perform without any audience. This happens many times and until such situations are prevailing, there is no way people will take it up as a full-time profession, she concludes.The End.
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