Hema Rajagopalan

Last updated

Hema Rajagopalan is a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and choreographer from New Delhi, India. [1]

Hema Rajagopalan started dancing in 1956 at the age of six under the instruction of her devadasi guru, Swarna Saraswathy. Hema Rajagopalan performed her first arangetram after just six months of training, and was then hailed a child prodigy in the art of bharatanatyam. Later on in her career, she also studied bharatanatyam under Padmasri K.N. Dandayudapani Pillai and his brothers K.N. Pakkiriswami Pillai and K.N. Dakshinamoorthy Pillai. Most recently, Hema Rajagopalan studied under Padma Kalanidhi Narayanan. [2]

Hema Rajagopalan moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1974 where she began doing smaller performances for friends to introduce Indian and Hindu culture beyond the small pockets of Indian immigrant communities. She then founded the Natya Dance Theatre to preserve and promote Bharatanatyam in the United States. [3] Natya Dance Theatre performs contemporary interpretations of traditional dances through facial expressions, rhythmic footwork, dynamic body movement, and hand gestures through Abhinaya. [4]

In 2001, Hema Rajagopalan curated In the Diaspora: Spiritual, Classical, Contemporary, the first Bharatanatyam dance conference in the United States in a partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Columbia College Chicago. In 2006, they partnered again to curate Dance India, the second U.S. Bharatanatyam dance conference.[ citation needed ]

Hema Rajagopalan has received awards from the Asian American Heritage Council, the City of Chicago, and was the first Indian classical choreographer to be chosen by the Chicago Dancemakers Forum to create new work. She was also given the Vishwa Kala Bharathi Award for Artistic Excellence, given to only one artist per year.[ citation needed ]

Hema Rajagopalan has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council and has served as a panelist for both organizations. [5] [6] Most notably, Natya Dance Theatre was awarded a $50,000 grant from the McArthur Foundation in 2018. [7]

Hema Rajagopalan is currently the artistic director of Natya Dance Theatre in Chicago with her daughter Krithika Rajagopalan serving as the Co-Artistic Director. She also conducts masterclasses at universities across the country. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lata Pada</span>

Lata Pada, CM is an Indian-born Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer. Pada is the founder and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance company that performs South Asian dance. She is also the founder and director of Sampradaya Dance Academy, a leading professional dance training institution that is the only South Asian dance school in North America affiliated with the prestigious, UK-based Imperial Society for Teachers of Dancing. Pada founded the dance company in 1990; Pada said that she founded the company because she wanted to showcase Bharatantyam dance as an art form throughout the world. Pada is known as an influential figure in South Asian-style dance in Canada.

Urmila Sathyanarayana is an Indian classical dancer of bharatanatyam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astad Deboo</span> Indian dancer and choreographer (1947–2020)

Astad Deboo was an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. He was considered a pioneer of modern dance in India. Through his career he collaborated with artists including Pina Bausch, Alison Becker Chase and Pink Floyd, and performed across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Ratnam</span> Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer

Anita Ratnam is an Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and tai chi and Kalarippayattu, thus creating a dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharatam".

Alarmel Valli is a leading Indian classical dancer and choreographer and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style in the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam. She is widely acclaimed for her ability to turn traditional grammar into deeply internalized, personal dance poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalanidhi Narayanan</span> Indian dancer (1928-2016)

Kalanidhi Narayanan was an Indian dancer and teacher of Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, who was the early non-devadasi girl to learn the dance form and perform it on stage in the 1930s and 1940s. After a brief career in the 1940s, she returned to dance in 1973 and became a notable teacher of abhinaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saroja Vaidyanathan</span> Indian dancer and choreographer (1937–2023)

Saroja Vaidyanathan was an Indian choreographer, guru, and notable proponent of Bharatanatyam. She was conferred the Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vyjayanthi Kashi</span>

Vyjayanthi Kashi is an Indian classical dancer, a kuchipudi exponent. She is from the family of Dr Gubbi Veeranna who was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. Vyjayanthi Kashi is a reputed kuchipudi dancer,a celebrated performer and choreographer and artistic director of a dance school Shambhavi School of Dance where they teaches this traditional dance form kuchipudi. She was also the chairperson of Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murugashankari Leo</span> Indian actor, scholar and dancer (born 1983)

Murugashankari Leo is a Bharatanatyam artiste and teacher, theatre actor, and research scholar. Bharatantyam is an ancient Indian classical dance form which is known for its beauty, grace and uniqueness. Murugashankari performs this art and has given many recitals across India and other countries. She runs the institution Kalai Koodam – Academy of Performing Arts in Chennai and Madurai, where training in Bharatanatyam is imparted. She is also trained in Carnatic music and Nattuvangam.

Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher based in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. She was trained under Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Professor of practice in Asian performing arts. Her approach is interdisciplinary, involving lecturing and research. Bala Devi's unique well researched productions include Nandanar Charithram, Krishnaarpnam and Uddhava Gita.

Madras Kadiravelu Saroja, known as Puliyur Saroja, was an Indian classical dancer, known for her expertise, as an exponent and as a teacher, in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. The Government of India honored her, in 2011, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.

Sridevi Nrithyalaya is a dance school based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The school was founded in 1987 and operates as a trust. The main aim of the institution is to support and promote the southern Indian classical dance form Bharathanatayam. It specialises in Melattur style of Bharathanayam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syed Sallauddin Pasha</span> Indian dancer

Syed Sallauddin Pasha is a Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer, Choreographer, Actor and Founder, artistic director of Ability Unlimited, Miracle on Wheels and a therapeutic dance theater on Wheelchairs in India. He is recognised for his pioneering theater productions for persons with special needs. In 2007 he received the National Award for the welfare of persons with disabilities in 2007-08 from Pratibha Patil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geeta Chandran</span> Bharatnatyam dancer from Delhi, India

Geeta Chandran is an Indian Bharatanatyam dancer and vocalist. Trained in Carnatic music, she is a visionary and celebrated artist in Indian classical Bharatanatyam, recognized for her work in theatre, dance, education, videos and films.

Meenakshi Chitharanjan, an Indian classical dancer, teacher and choreographer, is known as an exponent of the Pandanallur style of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. She is the founder of Kaladiksha, an institution promoting Bharatanatyam and striving to preserve the Pandanallur tradition. A disciple of the father-son duo of Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai, she is a recipient of several honours including Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Natya Kala Sarathi of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to classical dance.

Vasundhara Doraswamy is the founder and director of Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre, Mysore (India). She is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, and guru (teacher). She is also one of the disciples of the late Shri Pattabhi Jois in the discipline of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and has developed her own subdomain in Vasundhara Style.

Karaikal Natesa Dhandayudhapani Pillai was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. He was also a teacher and trained multiple performers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ananda Shankar Jayant</span> Indian dancer, choreographer and dance scholar

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.

Sujatha Vijayaraghavan is an Indian writer, dancer, musician, musicologist and fine arts research scholar. She is affiliated with Natyarangam, the dance wing of the classical arts institution Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and associated with the Natya Dance Theatre, a classical Bharatanatyam company based in the city of Chicago in the United States of America. She was also associated with the pioneering Bharatanatyam dancer Kalanidhi Narayanan.

Tara Chaudhri was an exponent of Indian classical dance. Believed to have hailed from Lahore, she trained under different maestros of dance, and went on to be acclaimed for her versatility and contributions to the dance forms of Kathak, Manipuri, Kathakali and Bharathnatyam. She was described as the "Pavlova of Punjab" and earned acclaim and respect from international contemporaries.

References

  1. ↑ Warnecke, Lauren (6 September 2019). "For Hema Rajagopalan of Natya Dance, Indian dance is contemporary dance". chicagotribune.com.
  2. ↑ Kothari, Sunil (29 October 2015). "Varna like none other". The Hindu– via www.thehindu.com.
  3. ↑ Warnecke, Lauren (9 November 2019). "Review: Natya Dance's world premiere 'Inai' asks, what if there were no differences, racial or otherwise?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Swaminathan, Chitra (13 August 2020). "Hema Rajagopalan's search for the solo dancer". The Hindu– via www.thehindu.com.
  5. ↑ "NEA Online Grant Search - Grant Search". apps.nea.gov.
  6. ↑ "HEMA RAJAGOPALAN". chicagodancemakers.
  7. ↑ Reporter, India-West Staff. "Chicago-based Natya Dance Theatre Receives $50K MacArthur Grant". India West.
  8. ↑ "INSIDE: Natya Dance Theatre Founder and Artistic Director Hema Rajagopalan on the World Premiere of "INAI–The Connection"". 17 October 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.