See also
Sri Thandauthapanipillai was a famous bharathanatyam dancer as wells as a professional vocalist. He was born into a musical family. His grandfather was called Ramakrishnan, who was a great Bharathanaatyam artist.
K. N. Dhandayuthapani Pillai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 July 1921 Karikal (Karaikal), French India |
| Died | 12 October 1974 (aged 53) Karaikal (Karikal), Pondicherry, India |
| Occupation(s) | Classical dancer Choreographer |
| Known for | Bharatanatyam |
| Spouse | Chandra Dhandayudhapani Pillai |
| Children | Dr. Uma Anand |
| Awards | Padma Shri Natyakala Chakravarthy Kalaimamani Natyakalanidhi |
Karaikal Natesa Dhandayudhapani Pillai (born 14 July 1921, Karaikal - 1974) 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.
Born on 14 July 1921 in Karaikal in French India (nowadays the Indian union territory of Pondicherry), to A. K. Natesa Pillai, a known musician, he started training initially in music under his father, but later turned to Bharatanatyam and learned under his grandfather, who was a teacher of the dance form. [1] Subsequently, he joined Kalakshetra of Rukmini Devi Arundale as a teacher where he taught for a number of years. He was known to have authored several compositions for Bharatanatyam [2] [3] and trained many students; Sri Vidya, J. Jayalalithaa, Hema Rajagopalan, Suganthi Sadayane, Nayana Shenoy, [4] Adyar K. Lakshman, [5] Uma Muralikrishna, [6] Vijayalakshmi Shetty-Ahuja, [7] Jayalakshmi Alva [8] and Geeta Chandran [9] are some of the notable ones among them. He was the dance choreographer of a number of films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi such as Raja Guruvu, [10] Man-Mauji, Chhaya, Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke, Sri Kalahastiswara Mahatyam and Bhai-Bhai. [11] He also founded Sri Rama Nataka Niketan, a dance academy in Chennai in 1967. [12] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1971, for his contributions to Dance. [13]
His wife, Chandra Dhandayudhapani Pillai, is a known Bharatanatyam expert and teacher [14] Her younger Sister Suria Santhanam also a noted Bharatanatyam teacher for 35 Years. [15]
He went to an eye operation in America. Following his return on 4 October, he attended his student's graduation ceremony. Later he had chest pain and was admitted to the hospital. On 12 October he died.
Sri Thandauthapanipillai was a famous bharathanatyam dancer as wells as a professional vocalist. He was born into a musical family. His grandfather was called Ramakrishnan, who was a great Bharathanaatyam artist.
Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements.
Adyar K. Lakshman was a noted Indian Bharatnatyam dancer, choreographer and guru.
Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan, together known as the Dhananjayans, are an Indian dancing couple who were awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters were Carnatic music sister-pair vocalists and musicians known for their devotional songs in Tamil. They were early singers in the trend of duo singing in Carnatic music, which started in the 1950s, with performers like Radha Jayalakshmi, and later continued by Bombay Sisters, Ranjani-Gayatri, Mambalam Sisters, Bangalore Sisters and Priya Sisters. The Soolamangalam Sisters are best known for singing the Kanda Shasti Kavasam, a hymn on the Hindu god Muruga.
Rushyendramani was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from 1935 to 1986. Her notable films include Sri Seetarama Jananam (1944), Malliswari (1951), Vipra Narayana (1954), Chintamani (1956). Her last film was Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam (1986).
Nataraja Ramakrishna was an Indian dance guru. He was the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy. He was also a scholar and musicologist who promoted classical dance in Andhra Pradesh and worldwide.
Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singer for Tamil films.
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.
K. S. Narayanaswamy, was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1979.
K. P. Kittappa Pillai was the son of Sangita Kalanidhi K. Ponniah Pillai (1888-1945), a scion of the famous Tanjore Quartet, codifiers of the Bharatanatyam format.
Kalamandalam Kshemavathy is a Mohiniyattam dancer from Thrissur, Kerala. She is an alumna of the Kerala Kalamandalam. She joined the institute when she was ten. After completion of the course, she undertook advanced training in Bharata Natyam under Muthuswamy Pillai and Chitra Visweswaran, and in Kuchipudi under Vempati Chinna Satyam, but chose to remain within the Mohiniyattam tradition.
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.
Madras Kadiravelu 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.
Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai (1910–1991) was an Indian Bharatanatyam dance teacher and choreographer.
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.
Neena Prasad is an Indian dancer. She is an exponent in the field of Mohiniyattam. She is the founder and principal of Bharthanjali Academy of Indian Dances in Thiruvananthapuram and Sougandika Centre for Mohinyattam in Chennai.
Hema Rajagopalan is a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and choreographer from New Delhi, India.
The Rama Natakam is a Tamil Opera that was written by the Tamil poet Arunachala Kavi also known as Arunachala Kavirayar during the 18th century. Based on Kambar's and Valmiki's Ramayana, the opera describes the legend of King Rama of Ayodhya. The Rama Natakam is even more similar to the Tamil version than the Sanskrit version in many aspects – both in spiritual concepts and in the specifics of the storyline. Several songs of this opera are well known and sung all over Tamil Nadu. Arunachala Kavirayar studied Sanskrit and Tamil in the Dharmapuram Adheenam and excelled in his studies. After his marriage he set up a pawn-broker shop, This not only provided him with a good living, but also with a fair amount of Leisure to pursue his literary studies. Just as he was good at “estimating the fineness of the precious metal, he was equally proficient at estimating the worth of the literary works.” Two books were most liked by Kavirayar — The Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar and the Ramavataram of Kambar, While the former was only a book of ethics, the latter gave the same in the form of a story which would be more appealing to the common man.
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