Kalamandalam Saraswathi

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Kalamandalam Saraswathi
Born
Saraswathi

NationalityIndian
Occupation(s) Indian classical dancer, dance teacher
Spouse
(m. 1977)
Awards Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award (1983)

Kalamandalam Saraswathi is an Indian classical dancer from Kerala. She has mastered dance forms like Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam and Kuchupudi. Saraswathi is a recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1983 for Bharatanatyam. She is the wife of renowned Malayalam writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair. [1]

Contents

Biography

Saraswathi was born in an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family in Kuzhalmannam village of Palakkad district, Kerala. She joined the Kalamandalam in 1960 and studied Mohiniyattam under the tutelage of Thotaseri Chinnammu Amma and Kalamandalam Sathyabhama. Saraswathi also studied various dance forms such as Kuchipudi and Bharatanadyam under Padma Subramaniam, Chitra Vishweshwar, Rajaratnampillai, Sudharani Raghupathi, Kalanidhi Ammal and Vembatti Chinnasathyam. In 1977, she married the writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair. [2] Saraswathi has performed dances in India and abroad. For the Cultural Exchange Programme, under her leadership Mohiniyattam has been presented in the North Eastern states of India and West Bengal during 1991-92 period. [3]

Awards and honours

In 1983, Kalamandalam Saraswathy was awarded the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award for Bharatanatyam. She received the Rotary Award for Professional Excellence in 2000. She was one of the artists honoured by the Kalamandalam during the institution's Golden Jubilee. In 2022, Saraswathi won the Swaralaya Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair Award for her overall contribution to classical dance forms. [4]

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References

  1. "എം ടി: എന്റെ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ ധന്യത -ജീവിതസഖി കലാമണ്ഡലം സരസ്വതി". Deshabhimani. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  2. "എംടി എന്ന മൗനം". ManoramaOnline (in Malayalam). Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  3. "'ആരാണ് എം.ടി എന്നല്ല, എനിക്കാരാണ് എം.ടി എന്നതാണ് ഞാനറിയേണ്ടത്' - ജീവിതത്തിൻെറ താളം പറയുന്ന ആത്മകഥ!". Mathrubhumi. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  4. "Kalamandalam Saraswathi receives Swaralaya Award". English.Mathrubhumi. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2023.