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E. Krishna Iyer, the secretary of the Music Academy
(Chennai), took steps to showcase what South Indian classical dance
really stood for. The first program took place on March 15, 1931,
featuring Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, the daughters of Tiruvalaputtur
Kalyani and therefore billed as Kalyani Daughters. This performance was
at Gana Mandir, Thambu Chetty Street, a portion of what is now known as
Rama Rau Buildings and named after Dr. U. Rama Rau, founder president of
the Music Academy. The attendance was small, largely because people
feared witnessing dance. By January 3, 1932, when Mylapore Gowri was
presented as part of the December Music Festival at a pandal behind
Ripon Buildings, the crowd was more. It increased further on January 1,
1933, when the Kalyani Daughters performed again and on August 26 the
same year when Balasaraswathi was featured. By the time Varalakshmi and
her sister Saranayaki danced on December 28, 1933, once again behind the
Ripon Buildings, the crowd was huge. Billed as the granddaughters of
Kumbakonam Gowri, they were part of a larger troupe of cousins, the
others being Bhanumati, Sulochana and Pattu.
(‘The birth of Bharatanatyam’ by V Sriram, The Hindu, Dec 15, 2016) |
