This is the story of a lineage spanning 9 generations, replete with dance and music, tradition and customs, trials and tribulations. The torchbearer of this line, Aniruddha Knight, grandson of the illustrious Balasaraswati, narrates the story.
Pappammal, who lived within the mid-18th century, was an esteemed dancer, a part of the Thanjavur courtroom of yore. That she was not a fictitious character is clear from the information of taxes that she had paid the British authorities. Her daughter Rukmini was a musician in the identical courtroom as was her grand-daughter Thanjavur Kamakshi, who was a widely known dancer as nicely.
There appears to have been a steady entwining of the lineage of this household with that of the Thanjavur Quartet. Thus, it was that Thanjavur Kamakshi got here to the Travancore courtroom, famed for its patronage of the humanities, together with Sivananda and Vadivelu. The patronage of the royal courts should have certainly been primarily based on the credentials of those gifted girls — Kamakshi was a disciple of Subbaraya Sastri, son of Syama Sastri of the Trinity of Carnatic music, and her daughter Sundarammal was a disciple of Annaswami Sastri, his grandson. Into this enriched ancestry got here Veena Dhanammal, who was additionally reportedly taught by the direct descendants of Dikshitar’s parampara.
Continuing the legacy have been her 4 daughters, certainly one of whom was Jayammal, Balasaraswati’s mom. Aniruddha’s mom, Lakshmi, was Balamma’s solely daughter. “She used to recollect how Balamma enjoyed watching me move to her music and nattuvangam, accompanied by her brothers, T Ranganathan on the mridangam and T Viswanathan on the flute,” says Aniruddha.
Edited excerpts from an interview.
What was the form of coaching that your grandmother underwent to mould her into the legend she grew to become?
Aniruddha Knight
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Special association
Kandappa Nattuvanar, a great-grandson of Ponnayya of the Tanjore Quartet, was her guru. Her type of dancing bore the affect of his tutelage, which was meticulous. One had to grasp 150 adavus, solely after which the scholar may transfer on to abhinaya. Insisting on perfection, he demanded six hours of intense coaching day by day. He was so strict that after a degree solely Balamma was left as his scholar! My mom says that she seen the scars from the caning on her legs after my grandmother died! Balamma was nicely skilled in music and she or he was a scholar in Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil, all of which enhanced her artwork, making it holistic. Apart from all this was her resilient nature that surmounted private challenges and sicknesses resembling rheumatic fever and most cancers. She was on a no-salt, no-sugar food regimen nearly her complete life!
How would you describe the Balasaraswati type?
Aniruddha Knight with his grandmother, the legendary danseuse Balasaraswati
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ANIRUDDHA KNIGHT
The type could be very detailed and music is equally necessary within the efficiency. The accompanying musicians would do alaap, particularly earlier than the varnam. In reality, in these days, the primary rows within the corridor can be occupied by identified musicians of the time, who got here to benefit from the music as nicely! The dancer sang as she carried out and the manodharma half can be enacted spontaneously and never choreographed – choreography is a Western idea! The hallmark of this conventional Bharatanatyam was extempore abhinaya and the interplay with the pakkamelam throughout the recital.
Balamma’s forte was her capability to contain the viewers completely as she acquired into the function of the character she was enjoying. Embellishments by the use of costume and props have been minimal – as if she needed to convey that the characters she portrayed and the artwork she stood for, rose above such triviality.
What was her journey like? How did she turn out to be widespread within the West?
The sequence of legislations that culminated within the Devadasi Abolition Act, 1947 posed a dampener to these critically practising the artwork, like Balamma. This led to a a lull in her profession. But in 1961, she was invited to current on the East-West Music Encounter convention in Tokyo, the place she acquired an awesome response. Following this, she was invited to the US by the Asia Society that had despatched Charles Reinhart to request her.
San Francisco 1974 Balasaraswathi Photo: Jan Steward
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JAN STEWARD
‘Do you know I waited three months to get your grandmother to agree!’ Charles as soon as instructed me. Thus it was that she carried out on the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts in 1962, which was the start of a sequence of profitable excursions within the ensuing years. It is ironic that it was within the West that she began to be appreciated and valued. In the next twenty years she continued to go to the US and held residencies at Wesleyan University.
Having mentioned this, I have to point out that she carried out broadly in India too. In reality, she was one of many earliest dancers to carry out on the Navarathri Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram.
As the only descendant of the lineage how do you carry the custom ahead? Do you face any challenges?
I used to be very younger when my grandmother handed on and, at that time, my mom, Lakshmi Knight was the one direct successor within the line. With her falling prey to most cancers, I used to be devastated – shedding a mom, pal and guru abruptly! Both of us realised we have been racing towards time and so it was a interval of intense instructing and coaching from her, as she handed on the legacy to me.
Aniruddha Knight
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Through the Balasaraswati Institute of Performing Arts, we train college students at no cost, however with no compromise to the coaching course of or the custom. Along with dance they’re taught music, the mridangam and nattuvangam. The unhappy reality is that folks don’t realise the schooling that wants to go into dance. Students too don’t perceive the vastness of any artwork kind. Everyone wants fast fixes!
The challenges are extra for me than the scholars. The boundaries of the type are open. But how far are you able to push it throughout the custom? The conventional recital with its equal emphasis on music, would require a minimal of three hours to current the margam. When you attempt to match it to the current state of affairs, we find yourself shedding a whole lot of objects from the repertoire.
Anirudha Knight at Neelankarai Beach, in Chennai on July 28, 2009.
| Photo Credit:
KARUNAKARAN M
Then there’s the query of gender bias too – once I current heroine-based themes, which constituted most of Balamma’s repertoire, there’s reluctance from the viewers to settle for me. In response I would really like to ask – if males performed feminine characters in Kathakali and Kuchipudi, why can’t a person do vice versa in Bharatanatyam? Birju Maharaj, for example, performed nayikas in Kathak. I’d say that artwork transcends gender. Going past appears and costumes, this was what Balasaraswati conveyed by way of her artwork – to rise above superficiality!