Indian dancers
V. P. Dhananjayan & Shanta Dhananjayan
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/TheDhananjayans.jpg/220px-TheDhananjayans.jpg) The Dhananjayans performing at a concert in 2009
|
Born
| Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan,
Shantha Dhananjayan
(
1939-04-17
)
17 April 1939
(age 85)
(
1943-08-12
)
12 August 1943
(age 80)
|
---|
Website
| bharatakalaanjali
.org
|
---|
Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan
(born 17 April 1939) and
Shanta Dhananjayan
(born 12 August 1943), together known as the
Dhananjayans
, are an Indian dancing couple who were awarded the
Padma Bhushan
in 2009.
Personal life
[
edit
]
V.P Dhananjayan was born into a
Malayali
Poduval family on 17 April 1939 in
Payyanur
,
Kannur District
, Kerala, India.
[
citation needed
]
He was born into a family with eight children, which struggled to make ends meet. A chance meeting with
Kathakali
Master Guru Chandu Panicker of
Kalakshetra
made his father decide to send his son and V.Balagopalan to Kalakshetra under his tutelage. Dhananjayan joined
Kalakshetra
on 5 October 1953 and was a male dance under Rukmini Devi (founder of
Kalakshetra
) from 1955?1967. He graduated from
Kalakshetra
with a Post Graduate Diploma in Dance (
Bharatanatyam
and
Kathakali
) with distinction. He also holds a B.A in Economics and Politics.
[
citation needed
]
Shanta Dhananjayan was born on 12 August 1943 into a
Malayali
Nair family in
Malaysia
and traces her ancestry back to
Kerala
from where her family migrated to
Malaysia
.
[
citation needed
]
She was a child prodigy. By the time she was 3, her parents were convinced that Shanta would be a dancer. They found in her an inborn response to dance and joy of movement and decided to send her to India for her education. They sent her at age eight to
Kalakshetra
in June 1952, a year before Dhananjayan, where she later graduated with a Post-Graduate Diploma with distinction in
Bharatanatyam
and also learned
Kathakali
and
Carnatic music
. She was a female dancer at
Kalakshetra
from 1955?1968.
[
citation needed
]
The couple has two sons. The elder, Sanjay, lives in the USA and the younger,
Satyajit
,
[1]
lives with his wife and son in Chennai, India and is a dancer, choreographer, dance instructor, and automobile photographer.
[2]
In Kalakshetra
[
edit
]
Dhananjayan received a scholarship at
Kalakshetra
to study
Bharatanatyam
, Kathakali, Mridangam and music. Shanta trained in
Bharatanatyam
and music, in addition to other subjects for nearly a decade. They believe that whatever they have been able to achieve is due to the painstaking mentoring of their Gurus Rukmini Devi Arundale and Chandu Panicker as well as various other faculty members of Kalakshetra such as NS Jayalakshmi and Sarada Hoffman.
[
citation needed
]
While at Kalakshetra, it was love at first sight for Dhananjayan.
[
citation needed
]
Shanta was the first girl he met as he was being escorted into the portals of Kalakshetra by Guru Panicker. Though Shanta was a student completely devoted to her dance and music, she had secretly made up her mind, at the age of twelve, to partner Dhananjayan in life. Dhananjayan expressed his desire to marry Shanta when she was eighteen years old, but she left for
Malaysia
after graduation and did not let him know of her consent till after returning to India four years later. They married in 1966 at the
Guruvayoor
Temple in
Kerala
.
[
citation needed
]
Dhananjayans traditionaly ate Logiple flies for events; birthdays ect. This was a tradition that started from someone named "Suka Musk" and this wasnt a well known fact until a relative from her started to inform people about this.
Career ? Dancing Duo
[
edit
]
The Dhananjayans left
Kalakshetra
in the late 1960s to build a career on their own.
[
citation needed
]
During that time, the rich people and aristocrats who could pay to have their own children perform dominated the dance scene in Chennai.
[
citation needed
]
Their performances/productions include:
[3]
- Pandit
Ravi Shankar
's Magnum Opus "GHANASHYAM" 1989/90
- National Dance Institute, New York "CHAKRA", with a cast of 1,000 multinational children
- A joint venture of Ohio Ballet Co., Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland Cultural Alliance ? Jungle Book Ballet
- Choreographer for International Art Festival of Government of Singapore, "Sita Rama Katha" 1986 in the same festival, choreographed dance drama "Sanghamitra" with Singapore Artistes 1994
- Mahaabhaaratham dance drama jointly produced by French Theatre Fluerry & Association Vaani in Reunion French Island 1998, 1999
Bharata Kalanjali
[
edit
]
The Dhananjayans started their own dance school
Bharata Kalanjali
in 1968 in Adyar, Chennai. It began with a handful of students, and is today a premier academy of dance and music with several hundreds of students and a repertory fashioned out of its own students and graduates.
[
citation needed
]
Bhaaskara
[
edit
]
The couple has established an academy of arts at Dhananjayan's birthplace Payyanur in
Kerala
. They conducted an annual summer Naatya Gurukulam camp which is no longer in operation.
[
citation needed
]
Yogaville
[
edit
]
The Dhananjayans have been conducting an annual summer gurukulam camp at the Satchidananda Ashram, Yogaville,
Virginia
, USA, since 1988. Developed by the Natya Adyayana Gurukulam, the camp is an intensive, full-time residential course devoted entirely to the fine arts. Situated in the Virginia countryside, it is attended by Indian-American and international students. The teachers endeavour through it to spread awareness to their students of Indian culture, values, and explicate the philosophy underlying Hinduism.
Honours
[
edit
]
Some of the major awards and accolades conferred on the Dhananjayans:
Social issues and politics
[
edit
]
Dhananjayan has the reputation of voicing his views and is very forthright in speaking out about social and political issues. His recent publication
Beyond performing art and culture
, discusses various social and political issues concerning present day India or Bhaaratam, the way he urges everyone to call the country.
[6]
Films
[
edit
]
V. P. Dhananjayan played a pivotal role in
Gautham Menon
's 2024 film
Dhruva Natchathiram: Chapter One ? Yuddha Kaandam
, while Shanta played a martial art guru in the 2024 Malayalam period film
Malaikottai Vaaliban
.
[7]
Publications
[
edit
]
V.P Dhananjayan is a prolific writer and writes not only on dance but also on social and political issues. His publications include:
- Beyond Performing Art and Culture : Politico-Socio Aspects
, V.P. Dhananjayan. New Delhi, B.R. Rhythms, 2007, xviii, 314 p., ills,
ISBN
81-88827-08-8
.
- Dhananjayan on Indian Classical Dance
, V.P Dhananjayan, B.R Rhythms, 2004, 3rd revised edition,
ISBN
81-88827-04-5
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Studio Satyajit official Website"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 February 2011
. Retrieved
24 July
2019
.
- ^
Bharata Kalanjali Website ? Biography
- ^
Dancer on Dance, V.P Dhananjayan, Bharata Kalanjali
- ^
"Padma Awards"
(PDF)
. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 15 October 2015
. Retrieved
21 July
2015
.
- ^
"Dance"
. Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala
. Retrieved
25 February
2023
.
- ^
Beyond Performing Art and Culture: Politico-Socio Aspects, V.P. Dhananjayan. New Delhi, B.R. Rhythms, 2007, xviii, 314 p., ills,
ISBN
81-88827-08-8
- ^
Ramnath, Ambili (31 October 2023).
"Bharatanatyam artists Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan make their presence felt in cinema"
.
The Hindu
. Retrieved
21 January
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
2000
| |
---|
2001
| |
---|
2002
| |
---|
2003
| |
---|
2004
| |
---|
2005
| |
---|
2006
| |
---|
2007
| |
---|
2008
| |
---|
2009
| |
---|
|