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Tribute to Kalanidhi Narayan, the grand old lady of bharatnatyam

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Ashish Mohan Khokar
Ashish Mohan KhokarFeb 22, 2016 | 15:03

Tribute to Kalanidhi Narayan, the grand old lady of bharatnatyam

An era has come to an end with the death of one of the doyens of bharatnatyam. Noted danseuse Kalanidhi Narayan learnt from a real temple dancer, Mylapore Gowri, even before the legendary Rukmini Devi Arundale. Narayan's debut as a dancer was three months before that of Arundale on December 30, 1935, but she never publicised the fact.

A photo inked by Narayan in the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection (MKDC) is proof of her debut. But when this fact was brought to her attention, she said, "Ashish, don't publicise. I don't want any attention on this. Do it after I'm gone."

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Narayan remained understated all her life. She stopped dancing after her husband's death, as was the custom of the times. However, in the late 1970s, she was urged by Doraiswamy, a promoter of arts, to showcase some selected arts that were easy to perform and not too technical and demanding since she was away from dancing for decades. So Narayan undertook just "abhinaya" (an emotive form of art) and since then, she never looked back.

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Rare debut picture of Kalanidhi Narayan (Source: Ashish Mohan Khokar Dance Archives). 

She did not have to dance margams or the full repertoire of bharatnatyam but did only light abhinaya items like Padams and Javalis. Her dance was in her eyes. With minimal movement from the neck above, she evolved a new minimal style and became a busy teacher, guru and expert, and many dancers flocked to her.

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Kalanidhi Narayan. 

She became an institution in recent years. Dancers, especially from abroad, just wanted her name attached to theirs, which would have embellished their CVs. Even if they learnt from her only at two week-long workshops.

Narayan was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1985 and many other prestigious awards.

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Kalanidhi Narayan (Source: Ashish Mohan Khokar Dance Archives).

Many films on her art have been made. Director Priyadarshini Govind is one of her ace followers. With Narayan's death late February 21 in Chennai, the grand old lady of bharatnatyam is gone, and with her an important slice of history.

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Last updated: February 22, 2016 | 18:39
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