Obituary: Born to teach Bharatnatyam

Nonika Singh

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Just two days after her 86th birthday on September 19, celebrated dancer and choreographer Saroja Vaidyanathan breathed her last after a prolonged illness. Each time a legendary figure passes away into eternity, we are tempted to reiterate the truism: how they left behind a rich legacy. But with Saroja Vaidyanathan, this assertion is no exaggeration.

Her choreographies stood out for her remarkable ability to blend tradition with modern day themes

If classical dance form Bharatnatyam and its exacting grammar lived in every pore of her being, she will continue to live in scores of her disciples. Her labour of love, Ganesa Natyalaya, a dance school in New Delhi stands as an embodiment of her ardour to keep alive our centuries- old tradition and spread the fragrance of what all she had imbibed from her gurus. Interestingly, trained by guru Lalitha Sastry, her ascent in the realm of dance began with teaching. As today the world remembers her as a dancer par excellence, a teacher extraordinaire and author of several books on music and dance such as The Science of Bharatanatyam and Bharatanatyam – An In-Depth Study, it can’t possibly forget her hard work, persistence and zeal to forge new paths.

Married to an IAS officer at 16 who did not quite encourage her to dance on stage, she somehow persuaded him to let her teach. What began as a fledgling occupation soon blossomed into a full-fledged vocation and an enriched life of devotion to her muse. Gradually, she took to stage too as her husband’s reservations melted away after they moved to Delhi. Once in the Capital, she did not look back.

Though steeped in the grammar of Bharatnatyam, her choreographies stood out for her remarkable ability to blend tradition with modern day themes. Child abuse, women empowerment; why even a subject like traffic too found resonance in her dance compositions. Often she would move away from convention and create Bharatnatyam dance pieces like Krishna Arpan set to Hindustani classical music as against the norm of Carnatic music. Her dance ballets too exemplified her innate power to innovate and reimagine within the paradigm of tradition.

Born in Bellary, Karnataka, in 1937 and brought up in Chennai, at the young age of six dance and music became a way of life for her. Honoured with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, hers was undeniably an illustrious, well-lived life. In Chandigarh, where she would often come with her disciples, she spoke about the therapeutic power of classical forms.