Anita Ratnam
Encyclopedia
Anita Ratnam is an accomplished India
n classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer, whose career spans four decades and in 15 countries. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali
, Mohiniattam, and T'ai chi and Kalarippayattu
, thus creating a unique dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharat Natyam".
She is the founder-director of Arangham Trust, set up in 1992 in Chennai, here she also founded Arangham Dance Theatre, a performance company in 1993 and in 2000 she created www.narthaki.com, an Indian dance portal. Over the years, she has received numerous awards and recognition for her work in the performing arts in India and abroad as a choreographer, scholar and cultural activist.
guru, Adyar K. Lakshman
and later went to Rukmini Devi Arundale
's 'Kalakshetra
' for advanced training and earned a Post graduate diploma in Dance. She trained in Bharatanatyam
as well as Kathakali and Mohiniattam, the classical dances of Kerala.
and Television from the University of New Orleans
, and spent the she spent next ten years as a Television Producer/commentator in the United States with productions including a weekly series on art, travel and culture in India. She set up Arangham Trust, set up in 1992 in Chennai, followed by Arangham Dance Theatre, a performance company in 1993.
A modernist, passionately convinced about creating from her immediate environment, Anitha Ratnam has explored various streams of movement and ritual traditions connected with her initial training in classical Bharatanatyam. Ensemble and solo works that echo her strong Indian/Asian aesthetic of silence, meditation, devotion and adoration, Ratnam uses her personal life experience and the
full canvas of a woman’s world to paint her original dance-scapes.
Anita Ratnam is an emerging icon of modernist thought rooted in her Indian aesthetic and is a multiple award winning artiste in her country as well as a sought after speaker and writer on culture, performance and women’s imaging in society.
She founded www.narthaki.com, a portal for Indian dance; co-founded and curated 'The Other Festival', India’s first annual contemporary dance festival.
Quoting about her inspiration and her works, she says:
"I am in dance because this is my own way of connecting with myself and the world. I consider myself a contemporary classicist.
All my ideas are from traditional sources, but they can also be from readings and from nature: a lotus flower floating in a small brass vessel, a child blowing soap bubbles, even a piece of paper flying in the wind gives me inspiration.
The whole world of ideas and a host of people and their mannerisms can all be suggested by a flicker of an eyelid, a flourish of the hand and the attitude of the body. The ideas come from many sources but I use them and put them together in my own style of dance, movement and theatre techniques.
When people see my work, they can tell that it is Indian in spirit but very contemporary in approach. Folk dancers and drummers who dance every evening after a hard day's work in the fields, traditional temple performers whose lives depend upon serving GOD during important festivals, actors who fuse movement with voice culture, young performers and students all over the world who want to learn new movement and the dynamics of cultural memories embedded into our South Asian bloodstream - these are the artistes who are the focus of my work.
I call myself a cultural activist because I believe in my culture. My culture doesn't mean just the performing arts. To me it stands for finding out about my roots and knowing who I am. And the classical arts are a very vital part of our culture.".
In 2007, she performed her solo operatic performance "7 Graces" at Joyce SoHo, New York in collaboration with Hari Krishnan, a Canada-based dancer-choreographer.
she has also appeared in some Tamil movies such as Kandukondain Kandukondain(2000) and boys(2003).
Some of them are:
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer, whose career spans four decades and in 15 countries. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali
Kathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
, Mohiniattam, and T'ai chi and Kalarippayattu
Kalarippayattu
Kalaripayattu is a southern Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu but also practiced in contiguous parts of Kerala and Karnataka.Kalari payat includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods...
, thus creating a unique dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharat Natyam".
She is the founder-director of Arangham Trust, set up in 1992 in Chennai, here she also founded Arangham Dance Theatre, a performance company in 1993 and in 2000 she created www.narthaki.com, an Indian dance portal. Over the years, she has received numerous awards and recognition for her work in the performing arts in India and abroad as a choreographer, scholar and cultural activist.
Education and training
Anitha Rathnam had her initial dance training under BharatanatyamBharatanatyam
Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...
guru, Adyar K. Lakshman
Adyar K. Lakshman
Adyar K. Lakshman is a noted Indian Bharatnatyam dancer, choreographer and guru.-Early life:Born on 16 December 1933, Adyar K. Lakshman hails from Kuppam in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. His father, Krishnaraja Rao, was posted there as a school teacher. Shri. Lakshman and his brother Shri....
and later went to Rukmini Devi Arundale
Rukmini Devi Arundale
Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and also an activist for animal rights and welfare....
's 'Kalakshetra
Kalakshetra
Kalakshetra is a cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. The academy was founded in January 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale. Under Arundale's guidance the institution achieved national...
' for advanced training and earned a Post graduate diploma in Dance. She trained in Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam
Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...
as well as Kathakali and Mohiniattam, the classical dances of Kerala.
Career
She did her MA in TheatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and Television from the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
, and spent the she spent next ten years as a Television Producer/commentator in the United States with productions including a weekly series on art, travel and culture in India. She set up Arangham Trust, set up in 1992 in Chennai, followed by Arangham Dance Theatre, a performance company in 1993.
A modernist, passionately convinced about creating from her immediate environment, Anitha Ratnam has explored various streams of movement and ritual traditions connected with her initial training in classical Bharatanatyam. Ensemble and solo works that echo her strong Indian/Asian aesthetic of silence, meditation, devotion and adoration, Ratnam uses her personal life experience and the
full canvas of a woman’s world to paint her original dance-scapes.
Anita Ratnam is an emerging icon of modernist thought rooted in her Indian aesthetic and is a multiple award winning artiste in her country as well as a sought after speaker and writer on culture, performance and women’s imaging in society.
She founded www.narthaki.com, a portal for Indian dance; co-founded and curated 'The Other Festival', India’s first annual contemporary dance festival.
Quoting about her inspiration and her works, she says:
"I am in dance because this is my own way of connecting with myself and the world. I consider myself a contemporary classicist.
All my ideas are from traditional sources, but they can also be from readings and from nature: a lotus flower floating in a small brass vessel, a child blowing soap bubbles, even a piece of paper flying in the wind gives me inspiration.
The whole world of ideas and a host of people and their mannerisms can all be suggested by a flicker of an eyelid, a flourish of the hand and the attitude of the body. The ideas come from many sources but I use them and put them together in my own style of dance, movement and theatre techniques.
When people see my work, they can tell that it is Indian in spirit but very contemporary in approach. Folk dancers and drummers who dance every evening after a hard day's work in the fields, traditional temple performers whose lives depend upon serving GOD during important festivals, actors who fuse movement with voice culture, young performers and students all over the world who want to learn new movement and the dynamics of cultural memories embedded into our South Asian bloodstream - these are the artistes who are the focus of my work.
I call myself a cultural activist because I believe in my culture. My culture doesn't mean just the performing arts. To me it stands for finding out about my roots and knowing who I am. And the classical arts are a very vital part of our culture.".
In 2007, she performed her solo operatic performance "7 Graces" at Joyce SoHo, New York in collaboration with Hari Krishnan, a Canada-based dancer-choreographer.
she has also appeared in some Tamil movies such as Kandukondain Kandukondain(2000) and boys(2003).
Choreographies
- A Map to the Next World (1997), With Native American poet Joy Harjo
- Inner World (1998), ; with Pangea World Theatre in Minneapolis
- Daughters of the Ocean (1999), ; with writer Shobita Punja
- Dust (2002), with Mark Taylor of Dance Alloy, Pittsburgh, USA.
- Hyphenated (2002), for Toronto's Lata Pada.
- Seven Graces (2005), with Canada-based Hari Krishnan
- Vortext (2006), with Canadian dance artist Peter Chin
- MA3KA (2009).
Awards
Anita Ratnam has received several awards and recognition for her work in the performing arts in India and abroad.Some of them are:
- Nritya Choodamani(1996) by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai
KalaimamaniKalaimamaniThe Kalaimamani is an award in Tamil Nadu state, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram for excellence in the field of art and literature....
(1998) for Dance Research by Govt. of Tamilnadu
Media Achievement award (1991) by National Organisation of women in New York
Mahatma Gandhi Award for Cultural Harmony (1986) US
Lalithakalaratna (2003) by Sri Lalithakala Academy Foundation Trust (Inc.),Mysore, 2003
Natya Ratna (2003) by Sri Shanmukhananda Sangeeta Sabha, New Delhi