Neila Sathyalingam
Encyclopedia
Neila Sathyalingam (born 1938) is a Singapore
an classical Indian dance
r, choreographer
and instructor of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. An alumna of Kalakshetra
in Madras (now Chennai
) under the tutelage of Srimathi Rukmini Devi Arundale
, she emigrated with her family to Singapore in 1974. In 1977 she and her husband founded the performance arts company Apsaras Arts, which has staged performances throughout the world. She is the company's artistic director and continues to teach dance. In 1983, Neila was appointed the dance instructor and choreographer for the Indian Dance Group of the People's Association
(PA), and remains its resident choreographer. She is also an artistic adviser to the National Arts Council
. For her contributions to dance, Neila was awarded the Cultural Medallion
in 1989. She became a Singapore citizen
in 1994.
Neila's interactions with choreographers and dancers of different cultural backgrounds and traditions in Singapore have inspired her to create new Indian dance steps based on classical foundations; for instance, her dance-drama Kannagi, staged for the Singapore Festival of Arts in 1998, was said to have stretched tradition to its limits and offered something to a range of audiences far wider than a traditional dance-drama would have done. Up to 2007, Neila had choreographed dance segments for the last 13 Chingay Parade
s, street parades held annually in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year
festivities.
, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
). She began dancing at the age of five, and trained in the classical Indian dance
traditions of Bharatanatyam
, Kathak
, Kathakali
and Manipuri
at the Shanti Kumar School of Dance and the Kalaya School of Dance in Colombo. In 1954, she won the gold medal at the All-Ceylon Dance Festival and was selected to perform for Elizabeth II
when the Queen visited Sri Lanka in April 1954 during her tour of the Commonwealth
after acceding to the throne. Neila has said: "That was the day I decided I was going to devote my life to dance. My father wanted me to become a dental surgeon, but I refused". At 18, she enrolled in Kalakshetra
, a cultural academy located in Madras (now Chennai
) which was established to preserve traditional values in Indian art
and reputed to be one of the best dance institutions in India, under the tutelage of Srimathi Rukmini Devi Arundale
(1904–1986). She lived a regimented lifestyle, living in a thatched house with "snakes above and rats running below" and waking at 4:30am for dance practice every day. She completed her five-year course in two years, graduating with a first-class honours diploma in Bharatanatyam in 1957.
Neila met her husband, Sathyalingam Suntharalingam, at Kalakshetra. The son of a Sri Lankan politician, he had graduated from the University of Madras
with a Sangitha Sironmani (Degree in Music) and from Kalakshetra in 1955 with a Diploma in Music, and was then teaching Indian classical music
theory
and the playing of the Indian drum and cymbals at the academy. After a two-year courtship, they married in 1956 and moved back to Sri Lanka where they lived in a 40-ha
farm just outside Colombo. Sathyalingam then taught dance in schools while raising her children, the first of whom was born in 1957.
In May 1958, riots broke out in Sri Lanka
between the Sinhalese
and Tamil communities. Although the Sathyalingams received a tip-off that they had been targeted and managed to escape the violence, 80 Sinhalese rioters attacked and burned their home. Having lost their abode and all their possessions, they resettled in Colombo. In 1969 Neila returned to Kalakshetra to be trained as an instructor and to take up a postgraduate diploma course. She graduated in 1972 with a distinction and was appointed a dance teacher with Kalakshetra.
In 1974 the family moved to Singapore after American company Uniroyal Chemicals, for which Sathyalingam worked as an area sales manager, posted him there. Coming to Singapore exposed Neila to dancers of different cultural backgrounds and traditions, inspiring her to create new Indian dance steps based on classical foundations. In 1977, Neila and her husband founded performing arts company Apsaras Arts under the auspices of the Kamala Club, an organization for Indian ladies promoting Indian dance and music. Starting with 20 students, the company expanded in size and significance, and has staged numerous arangetrams (dance débuts) and performances in Singapore and abroad, including Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Apsaras Arts, now based at the Telok Ayer
Performing Arts Centre, has also taken part in numerous arts and dance festivals worldwide, including the Asean
Festival in Malaysia (1983); the Australian Youth Musical Festival (August 1983); the Hong Kong Arts Festival
(1990); the World of Music, Arts and Dance
(Womad) Festival in Singapore (2002); the 17th National Cultural Festival in Nong Khai
, Thailand (2003); and the Indian Festival of Arts in Singapore (2003). Neila and her husband are respectively the company's artistic director and music director, and continue to teach classical Indian dance and music.
In 1983, Neila was appointed the dance instructor and choreographer for the Indian Dance Group of the People's Association
(PA) where, for a modest sum, she taught Indian dance to children from lower-income families for free. She continues to be the resident choreographer for the Indian Dance Group, which is now under the umbrella of PA Talents. She is also an artistic adviser to the National Arts Council
.
Neila was awarded the Cultural Medallion
for her contributions to dance in 1989. She became a Singapore citizen
in 1994, her husband and children following suit in subsequent years. Also in 1994, she was honoured by Bharat Kalachar, a music and dance school in Chennai, with the Viswa Kala Bharathi, an award given to non-resident Indian artistes who have helped to propagate Indian arts in foreign lands, for her artistic contributions throughout the world.
Together with fellow Cultural Medallion holders Som Said and Yang Choong Lian, Neila was a choreographer for the Lion City Angels, a multiracial children's dance troupe formed in 1988. The group performed in the Children's Folklore Festival in France in 1995 and the International Children's Folklore Festival in Spain in 1996. Other major achievements of Neila's include the dance-drama Kannagi, staged for the Singapore Festival of Arts in 1998, and the "Fire" segment of the performance The Rhythm of Life staged by the People's Association Cultural Troupe in November 2001; the former was said to have "stretched the bounds of traditions to its limits and succeeded in offering something to a range of audiences far wider than what a traditional dance-drama would have done". Up to 2007, Neila had also choreographed dance segments for the last 13 Chingay Parade
s, which are street parades held annually in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year
festivities.
On 14 and 15 September 2007, Neila staged at the Victoria Theatre
what has been termed her "last mega-production", an Indian epic dance drama called Sivagami written by Kalki Krishnamurthy
(1899–1954), which involved 65 dancers from Apsaras Arts and from India. Thereafter, she has said that she intends to "slow down" by focusing on her teaching, although she has remarked: "There is really no such thing called a swan song, and I won't like to keep still after being so active. ... I will keep dancing as long as my body will say yes to me".
of Singapore. Her younger son Skanda (born 1963) contracted encephalitis
at six months and became severely mentally and physically disabled. Skanda's condition is a source of sadness for Neila, who has said, "People ask me how is it that I'm so strong. But I don't know whether I'm strong. This strength is just a facade. If I talk [about my son]... I'm going to cry. My son has made me a better person, more patient and more compassionate towards people. I suppose good has come from the sad." Neila's younger sister, Anusha, who lives in Zambia, is also a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher.
Neila enjoys cooking, sewing and keeping her home tidy, while her husband is an avid gardener.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an classical Indian dance
Classical Indian dance
Indian classical dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni .- Definitions :...
r, choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
and instructor of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. An alumna of 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...
in Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
) under the tutelage of Srimathi 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....
, she emigrated with her family to Singapore in 1974. In 1977 she and her husband founded the performance arts company Apsaras Arts, which has staged performances throughout the world. She is the company's artistic director and continues to teach dance. In 1983, Neila was appointed the dance instructor and choreographer for the Indian Dance Group of the People's Association
People's Association
The People’s Association was established in Singapore as a statutory board on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion. PA commemorated its 50th Anniversary in 2010....
(PA), and remains its resident choreographer. She is also an artistic adviser to the National Arts Council
National Arts Council Singapore
The National Arts Council of Singapore was established in September 1991 "to nurture the arts and make it an integral part of life in Singapore.-History :...
. For her contributions to dance, Neila was awarded the Cultural Medallion
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
in 1989. She became a Singapore citizen
Singaporean nationality law
Singaporean nationality law is derived from the Constitution of Singapore and is based on jus sanguinis and a modified form of jus soli...
in 1994.
Neila's interactions with choreographers and dancers of different cultural backgrounds and traditions in Singapore have inspired her to create new Indian dance steps based on classical foundations; for instance, her dance-drama Kannagi, staged for the Singapore Festival of Arts in 1998, was said to have stretched tradition to its limits and offered something to a range of audiences far wider than a traditional dance-drama would have done. Up to 2007, Neila had choreographed dance segments for the last 13 Chingay Parade
Chingay Parade
The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in Penang, Malaysia and Singapore as part of Chinese New Year festivities. The term Chingay itself originated in Southeast Asia, particularly in Penang, which is a phonetic equivalent of the Chinese words "妆艺", which means "a decorated miniature...
s, street parades held annually in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
festivities.
Biography
The second of four daughters of a well-to-do dental surgeon and a housewife, Srimathi Neila Sathyalingam was born Neila Balendra in 1938 in ColomboColombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
). She began dancing at the age of five, and trained in the classical Indian dance
Classical Indian dance
Indian classical dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni .- Definitions :...
traditions of 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...
, Kathak
Kathak
Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
, 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...
and Manipuri
Manipuri dance
Manipuri dance is one of the major Indian classical dance forms. It originates from Manipur, a state in north-eastern India on the border with Myanmar . In Manipur, surrounded by mountains and geographically isolated at the meeting point of the orient and mainland India, the form developed its own...
at the Shanti Kumar School of Dance and the Kalaya School of Dance in Colombo. In 1954, she won the gold medal at the All-Ceylon Dance Festival and was selected to perform for Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
when the Queen visited Sri Lanka in April 1954 during her tour of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
after acceding to the throne. Neila has said: "That was the day I decided I was going to devote my life to dance. My father wanted me to become a dental surgeon, but I refused". At 18, she enrolled in 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...
, a cultural academy located in Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
) which was established to preserve traditional values in Indian art
Indian art
Indian Art is the visual art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC to modern times. To viewers schooled in the Western tradition, Indian art may seem overly ornate and sensuous; appreciation of its refinement comes only gradually, as a rule. Voluptuous feeling is...
and reputed to be one of the best dance institutions in India, under the tutelage of Srimathi 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....
(1904–1986). She lived a regimented lifestyle, living in a thatched house with "snakes above and rats running below" and waking at 4:30am for dance practice every day. She completed her five-year course in two years, graduating with a first-class honours diploma in Bharatanatyam in 1957.
University of Madras
The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...
with a Sangitha Sironmani (Degree in Music) and from Kalakshetra in 1955 with a Diploma in Music, and was then teaching Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and the playing of the Indian drum and cymbals at the academy. After a two-year courtship, they married in 1956 and moved back to Sri Lanka where they lived in a 40-ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
farm just outside Colombo. Sathyalingam then taught dance in schools while raising her children, the first of whom was born in 1957.
In May 1958, riots broke out in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan riots of 1958
1958 riots in Ceylon also known as 58 riots was first island wide ethnic riots that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils in Ceylon after it became an independent country from Britain in 1948. The riots lasted from May 22 until May 27, 1958 although sporadic disturbances happened even after the...
between the Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
and Tamil communities. Although the Sathyalingams received a tip-off that they had been targeted and managed to escape the violence, 80 Sinhalese rioters attacked and burned their home. Having lost their abode and all their possessions, they resettled in Colombo. In 1969 Neila returned to Kalakshetra to be trained as an instructor and to take up a postgraduate diploma course. She graduated in 1972 with a distinction and was appointed a dance teacher with Kalakshetra.
In 1974 the family moved to Singapore after American company Uniroyal Chemicals, for which Sathyalingam worked as an area sales manager, posted him there. Coming to Singapore exposed Neila to dancers of different cultural backgrounds and traditions, inspiring her to create new Indian dance steps based on classical foundations. In 1977, Neila and her husband founded performing arts company Apsaras Arts under the auspices of the Kamala Club, an organization for Indian ladies promoting Indian dance and music. Starting with 20 students, the company expanded in size and significance, and has staged numerous arangetrams (dance débuts) and performances in Singapore and abroad, including Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Apsaras Arts, now based at the Telok Ayer
Telok Ayer
Telok Ayer is a historic district located in Singapore's Chinatown within the Central Business District, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urban planning zones.-Etymology:...
Performing Arts Centre, has also taken part in numerous arts and dance festivals worldwide, including the Asean
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN rarely ), is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has...
Festival in Malaysia (1983); the Australian Youth Musical Festival (August 1983); the Hong Kong Arts Festival
Hong Kong Arts Festival
Hong Kong Arts Festival , founded in 1973, is a focus programmes for the Culture of Hong Kong, in order to provides a wide range of art programmes from all over the world....
(1990); the World of Music, Arts and Dance
World of Music, Arts and Dance
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.-History:...
(Womad) Festival in Singapore (2002); the 17th National Cultural Festival in Nong Khai
Nong Khai
Nong Khai is a city in North-East Thailand and is the capital of the Nong Khai Province...
, Thailand (2003); and the Indian Festival of Arts in Singapore (2003). Neila and her husband are respectively the company's artistic director and music director, and continue to teach classical Indian dance and music.
People's Association
The People’s Association was established in Singapore as a statutory board on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion. PA commemorated its 50th Anniversary in 2010....
(PA) where, for a modest sum, she taught Indian dance to children from lower-income families for free. She continues to be the resident choreographer for the Indian Dance Group, which is now under the umbrella of PA Talents. She is also an artistic adviser to the National Arts Council
National Arts Council Singapore
The National Arts Council of Singapore was established in September 1991 "to nurture the arts and make it an integral part of life in Singapore.-History :...
.
Neila was awarded the Cultural Medallion
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
for her contributions to dance in 1989. She became a Singapore citizen
Singaporean nationality law
Singaporean nationality law is derived from the Constitution of Singapore and is based on jus sanguinis and a modified form of jus soli...
in 1994, her husband and children following suit in subsequent years. Also in 1994, she was honoured by Bharat Kalachar, a music and dance school in Chennai, with the Viswa Kala Bharathi, an award given to non-resident Indian artistes who have helped to propagate Indian arts in foreign lands, for her artistic contributions throughout the world.
Together with fellow Cultural Medallion holders Som Said and Yang Choong Lian, Neila was a choreographer for the Lion City Angels, a multiracial children's dance troupe formed in 1988. The group performed in the Children's Folklore Festival in France in 1995 and the International Children's Folklore Festival in Spain in 1996. Other major achievements of Neila's include the dance-drama Kannagi, staged for the Singapore Festival of Arts in 1998, and the "Fire" segment of the performance The Rhythm of Life staged by the People's Association Cultural Troupe in November 2001; the former was said to have "stretched the bounds of traditions to its limits and succeeded in offering something to a range of audiences far wider than what a traditional dance-drama would have done". Up to 2007, Neila had also choreographed dance segments for the last 13 Chingay Parade
Chingay Parade
The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in Penang, Malaysia and Singapore as part of Chinese New Year festivities. The term Chingay itself originated in Southeast Asia, particularly in Penang, which is a phonetic equivalent of the Chinese words "妆艺", which means "a decorated miniature...
s, which are street parades held annually in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
festivities.
On 14 and 15 September 2007, Neila staged at the Victoria Theatre
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor and is located in the civic district of Singapore...
what has been termed her "last mega-production", an Indian epic dance drama called Sivagami written by Kalki Krishnamurthy
Kalki Krishnamurthy
Kalki was the pen name of R. Krishnamurthy , a noted Tamil writer, film & music critic, Indian independence activist and journalist from Tamil Nadu, India.- Biography:...
(1899–1954), which involved 65 dancers from Apsaras Arts and from India. Thereafter, she has said that she intends to "slow down" by focusing on her teaching, although she has remarked: "There is really no such thing called a swan song, and I won't like to keep still after being so active. ... I will keep dancing as long as my body will say yes to me".
Personal life
Neila and her husband Sathyalingam have three daughters and two sons. Of her daughters, her eldest, Mohana (born 1957), sings for Apsaras Arts' performances; while Nandana (born 1960), runs an Indian performing arts school also called Apsaras Arts in Canberra, Australia. Her older son Shaan (born 1962) is a legal adviser for the National Library BoardNational Library Board
The National Library Board is a statutory board of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore...
of Singapore. Her younger son Skanda (born 1963) contracted encephalitis
Encephalitis
Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue...
at six months and became severely mentally and physically disabled. Skanda's condition is a source of sadness for Neila, who has said, "People ask me how is it that I'm so strong. But I don't know whether I'm strong. This strength is just a facade. If I talk [about my son]... I'm going to cry. My son has made me a better person, more patient and more compassionate towards people. I suppose good has come from the sad." Neila's younger sister, Anusha, who lives in Zambia, is also a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher.
Neila enjoys cooking, sewing and keeping her home tidy, while her husband is an avid gardener.