Dhananjayans

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V. P. Dhananjayan & Shanta Dhananjayan
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)
Payyanur, Kerala, India
Websitebharatakalaanjali.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

V.P Dhananjayan was born into a

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

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

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.[

Guruvayoor Temple in Kerala.[citation needed
]

Career – Dancing Duo

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

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

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

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

Some of the major awards and accolades conferred on the Dhananjayans:

Social issues and politics

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

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

V.P Dhananjayan is a prolific writer and writes not only on dance but also on social and political issues. His publications include:

References

  1. ^ "Studio Satyajit official Website". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  2. ^ Bharata Kalanjali Website – Biography
  3. ^ Dancer on Dance, V.P Dhananjayan, Bharata Kalanjali
  4. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Dance". Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  6. ISBN 81-88827-08-8
  7. ^ 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

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