No. 1 Elliots Beach Road, Chennai, where one can find a lot of neem trees nurtured by the legendary dancer Chandralekha, was the right place to pay tribute to her. Her close colleague Sadanand Menon organised a meet on Jan. 13 and a audio presentation was put up by the media students of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.
The Bharatanaytam dancer, choreographer Chandralekha passed away on Dec. 31, 2006 in Chennai. She was 78
She had her training in Bharatanatyam from the renowned Guru Kanchipuram Elappa Pillai. She was a recipient of Sangeeth Natak Akademy fellowship and also won many international awards.
She was known for her innovations in dance, which combined many forms of classical dance with passionate body movements.
<<If you have known the artiste closely or have been a part of her production or just a rasika and want to share your thoughts and memories with us, send us mail to editor@kutcheribuzz.com>>
Readers share...
It touches me deeply to read your announcement regarding Chandralekha'spassing. When I visited Chennai on my second American Institute of Indian Studies fellowship (1986-87), I had the good fortune to meet her at the US Consulate's cultural minister's house reception. On learning I had studied with Balasaraswati and then studying with Nandini Ramani (senior disciple), Chandralekha shared her ideas about Bala's art. I was overwhelmed by the depth of feeling and respect she expressed in our conversation. I met her once again after her Brooklyn Academy of Music premiere of the stunning RAGA. A disciple of Guru Kanchipuram Elappa Pillai, Chandralekha transformed this knowledge into a magnificent and brave personal expression.
Kay Poursine Evanston, IL USA,
by E-mail
I am Prerana Shrimali a Kathak dancer based in delhi.
I have seen Chandrlekhaji's many important productions and her renderings in various seminars.
I want to share one experience when I was going to Avignon' France to present my show 'Reaching for each other' in the year 1995. Chandralekhaji and we were traveling together in the same flight and had to wait at Paris Railway station for our train to Avignon. Sitting on the floor beside a huge pillar we had a long chat. In this talk when I asked her about her method of working with the group which was not necessarily sharing her level of intellect.
She replied, "Prerana, there is no need of sharing your idea to the people you are working with because firstly- they may not understnd or take the idea as you have concieved and may not respond the way you think or you want and secondly - it's your baby which will take shape through their bodies and they will certainly be able to understand when it actualy takes shape".
After this conversation I was a bit uneasy, thinking that how come one can work with a group without sharing the thought, but then, when I have started working in similar situations these words of hers always ring in my mind, she was undoubtedly so correct.
We all will miss her. My 'PRANAAM' to her soul.
Prerana Shrimali,
by E-mail
