Senior dance guru and a stalwart at Kalakshetra, S. Sarada (more well known as 'Periya' Sarada ) passed away on November 4 afternoon in Chennai, south India.
The funeral was scheduled for Thursday.
A long time resident of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, she was ailing for a long time but lived her evening years gracefully with her colleague, G. Sundari.
This family of theosophists was also closely involved in building Rukmini Devi's dream, Kalakshetra.
Sarada was in many ways the low-profile stalwart of Kalakshetra. There were giants that Rukmini invited to help her found the institution and Sarada was also in that group.
Her transition from being a quiet, young woman in Thanjavur to a talented woman who was fascinated by Rukmini Devi and classical dance when her grand father moved to Madras to work at the library in the TS campus made her life a fascinating one.
She began to notate dance, learnt nattuvangam and singing as and when great gurus came to teach at Kalakshetra. She went on to become the Head of the dance department here.
Her contribution to dance has been immense - documenting all the dance dramas at Kalakshetra, edited scholarly volumes on classical music and teaching dance in the classroom.
Though the Sangeet Natak Akedemi recognised her and her work in the early 1980s, the nation did not.
After retirement, she continued to teach senior students and did honorary work for the TS.
The Dhananjayans and Kalakshetra alumni and students held a grand event in Madras in her honour when she turned 80.
Dancer Anita Ratnam published a book on her on the occasion of her 90th birthday ('Nirmalam: The Genius of S Sarada').
PHOTO CAPTIONS
- Gurus Prof C. V. Chandrasekar and Narasimhachari with G. Sundari, a colleague of Sarada sit beside the body of the departed
- Dance students offer their homage in songs
- Kalakshetra dancers and mourners at Sarada's house on the TS campus
- Mourners pay respects at the crematorium
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