Legacy Reimagined: How the Next Gen Leaders are Reshaping Legendary Dance Institutions

by Ayshwariya Lakshmi

How are the next-gen leaders spearheading the growth of legendary institutions? These institutions have been the custodians of our dance heritage, and their evolution into the hands of a new generation of passionate and forward-thinking leaders is nothing short of inspiring. Read on to learn about how these young torchbearers are breathing new life into classic institutions, preserving the legacy while forging exciting new paths.

Indian classical dance forms are known for their rich cultural and historical significance. Many legendary dancers contributed significantly towards promoting the Indian performing arts industry.

To name a few, Rukumini Devi Arundale of Bharatanatyam, Vempati Chinna Satyam of Kuchipudi, Pandit Birju Maharaj of Kathak, Jhaveri Sisters of Manipuri, Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma of Mohiniyattam.

The renowned dancers of each art form were crucial in bringing out new techniques and breaking down the art in simpler terms to ensure it reached a larger mass of students. Each of these masters was instrumental in popularising the art form and preserving it by passing their knowledge to future generations through teaching and performance.

In this article, we delve deep into the institutes founded by acclaimed dancers to understand how the NextGen leaders are taking these dance institutes forward for the new age.

Taking over after a famed dancer is not an easy act to do, each of the NextGen leaders had to replace most of the administration activity and establish a suitable system in place for the new age needs.

“I took over the management in 1996. The institute was slightly out of the way in being managed as my mother who was also a teacher there (the institution), could not do much about the management process,” said Ajith Vijayan, Manager, Kerala Kalalayam. “I had to systemise the class timings, teachers had to be made responsible towards their duty, collection of fees had to be made proper and more.”

These changes did not come without opposition and eventually, the system came together, he shared. Ajith Vijayan is also the grandson of Guru Padmashree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair Ashan and Guru Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma.

Some of these institutions had to lay down a scheduled structure for both classes and the collection of fees. Bimbavati Devi, Artistic Director of Manipuri Nartanalaya, shared that she had to bring a system where dancers' learners had to pay a minimum fee to learn a dance recital or even for audio.

CP Satyajit, Artistic Director of BharataKalanjali, said that when he took over, he brought in a fee collection system and established a regular meeting system for teachers, administrators and parents of students.

The Pressure to Deliver

“The pressure (to deliver) was not from outside, the pressure was from inside because we had to create changes in behaviour patterns, both when it came to my parents and when it came to their students and people who are associated with them,” said Satyajit, son of the renowned Bharatanatyam dancer couple, the Dhananjayans.

To Satyajit, the primary objective was to build the brand, gradually and to bring BharataKalanjali out from under the limelight of the Dhanajayans. To be able to do this, Satyajit understood that a change in the behaviour pattern of the staff and dancer learners is the most important alteration to the administration.

CP Satyajit

“When it came to presentations, we wanted to streamline rehearsal schedules, to make sure all the participants are present for rehearsals and to conduct enough rehearsals to take up the performance standards. So I would say we were not aiming to deliver or meet the standards set by our predecessors, we're looking to improve on them,” Satyajit added. “Delivering the same standard wasn't the goal because the standard just wasn't good enough for us. So we had to take it up a few notches and that was the goal for us.”

These thoughts resonate amongst most of the NextGen leaders. They want to bring more organised, well-planned standards to the table, improving on what the predecessors had done to the institution.

Educating the Audience

Bimbavati Devi

Coming from a legendary institution, being a child of acclaimed dancers does not make it easy for these leaders to establish themselves as well as build the institution.

Bimbavati Devi, daughter of renowned classical Manipuri dancers, Guru Bipin Singh and Guru Kalavati Devi said “Unlike other dance forms, Manipuri is not very well portrayed in the culture map of the world. So people have very wrong notions about Manipuri dance that it has very slow movements and repetitiveness. As a dancer who lives outside of Manipur, I have to strike a balance between Manipuri and the rest of the world. So I have to look out for ways to make it popular amongst people who are not familiar with the culture, the local ritual.”

Manipuri Nartanalaya was founded by Guru Bipin Singh, Guru Kalavati Devi and the Jhaver sisters – Late Nayana, Ranjana, Suvarna and Padmashree Darshana Jhaveri.

Manipuri was an isolated art form until Poet Rabindranath Tagore introduced it to the rest of India. Bimbavati wants to take it beyond an art form in Tagore poems and educate the audience about this art form.

She aims to achieve this by using the elements of Manipur’s local rituals, and culture into her choreographies. When a ritual practice is choreographed into a dance, it is shortened to make it appeal to the audience. This slightly alters from the actual practice in religious spaces like temple precincts or when they are a part of a religious/social ceremony as they can be long.

“I make it a point to show my students videos of the various art forms of Manipur Ritualistic practices, teach them everything about the culture for them to understand what the dance recital is about. Everyone should know what it looks like originally and how they have been adapted for the stage,” she shared.

Pandemic Adds to Existing Challenges

Ajith and family

When the country went into lockdown mode as a result of COVID-19, performing art institutions had to move online or close down. But, it did not reduce the troubles for them.

“When I took over, the institution had been giving classes in Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam Kathakali, Carnatic music, Mridangam and Veena. I gradually introduced more subjects step by step such as Violin, Tabla, Drawing and Painting, Keyboard, Kalaripayattu and a few more,” said Ajith, manager, Kerala Kalalayam. “It was a very enjoyable process until Covid-19 put an abrupt stop to the functioning of the institution.”

Ajith moved classes for Mohiniyattam Bharathanatyam and keyboard online and started a YouTube channel called "Kerala Kalalayam" to educate people on Mohiniyattam. While the rest of the classes came to a stop.

Dhanya Ajith, Ajith’s wife and Kala Vijayan, daughter of Guru Padmashree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair Ashan and Guru Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma are one of the teachers at the institution for Mohiniyattam. Now, Kerala Kalalayam has offline classes for most of its previous offerings, but it is yet to restart for a few more, shared Ajith.

Lockdown also brought down the number of students enrolled for classes, causing a huge setback for all the institutes.

“To build up that student strength is very challenging. The COVID-19 struck and the student rolls came down drastically. Last year, from July 2022, things just started to come back to normal for us and in about a year, July this year we started reopening for the new session. We did finally get at least 40 to 50% of the initial roles of students that we had before the pandemic,” shared Saswati Sen- Kathak exponent, SNA awardee, Secretary, Kalashram.

Since then it has been showing an increasing trend, but it has been tough for the institutes around the country to bring their student strength back.

The Plans

The most important plan each of these legendary institutions has is to educate their audience and build their brands and a platform for the younger generation to boost their skills.

Saswati shares that, “The priority is to get a good affiliation from one of the respectable Universities where there is focus on arts, especially performing arts and this was one of Maharajji’s wishes. At Kalashram, We would like to incorporate all the teaching of these various genres that Maharaji excelled in, of course with the dance being primary.”

Saswati Sen took over the administration of Kalashram after Pandit Birju Maharaj, a Padma Vibhushan Awardee, after his death.

To Saswati, taking over of the administration was not a very challenging task as she had been under his tutelage and working under him for over 50 years. She had been teaching, and conducting workshops alongside Master.

“All these responsibilities which Maharajji gave me, he knew that I would be able to carry forward his work, the teaching, the composition, the choreographies and whatever is required for the benefit of the school. So in that way, I think I was required to deliver all that was Maharajji’s desire, even in his presence, and which I tried to continue doing even now. And people have been happy that I am still working in the way that he had wanted so that was not a very difficult issue for me,” she concluded.

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Ayshwariya Lakshmi

Journalist & Writer

Instagram: @ayshwaria_lakshmi