Saturday 17 February 2018

Life Time Achievement Award Winners

Mrs. Shanta and Mr.V.P. Dhananjayan presented the Life Time Achievement Award from Rotary Club –Mitra on 30th January 2018 Hon.Minister for Culture Dr.Pandia Rajan and Hon. Justice R.Subramanian presented the awards. V.P Dhananjayan joined Kalakshetra on 5 October 1953 and was a leading male dance under Rukmini Devi (founder of Kalakshetra) from 1955–1967. He graduated from Kalakshetra with a Post Graduate Diploma in Dance (Bharatanatyam and Kathakali) with distinction, and also holds a B.A in Economics and Politics. Shanta Dhananjayan graduated with a Post-Graduate Diploma with distinction in Bharatanatyam and also learned Kathakali and Carnatic music. She was a leading female dancer at Kalakshetra from 1955–1968. 

The Dhananjayans place particular emphasis on imparting Indian tradition and culture to their bharatanatyam students. They 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.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. 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. Shanta and V.P. Dhananjayan have carved themselves a unique place in the field of Bharatanaatyam. The Dhananjayans are professional Bharatnatyam dancers and teachers and have performed across the world. They were also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009. They are recognised as one of the most legendary 'natya' couples in India.


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