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Section Synopsis (April 2005)
NEWS & NOTES
SRUTI FOUNDATION HONOURS
THREE PERSONS OF EMINENCE -SRUTI STAFFERS
At a function held under the
auspices of the Sruti Foundation on the 15th March at the Dakshinamurthi
Auditorium of the P.S. Higher Secondary School in Mylapore, Chennai, the
following awards were presented:
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The E. Krishna Iyer Medal to Guru K.J. Sarasa,
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the Vellore Gopalachariar Award to vidwan P.S. Narayanaswamy, and
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the M. Venkatakrishnan Memorial Award to Dr. Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy.
The E. Krishna Iyer Medal instituted by the Sruti
Foundation in 1989 is presented every alternate year to a person or
institution that has made a significant contribution to the preservation
and promotion of Bharatanatyam traditions. Previous recipients of the
medals are Kamala Narayan, Kalakshetra, Kumbakonam Bhanumathi, T.K.
Mahalingam Pillai, K.P. Kittappa Pillai, Kalanidhi Narayanan, M.K.
Saroja, and U.S. Krishna Rao.
The Vellore
Gopalachariar Award was instituted in 1999 by vidwan Vellore Ramabhadran
in memory of his father. In the initial years it was called a prize and
was awarded to young talented percussionists but was later converted to
an annual award for meritorious contribution to Carnatic music. Last
year's recipient was vidwan S.V. Parthasarathy.
The M.
Venkatakrishnan Memorial Award was instituted in 2002 by Bharatanatyam
and Koochipoodi dancer Ramaa Bharadvaj, Director of the Angahara
Ensemble, Yorba Linda, California, in memory of M. Venkatakrishnan who
ran an organisation called Sankarabharanam for the specific purpose of
encouraging and providing opportunities to young classical dancers.
This is also awarded in alternate years to a patron and promoter of
talented dancers. The first recipient was R. Yagnaraman, Secretary of
Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai.
After K.V.
Ramanathan, Editor-in-Chief Sruti honoured K.J. Sarasa with a
shawl and garland, M. Subramaniam, Trustee of the Sruti Foundation
presented the Medal, citation and a purse to her. Vellore Ramabhadran
presented a shawl, garland and a purse to P.S. Narayanaswamy. K.V.
Ramanathan presented him with the citation and cheque for the sum of the
award. M. Subramaniam honoured Mrs. YGP with a shawl and garland after
which Ramanathan presented her with the Venkatakrishnan Memorial Award
and a citation. The award was in the form of a traditional lamp (diya)
in acrylic.
Prof. C.V.
Chandrasekhar, vidwan S. Rajam and dance theatre artist Anita Ratnam
felicitated the awardees.
Senior
dancer-guru C.V. Chandrasekhar, felicitating K.J. Sarasa on being
awarded the E. Krishna Iyer medal of honour, spoke about her special
qualities-- her generosity in attending performances of young dancers,
thus encourag-ing them; her intuitive gauging of the capacity of each of
her students and allowing them to grow in their own direction. He could
vouch for the fact that her disciples presented even the same items
differently and were not carbon copies of each other. She entered the
male bastion of nattuvanar-s to become the first woman exponent of that
art in recent times. And she did this not with fanfare, but with grace:
her very uttering of the solkattu-s was beautifully modulated, bringing
out a little magic of her own, elevating the dance. She belonged to the
Vazhuvoor school, but was always open to ideas from other bani-s.
Chandrasekhar pointed out that every bani has something beautiful to
offer, and a dancer should be able to adopt and adapt it to his/her own
style; that would be true growth, without which the art would become
stagnant. It was fitting that with this coveted award, Sarasa had been
placed in the exalted firmament along with stalwarts like U.S. Krishna
Rao, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Mahalingam Pillai, Kittappa Pillai, Kamala
Narayan, M.K. Saroja and others who had received the E. Krishna Iyer
Medal in previous years.
Veteran music
guru S. Rajam spoke about the service that Vellore Gopalachariar had
rendered to the cause of music, not as a career, but for the love of it.
It was highly commendable that his illustrious son Vellore Ramabhadran
had instituted this award in his father's name.
He said that
good teachers were not necessarily good performers. Yet here was P.S.
Narayanaswamy-- a musician with a good lineage, who had made a mark as a
respected performer, coming forward to train students, so that the art
could flourish in the future. He urged more senior musicians to follow
him and be willing to spare time for teaching. PSN could boast of an
array of disciples who had benefited by his teaching and made a name
for themselves in the concert field.
Anita Ratnam
felicitated Mrs. Y.G. (Rashmi) Parthasarathy. She had a personal word of
praise for Mrs. YGP, for holding her own in a domain of men, and
carrying on gallantly even after her husband's death. She said any new
idea was always welcome at Bharat Kalachar. In a field where recognition
usually comes only with advancing age, the Yuva Kala Bharati was a
brilliant concept to encourage talented youngsters. At the same time
senior artists are honoured with the Viswa Kala Bharati award. At an
age when traditionally one is ready to roll over and play dead, Mrs.
YGP's enthusiasm is amazing-- she never fails to attend performances,
and is ready with her review at the end, picking out and appreciating
the good points.
It was
commendable that Ramaa Bharadvaj had instituted this award in memory of
Venkatakrishnan-- a person who went out in search of talent and promoted
it under the aegis of his Sankarabharanam. It was truly fitting that an
organiser like Mrs. YGP was the recipient of such an award.
Accepting the
E. Krishna Iyer award, K.J. Sarasa expressed extreme happiness at being
chosen to receive the prestigious medal. Krishna Iyer was solely
responsible for making Bharatanatyam a respectable art. He staged a
performance at the Music Academy in the early thirties, and since then
the art had grown and spread all over the world.
P.S.
Narayanaswamy expressed happiness that he was receiving this award,
instituted in the memory of a great vidwan, by his son who was himself a
great artist, and presented through Sruti, the highly respected
magazine dedicated to music and dance. He reminisced about the old days
when Vellore Ramabhadran had accompanied his guru Semmangudi, and their
friendship and association that went back fifty years.
PSN also spoke
with deference about S. Rajam with whom he had worked in AIR. Though he
was simple and unassuming in appearance, Rajam's knowledge was
immeasurable; whenever there was an emergency at AIR, it was Rajam who
came up with material to get a programme ready at short notice. He was
still an active teacher, with scant regard for money, and students of
music should make use of his vast repertoire and learn as much from him
as possible.
Mrs. YGP said
she was greatly honoured to be included in the triumvirate of awardees
this day. She spoke of Sruti Pattabhi Raman's initial struggle to
set up the magazine; his straightforward and impartial outlook, and his
courage to attack the 'establishment' when needed. The classic articles
in Sruti set a standard hard to match by anybody else. Again, to
be the second recipient after Yagnaraman of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha was
an added honour. Finally, to receive an award in memory of
Venkatakrishnan was a source of great satisfaction. Venkatakrishnan was
a humble person who had dedicated his life to the service of music and
dance.
Mrs. YGP also
spoke about the other two awardees. She praised Sarasa for her
generosity in teaching poor students without remuneration. She recalled
that her institution had awarded the Semmangudi Veteran's award to P.S.
Narayanaswamy and S. Rajam this year.
All the
speakers used an easy informal style, freely mixing English and Tamil.
Their feeling for the art and the artist came through strikingly.
Nirmala
Ramachandran, another senior dance guru then gave a performance that
comprised singing of padam-s and javali-s in a seated position with
abhinaya. Some of the songs she presented were Nee matalemayanura,
Ososi, Indendu vacchitivira, Adi neepai and Varugalamo.
The programme
was compered by S. Janaki, Deputy Editor, Sruti; the invocation
was rendered by Gayathri Sundaresan, Assistant Editor; and
Editor-in-Chief K.V. Ramanathan delivered the welcome address. The
function ended with a vote of thanks by P.S. Narayanan, Publisher and a
Trustee of the Sruti Foundation
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