Farewell

FarewellChandralekha — Unto the last dance
In Chennai on December 31 An extraordinary personality of the Indian art world, Chandralekha left for her heavenly abode, she remained an independent thinker and an original artiste. She was known for having put contemporary Indian dance on the world map.
A Bharatanatyam soloist of the 1950s, she caught the public imagination through her innovations and experiments in various dance forms.
Her electrifying performances discarded the devotional elements of dance for passionate body-oriented movements.
Oft described as an iconoclastic maverick dancer who has the capability to unite Bharatanatyam, Yoga and Kalarippayat in a single mind-blowing step, she has won national and international acclaims for her services.
At the national level, she had received Sangeet Natak Academy Fellowship and Kalidas Samman, among others.
Chandralekha’s international recognitions include the Gaia Award in 1992 from Italy and the Time Out Dance Umbrella Award in 1992 from London.
She began her career as a traditional dancer after having received training from renowned Guru Kanchipuram Elappa Pillai in early 1950s.
In 60s, she gave up performing and chose to become a writer and a woman’s and human rights activist. She made a major comeback to dance world in 1985 as a choreographer.
Her comeback was marked by the “East West Dance Encounter” in Mumbai, where she presented three of her productions with the help of Kalakshetra students. Chandralekha’s return took her all over the world - from Moscow to London, Italy, Germany, Toronto, New York and Tokyo - stunning the audience with fiercely sensual and intensely iconoclastic productions.
According to her, dance is a passionate, self-exploratory expression of the earthy, the erotic and the elemental, which is why, unlike other classical dancers, she never does the traditional pranam prior to performances. Chandralekha was also one of the most important voices on the Indian cultural scene.
Her writings, books, prints and choreography have attained an unprecedented status in India and abroad. Most recently, she has been expressing her aesthetic and political vision through dance-making.
Her works include Angika, Lilavati, Prana, Sri, Yantra, Mahakal, Raga, Sloka and the latest Sharira. lets pray for the departed soul.

Ravi