The first artist featured today in this series of 'Inspirational Women in Field of Dance and Music' is Late Smt Balasaraswati. The reason i wanted to feature her was because though not having the good fortune of seeing her perform,i have always been told about her inspiring dance and abhinaya by my guru Smt Uma Dogra. I did try to look up on web for videos of her dance however was unsuccessful in finding any. However if any of my readers do come across a good quality video, please share it with all of us.
About the Artist: Balasaraswatiji was a celebrated Bharatnatyam artist, whose rendering of the style of dance made it famous not only in India but also in many parts of the world.Balasaraswatiji came from traditional lineage of dancers and musicians from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu,India. She began her training at a young age of four under KK Kandappan Pillai. She was the first performer of her traditional style outside of South India, performing first in Calcutta in 1934. Balasaraswatiji has been awarded with "The President's Award" from Sangeet Natak Academy,Padma Vibhushan from Government of India and Sangeet Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy.She was the only non-western dancer included in a compilation of the Dance Heritage Coalition, "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100.
To know more about the life and work of this great artist you can also visit www.balasaraswati.com
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