Savitha Sastry

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Savitha Sastry

Savitha Sastry, Bharatanatyam Danseuse
Born Savitha Subramaniam
(1969-12-11) December 11, 1969
Hyderabad, India
Alma mater Stella Maris College, Chennai
Occupation Bharatanatyam Choreographer and Dancer
Years active 1981 - Present
Spouse(s) AK Srikanth
Website
savithasastry.com

Savitha Sastry is an Indian dancer and choreographer best known as an exponent of Bharatanatyam. She is the Founder-Director of Sai Shree Arts, a Dance company known to experiment with the format of traditional Bharatanatyam by using the techniques of Bharatanatyam to showcase theme based productions based on novel stories, not based on Indian mythology or religion.[1][2][3][4]

Savitha Sastry performing Yudh at the Music Academy Chennai (2013)

Early Life and Education

Savitha Sastry was born in Hyderabad, and later lived in Mumbai before her family relocated to their home town of Chennai. She started her training in Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of Guru Mahalingam Pillai at the Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, and later with Adyar K Lakshman and the Dhananjayans in Chennai. She did her schooling from the P.S Senior Secondary School in Chennai, and her graduation from the Stella Maris College. In 1986, she featured as the lead dancer in the Tamil film Ananda Tandavam, a production of her Guru [5] Adyar K Lakshman. She pursued her Masters degree in the United States, where she majored in Neuroscience.

Performing Bharatanatyam Artiste

Through the 80s, 90s and the first decade of the millennium, Savitha had performed mostly to traditional repertoires of Bharatanatyam. She produced and choreographed a few full length presentations such as Krishna: The Supreme Mystic and Purushartha during this phase.[6] Savitha was credited to have a high degree of technical proficiency to her kinetics of the dance form in being able to deliver it with grace and technique demanded of Bharatanatyam performers.[7] Critic Hamsa Venkat from Sydney reported " Savitha's crisp nritta (pure dance), clean lines and flawless aramandi was a breath of fresh air, and truly inspirational for students of dance.".[8] The Audition Panel of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival described her dancing with the words "Moves like a temple sculpture come to life".[9]

Savitha has been critically lauded not only for her technique, but also for her innovations with the art form to take it to a wider audience. Critic Fozia Yasin of the Asian Age notes that Savitha "aims to bring about a renaissance in the traditional art form by marrying the aesthetics of Bharatanatyam with the power of an intelligent and novel story-line.".[10] Critic Nonika Singh of theTribune wrote, "Knocking down pigeonholes as she breaks free, she hopes to inspire more and more aspiring dancers to soar along, in the vast expanse of tradition minus the baggage of restrictive thinking!" [11]

Notable Choreographies and Productions

By 2009, Savitha departed from performing traditional margams (the traditional order in which classical dance is performed), and started her work on theme based productions. Savitha is noted for the use of contemporary and original story lines in her performances and her portrayal of multiple characters as a solo performer in them, which is a marked departure from the traditional Bharatanatyam theme of the nayika (the heroine) pining for love or pieces based on Bhakti (devotion) alone.Some of her notable productions include Music Within (2010),[12][13] Soul Cages (2012),[14][15][16][17] "Yudh" (2013).[18][19][20] and The Prophet (2013)[21]

Savitha Sastry performing 'The Prophet' at NCPA Mumbai (2013)

All her productions have been based on short stories by her husband AK Srikanth, and the soundtrack for the productions have been composed by Rajkumar Bharathi, the great grandson of the veteran poet Subramania Bharathi. These have been performed in several countries, and the productions have met with critical and popular acclaim. Another hallmark of Savitha's presentations is a Q & A session that she and Srikanth have with the audience at the end of the performance where the audience discuss the presentation with the performer and writer. Savitha has been given the epithet of 'Dancing Storyteller' by the popular press following these productions.[22][23][24][25] Following the acclaim of her last production Yudh,[26][27] Savitha premiered her latest production 'The Prophet' at ADA Rangamandira, Bangalore on the 20th October, 2013. This production is also scripted and produced by Srikanth.

Personal life

Savitha is married to AK Srikanth, who is her partner in the production company and also her classmate from her high school. The couple jointly produce their shows, and live in Mumbai.

Savitha's husband - the writer and producer of all her productions - AK Srikanth at the Q&A Session after the performance at Mumbai (2013)

Dance Theatre Productions

Purushartha (2002)

Sacrifice (2003)

Krishna – The Supreme Mystic (2006)

Music Within (2010)

Soul Cages: The story of Life, Death & Beyond (2012)

Yudh - Three Perspectives, One Truth (2013)

The Prophet - Destiny. Divinity. Doubt (2013)

Television

Featured in the BBC Production: Sex, Death & the Gods (2011)

Savitha is also an A Grade artiste with Doordarshan, the national TV Channel in India.

Cinema

Ananda Tandavam (1986) – Lead Dancer

See also

Indian women in dance

References

  1. ↑ Praveen, Priyanka. (2012-08-06). Breaking free from the mould. Deccan Chronicle.
  2. ↑ Singh, Nonika. (2012-07-15). Like a Free Bird. The Tribune.
  3. ↑ Yasin, Fozia. (2013-01-27). Modern Classics. The Asian Age.
  4. ↑ Vincent, Anusha. (2013-03-05). Natya goes beyond borders. Deccan Chronicle.
  5. ↑ Viswanathan, Lakshmi. (2003-12-01). Inimitable Dance Guru. The Hindu.
  6. ↑ About Savitha. www.savithasastry.com
  7. ↑ Suri, Sathish. (2011-09-25). Narthaki.com.
  8. ↑ Venkat, Hamsa. (2011-03-11). A Queen of Mime. Sydhwaney.com
  9. ↑ Savitha Sastry Webpage
  10. ↑ Yasin, Fozia. (2013-01-27). Modern Classics. The Asian Age
  11. ↑ Singh, Nonika. (2012-07-15). Like a Free Bird. The Tribune
  12. ↑ Das, Priya. (2010-11-29). A Quiet Dance of the Soul. India Currents
  13. ↑ Bal, Harish. (2011-10-13). Festival Rhythms. The Hindu.
  14. ↑ Subramanya, Mysore V. (2013-04-11). Music & Dance Reviews. Deccan Herald.
  15. ↑ Sharma, SD. (2012 July). Savitha Sastry leaves Chandigarh Audience awestruck. Hindustan Times.
  16. ↑ Kumar, Ranee. (2012-08-10). Enchanting Treatment. The Hindu.
  17. ↑ Singh, Ayesha. (2012-12-09). Soul Cages - A renaissance in Bharatanatyam. Sunday Standard.
  18. ↑ Mendoza, Conan. (2013-04-03). The Drama of Dance. Deccan Chronicle.
  19. ↑ Akanksha PV. (2013-04-26). Reviews on YUDH - the dance drama ballet by Savitha Sastry. IndiaStudyChannel.
  20. ↑ Pattabhiraman, Arundhati. (2013-03-10). Creativity Unlimited. Deccan Herald.
  21. ↑ Around Town, (2013-11-19). Indian Express
  22. ↑ Agarwal, Kanchan. (2013-02-23). A lifetime of learning. Post Noon.
  23. ↑ National Centre Performing Arts, Mumbai. Yudh - Three perspectives, one truth.
  24. ↑ Sundar, Mrinalini. (2013-03-29). Alternative Storyteller. Indian Express.
  25. ↑ RK. (2013 Feb). Dancing Storyteller. Hans India.
  26. ↑ Singh, Navleen. (2013-02-23). The Aesthetics of Yudh. Hindustan Times.
  27. ↑ Sharma, SD. (2013-02-24). Sastry Rules Audiences' Hearts. Hindustan Times.

External links

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