Savitha Sastry

Savitha Sastry
Savitha Sastry, Bharatanatyam Danseuse
Born	Savitha Subramaniam (1969-12-11) 11 December 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] Her innovations have been described as 'path breaking' by critics,^[5] and she is considered to be a 'renaissance architect'^[6] of the dance form much as Rukmini Devi Arundale was in her times.^[7]^[8]

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^[9] Adyar K Lakshman. She pursued her Masters degree in the United States, where she majored in Neuroscience.

Bharatanatyam

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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.".^[12] The Audition Panel of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival described her dancing with the words "Moves like a temple sculpture come to life".^[13]

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),^[14]^[15] Soul Cages (2012),^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19] "Yudh" (2013).,^[20]^[21]^[22] The Prophet (2013)^[23] and most recently, Chains: Love Stories of Shadows (2015).

Savitha Sastry performing 'Chains: Love Stories of Shadows' at NCPA Mumbai (2015)

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. A profile story in the Times of India reported "(Savitha) has merged contemporary content with the centuries old dance form to create a unique niche" ^[24] Noted critic Narayana Vishwanath of Indian Express considers her the one who "holds the distinction of being the dancer to have brought about a revolution in the way Bharatanatyam is presented after Rukmini Devi Arundale".^[25] 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.".^[26] Critic Nonika Singh of the Tribune 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!"^[27] Critic Yamini Walia of the Afternoon Despatch & Courier reports that "her path breaking work has been recognised as a renaissance by critics and audiences all over the world." ^[28]

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. Critic Lakshmi Ramakrishna of the Hindu praised this teamwork with the words "The husband – wife duo has struck a chord with audiences in conveying deeply philosophical thoughts with striking simplicity, élan and elegance"^[29] Savitha has been given the epithet of 'Dancing Storyteller' by the popular press following these productions.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33] Their latest project,'Chains: Love Stories of Shadows' opened at NCPA Mumbai on the 31st of January, 2015. They are also in the process of producing an opening act to 'Chains' titled 'In God's Country' which would be directed by Savitha and performed by advanced students of Bharatanatyam across various cities. 'In God's Country' is based on a story by Srikanth, and features music by Rajkumar Bharathi.

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.