Bharatanatyam’s ‘Queen’ T. Balasaraswati brought new recognition and respect on international platforms!

May 13 is not just a date in the calendar, but a day to remember the personality who took Indian classical art to the international platform. We are talking about T. Balasaraswati, who took Bharatanatyam out of the confines of temples and took it to the big stages of the world. She was not just a dancer but an example of tradition, struggle, art and self-confidence.

T. Balasaraswati was born on 13 May 1918 in Chennai (Madras) city of Tamil Nadu. His family’s roots were deeply connected to the Devdasi tradition and music. His grandmother Veena Dhannamal was a famous veena player and his mother T. Jayammal was a singer herself. The environment at home also had an impact on him, due to which he started training in Bharatanatyam at a very early age and at the age of just seven, he did his first public performance in a temple.

She didn’t just dance, she lived it. There was depth of emotions in his acting. She used to tell the whole story very well through gestures and facial expressions. There was such a combination of music, rhythm and emotion in his dance that everyone was mesmerized after seeing it.

At that time, Bharatanatyam was gradually taking an institutional form and most of the artists used to perform on pre-determined choreography, but Balasaraswati was different. She brought immediacy to her acting on stage, just as the court dancers of old did. This was his biggest strength and specialty.

The discussion about his art gradually started spreading throughout the country. Famous dancer Uday Shankar was also impressed by his talent and invited him to perform at a big convention in Kolkata. There he presented on Jana Gana Mana in front of Rabindranath Tagore, which took his recognition to greater heights.

After this his journey reached international platforms. In the 1960s he performed Bharatanatyam in Japan, America and Europe. Her performance at an international conference in Tokyo introduced the western audience to the depth of Indian classical dance.

Not only the audience, but also big artists and filmmakers were impressed by his art. Famous film director Satyajit Ray made a documentary on him in the 1970s, which beautifully depicted both his art and life.

T. Balasaraswati received many major honors for his contributions. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and later the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest civilian honour. Apart from this he also received Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and many other prestigious awards.

T. Balasaraswati left the world on 9 February 1984 at the age of 65, but his fans still consider him an inspiration.