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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian Bharatanatyam exponent (1929–2025)}}<br />
{{Given name hatnote|Sarada|Hoffman|lang=Tamil}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Sarada Hoffman<br />
| image = <br />
| birth_name = A. Sarada<ref>{{cite web |title=History – Kalakshetra Foundation |url=https://www.kalakshetra.in/college/history/ |website=www.kalakshetra.in}}</ref><br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|06|14|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Madras]], Madras Presidency, British India<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|09|14|1929|06|14|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| alma_mater = <br />
| known for = [[Bharatanatyam]]<br />
| occupation = Dance, teacher<br />
| awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1996)<br />
| website = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Sarada Hoffman''' (14 June 1929 – 14 September 2025) was an Indian [[Bharathanatyam]] dancer and dance teacher from [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swaminathan |first=Chitra |date=2024-06-19 |title=Legendary Bharatanatyam dancer C.V. Chandrasekhar passes away |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/dance/veteran-bharatanatyam-dancer-cv-chandrasekhar-passes-away/article68307196.ece |access-date=2025-06-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In 1996, she received the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] for her contributions to Bharatanatyam.<br />
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==Background==<br />
A. Sarada (later Sarada Hoffman) was born in [[Madras]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] in 1929.<ref name="SNA">{{cite web |title=SARADA HOFFMAN |url=https://sangeetnatak.gov.in/public/uploads/awardees/docs/Sarada_Hoffman.pdf |publisher=[[Sangeet Natak Akademi]]}}</ref> She grew up in the [[Theosophical Society Adyar]], where children lived and studied under the leadership of [[George Arundale]].<ref name="sruti">{{Cite book |url=https://dhvaniohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sarada-Perfectionist.pdf |title=A perfectionist |date=February 2009 |publisher=[[Sruti (magazine)|Sruti Magazine]] |pages=9}}</ref> When her parents moved to [[Madurai]], [[Rukmini Devi Arundale]] took Sarada under her care and made her stay in the [[Kalakshetra Foundation|Kalakshetra]]'s hostel.<ref name="sruti"/> She stayed in the same hostel as a student and later as a teacher until she married Peter Hoffman in 1960.<ref name="sruti"/><br />
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There were two Saradas at Kalakshetra institute of Rugmini Devi. Due to the age difference, the older Sarada, who joined first, came to be known as "Periya Sarada" and the younger Sarada Hoffman as "Chinna Sarada".<ref name="sruti"/><br />
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Sarada studied Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra under Rukmini Devi Arundel, Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and [[Mylapore Gowri Ammal]].<ref name="SNA"/> She also received training in [[Kathakali]] from Kathakali gurus like Ambu and Chandu Panicker.<ref name="SNA"/> After completing her studies in 1947, she was appointed a dance teacher at Kalakshetra and one of its principal dancers.<ref name="SNA"/><br />
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==Career==<br />
Initially, Hoffman performed as part of the Kalakshetra troupe but later focused on teaching and composing Bharatanatyam.<ref name="SNA"/> Many noted dancers and teachers, including [[Yamini Krishnamurthy]], [[Adyar K. Lakshman]], [[C. V. Chandrasekhar]], [[Dhananjayans|Shantha and Dhananjayan]], have trained under her.<ref name="SNA"/> After retiring from Kalakshetra as the head of the dance department in 1989, she served as an emerita member of Kalakshetra until 1996.<ref name="SNA"/><br />
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==Personal life and death==<br />
In 1960, she married Peter Hoffman. They had two children, Krishna and Geeta.<ref name="sruti"/> They lived at Valmiki Nagar, [[Thiruvanmiyur]], Chennai.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sarada Hoffman |url=http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/features/interviews/sarada.asp}}</ref><br />
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Sarada Hoffman died on 14 September 2025, at the age of 96.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-15 |title=Legendary Bharatanatyam dancer and Akademi awardee Sarada Hoffman passes away |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/legendary-bharatanatyam-dancer-and-akademi-awardee-sarada-hoffman-passes-away-ly4r439p |access-date=2025-09-15 |website=@mathrubhumi |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Awards and honours==<br />
Hoffman received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 for her contributions to Bharatanatyam.<ref name="SNA"/> In 2001, she received the first Rukmini Devi Medal for Excellence in the Arts, established by the Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi.<ref>{{cite news |title='She moulded us into good human beings' |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2004/mar/02spec.htm |publisher=Rediff | first=Krishnaveni | last=Lakshman | date=2 March 2004 | accessdate=30 July 2025}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Sarada}}<br />
[[Category:1929 births]]<br />
[[Category:2025 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian dance teachers]]<br />
[[Category:Bharatanatyam dancers]]<br />
[[Category:Artists from Chennai]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]<br />
[[Category:Indian female classical dancers]]<br />
[[Category:Dancers from Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian dancers]]<br />
[[Category:Teachers of Indian classical dance]]</div>LolitasErurf