Vasundhara Doraswamy: Difference between revisions

 

'''Vasundhara Doraswamy''' (born 1949) is the Founder/Director of Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre, Mysore (India). She is a [[Bharatanatyam]] dancer, choreographer and guru. She is also one of the disciples of late [[K. Pattabhi Jois|Shri Pattabhi Jois]]<ref name="Hindu" /> in the discipline of [[Ashtanga vinyasa yoga|Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga]] and has developed her own sub domain in Vasundhara Style.

Born in [[Moodabidri]], in South Canara (Karnataka) to &nbsp;P. Nagaraj and Smt.Varada Devi, Vasundhara made her acquaintance with Bharatanatyam at the tender age of 4 under the guidance of Muralidhar Rao<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kamath|first1=Ganesh|title=Moodbidri's grand old building that served as court slinking into oblivion|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=339777|website=daijiworld.com|publisher=daijiworld|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> and won a gold medal at the age of 5 at the state level competition. which highlighted her potential and prompted her parents to seek out the supervision of Late ShriRajaratnamPillai the student of Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, who continued in the role of her Guru. Vasundhara, through her dedicated training claimed 1st rank in Vidwath Examination conducted by Karnataka Secondary Education Board and claimed three consecutive gold medals.<ref name="energy">{{cite web|last1=Cavale|first1=Sangeetha|title=Yoga and the energy of dance|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bangalore-times/Yoga-and-the-energy-of-dance/articleshow/5588586.cms|website=Times|publisher=Times of India|access-date=2 April 2002}}</ref> She was married to Late Sri H.S. Doraswamy<ref name="Hindu" /> and has a son who lives in Australia with her daughter-in-law Meghala Hirasave continuing in her tradition. Meghala  Hirasave has a well known school called art of vinyasa where she teaches students dance with great passion and dedication to the art form.

In 1988 Vasundhara earned a Ph D for her study<ref>{{cite web|last1=Malini|first1=Nair|title=Fit to dance|url=http://www.timescrest.com/culture/fit-to-dance-8919|website=The Crest Edition|publisher=Times of India|access-date=29 September 2012}}</ref> on the correlation between Yoga and Bharatanatyam.<ref name="yoga" />&nbsp; She holds a post-graduate degree in Folklore and is a consummate exponent of the martial arts of ‘Tang-ta’ and ‘[[Kalaripayattu|Kalarippayattu]]’<ref name="kallari">{{cite web|last1=Kumar|first1=Sujit Chandra|title=When the body becomes all eyes|url=http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/131020/commentary-sunday-chronicle/article/when-body-becomes-all-eyes|website=Deccan Chronicle|publisher=DC|access-date=21 August 2016}}</ref> that vouches for her quest for multidisciplinary approach to dance<ref name="yoga">{{cite web|title=Tapping yoga for creativity|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/dance/tapping-yoga-for-creativity/article1018194.ece|website=The Hindu|publisher=The Hindu Newspaper|access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref> e. Dr Vasundhara has released a Treatise on the correlation of Yoga and Dance called "Natya Yoga Darshana".<ref>{{cite web|title=An Invaluable treasure for Classical Dance|url=http://www.bignewslive.com/english/an-invaluable-treasure-for-indian-classical-dance/#.V8fvfVR94dU|website=Big News Live|publisher=Big News Live|access-date=21 April 2015}}</ref>

As for her choreographies, `Panchali` is noted for its singular adaptation of Yakshagana music (a form of folk music from the State of Karnataka) to Bharatanatyam.<ref name="yoga" /> Solo productions like Ganga Lahari, Ambe, Dakshayani,Panchali,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Probal|first1=Gupta|title=Aesthetic innovation within the traditional boundary|url=http://www.narthaki.com/info/rev10/rev859.html|website=Nartaki|access-date=17 March 2010}}</ref> ShakuntaKunjana (literary masterpieces of Udyavara Madhava Acharya) and now Jyothi Shankar's Kshaatra Draupadi –with a strong female oriented theme have won acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kshatra Draupadi - leaves audiences in awe|url=http://citytoday.news/vasundhara-doraswamys-dance-leaves-audience-in-awe/|website=City Today|access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref>

Dr Vasundhara was honoured with "Natya Rani Shantala" Award -The highest State Award for Dance by the Karnataka State Government<ref>{{cite news|title=Kannada Being Suppressed: URA|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Kannada-Being-Suppressed-URA/2014/05/24/article2242461.ece|access-date=24 May 2014|agency=The New Indian Express|issue=Bangalore May Edition|publisher=Indian Express|date=24 May 2014}}</ref> and the [[Rajyotsava Award]] [Karnataka State]. She is the youngest recipient of the "Karnataka Kala Tilak",<ref name="Hindu" /> the prestigious award from the Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy, to date and also the only recipient of "Aasthaana Nritya Ratna" from Shri Krishna Mutt, Udupi. She has also been honoured with "Chandana Award" by Doordarshan India, "Shreshta Kala Pracharak" from Padma Bushan Saroja Vaidyanathan (New Delhi),<ref name="award">{{cite news|title='Shreshta Kala Pracharak' award to Vasundhara|url=http://www.bangalorefirst.in/?p=4815|access-date=21 August 2016|publisher=Bangalore First|date=15 April 2013}}</ref> " Kala Vipanchi" by Padma Vibushan Shri Balamurali Krishna (Chennai), Natya Jyothi [Australia] and Artist of the Millennium Award [USA], just to name a few.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ganga|first1=Madappa|title=attendance Annual Dance Awards|url=http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/events/attendance-annual-dance-awards|access-date=30 November 2014|publisher=Alliance Française de Bangalore}}</ref>&nbsp;