Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986) : A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts

by Avanthi Meduri (Ed.)

Contents:  

1. Introduction: a critical overview/Avanthi Meduri
2. A dream run: the story of the Rukmini Devi travelling exhibition/S. Sathyamoorthy
3. Rukmini Devi as a teacher, guide and mother/Kapila Vatsyayan
4. Rukmini Devi as a theosophist/Radha Burnier
5. Rukmini Devi and animal welfare/Chinny Krishna and Maneka Gandhi
6. Rukmini Devi: the divine dancer/R. Nagaswamy
7. Rukmini Devi and the vegetarian village/N. Mahalingam
8. Rukmini Devi: the educator/Sarada Hoffman
9. Rukmini Devi: a builder of institutions/C.V. Chandrasekhar
10. Rukmini Devi: an aesthetic visionary/Mrinalini Sarabhai
11. Athai: my guru/Krishnaveni Lakshmanan
12. Remembering Amma: a beacon light/V.P. Dhananjayan
13. The other side of Athai: reminiscences/Shanta Dhananjayan
14. Remembering a legend/V.R. Devika
15. Made history and made by history: Rukmini Devi's integrated approach to Bharatanatyam/Leela Venkataraman
16. Rukmini Devi's approach to tradition and beyond/Lakshmi Viswanathan
17. Reviving and reforming tradition in contemporary contexts/Gowri Ramnarayan
18. Rukmini Devi Arundale: her new visions in her dance in dramas/C.V. Chandrasekhar
19. Kuravanji: dance-drama/Sunil Kothari
20. The birth of Bharatanatyam and the Sanskritized body/Uttara Asha Coorlawala
21. Rukmini Devi and 'Sanskritization: a new performance perspective/Avanthi Meduri
22. Rukmini Devi: rethinking the classical/Janet O'Shea
23. Re-invoking Rukmini Devi: questions from a dance maker in Britain/Vena Ramphal

The essays in this book endeavour to capture the multifaceted cultural and aesthetic legacy of Rukmini Devi preserved both in India and abroad. They are authored by a wide range of Indian and international scholars, including dance critics, dance administrators, dancers, dance teachers, bureaucrats, and alumni of the world-renowned Kalakshetra arts institution that Rukmini Devi founded in 1936. The authors delineate specific aspects of her public life as a Bharatanatyam dancer, Theosophist, arts educator, institution builder, teacher, producer of dance dramas, and chairman of the Animal Welfare Board.

The essays also discuss Rukmini Devi's aesthetic vision in relation to history, to tradition, to classicism, her engagement with canonical Sanskrit texts, her creation of ensemble dance-drama productions, and contemporary dance in the United Kingdom.