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 A leading Bharatanatyam dancer of India, Alarmel
Valli is acclaimed not only for the perfection of her dance,
but as a creative artist who brings depth, intensity and naturalness
to her work, and who has extended the frontiers of her dance
tradition. Trained in the Pandanallur tradition by renowned Gurus,
the late Shri Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Shri Subbaraya
Pillai, she has worked on developing and perfecting Sri. Chokkalingam
Pillai's vision of a style that would be seamless and fluid,
while yet retaining the precision, power and purity of line,
typical of the Pandanallur style. Basing her dance on the principle
that Bharatanatyam is an infinitely expressive and evocative
language, where every dancer writes her personal dance-poem,
Valli has evolved her own distinct style that has been described
as, "an effortless synchronisation of apparent contradictions
- linearity and lyricism, symmetry and sinuosity, precision and
poetry". Groomed in choreography by Sri.Subbaraya Pillai
from the age of 16, her work, drawing on her experience of world
literature, poetry and the arts, remains within the broad framework
of classical Bharatanatyam and is always contemporary - in its
interpretation and in its scope to communicate internationally.
Valli's perception and experience of dance has also been enriched by her study of Odissi (the classical dance of Orissa), under renowned Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and his disciple Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena.Valli has studied Padams & Javalis for many years under the eminent musician Smt.T.Muktha, of the renowned Veena Dhanammal style of music. This has helped her explore the ideal of dance, as visual music - to express the subtle distinction, between the literal translations of the lyric into body language and the mature, evolved transmutation of music into movement. A.K. Ramanujan says of the classical Tamil anthologies of Sangam poetry, authored around 2000 years ago, that "…….not to know them, is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilisation." Valli's extensive research on these poems, which are remarkable for their richness, subtlety and contemporaneity, has resulted in a significant body of work over a period of 12 years. Through the language of dance, exploring the many complex layers of meaning in these poems, she has worked to give them a visual and melodic dimension - to create a seamless fusion of the poetry of words, music and movement.
Through innumerable lecture demonstrations, master classes, workshops and seminars, in India and abroad, Valli has contributed to creating an international awareness of Bharatanatyam, as a classical, yet dynamic, contemporary dance tradition. A few of the forums in which she has worked, include Spic Macay in India, the Societe Italiana del Flauto Dolce and the Philarmonic society in Rome, the International Sommertanzwochen in Vienna, and 'Natyakala' - a Minneapolis society for the promotion of South East Asian dances, the University of Minnesota and the Institute of Modern Arts in Minneapolis. Valli's has performed at almost
all of India's prestigious cultural venues and festivals. She
has received standing ovations in landmark opera houses, theatres
and festivals around the world - in North and South America,
Europe, the former USSR, the Middle East, South East Asia, Australia,
and Japan, and in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal
and Bangladesh. A few of the highlights of her career on the
international scene would include her performances at the Bolshoi
Theatre in Moscow
Some of the International festivals at which Valli has presented specially commissioned works of dance, include the Solo Donna Festival of the Venice Biennale in Italy (1999), the San Antonio International Festival in the United States and the Niigata Asian Cultural Festival in Japan (2000). She has also been part of Government sponsored cultural delegations to the former USSR, the Indian festivals in the UK and Sweden, to Israel and the Middle East, Nepal and Bangladesh. A recent interview with Alarmel Valli in Sruti Magazine. Web design by JIVI solutions. Art work (c) Leelavati Bagavant. |
Recipient
of numerous awards, Alarmel Valli was conferred the State award
of Kalaimamani in 1979 and was made the State Artist of Tamilnadu
between 1981 & 1984. In December 1985, she was awarded the
title of Nrithya Choodamani by the Krishna Gana Sabha in Madras.
In January 1991, she was the youngest dancer to be conferred
the President's award of "Padmasri". In 1997, she was
honoured by the City of Paris, with the 'Grande Medaille de la
Ville de Paris'. She founded 'Dipashikha' a Centre for Performing
Arts in 1984 and has choreographed works for her students that
have been presented in Japan and the US. In December 2001, Alarmel
Valli was selected to receive the Award of the Sangeet Natak
Akademy- the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.
Valli
has also had the distinction of performing at the Hague Palace
for the birthday celebrations of Queen Beatrix of the Nederlands
(1990), for the King and Queen of Norway at the Bergen International
Festival in Norway (1997), at The Silver Jubilee Celebrations
of Pina Bausch's Wuppertal Dance Theatre (1998), for Prince Charles
at the Royal Albert Hall during the