Bharati Shivaji

Bharati Shivaji is an Indian classical dancer of Mohiniyattom, choreographer and author, known for her contributions to the art form by way of performance, research and propagation. She is the founder of Center for Mohiniyattam, a dance academy promoting Mohiniyattom and the co-author of two books, Art of Mohiniyattom and Mohiniyattom. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for her contributions to Indian classical dance.

Biography

Bharati Shivaji was born in 1948 in the temple town of Kumbakonam, in Tanjavur district of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and had her early training in Bharatnatyam under Lalita Shastri and Odissi under Kelucharan Mohapatra. Later, on advice from Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, renowned social reformer, she took up research on Mohiniyattom, the traditional dance form of Kerala. Shifting her focus from Bharatnatyam and Odissi,

Legacy Moving to New Delhi, Shivaji founded the dance academy, Center for Mohiniyattom, a dedicated facility for promoting the dance form. She is known to have contributed to the evolution of the dance tradition, Her productions include adaptations of Bhanusinger Padavali of Rabindranath Tagore, Chandrotsavam of the Manipravalam, Somastuthi from the Rig Veda, and the Devagita, from Ashtapadi.

In 1986, Shivaji published his first book, Art of Mohiniyattam, co-authored by Avinash Pasricha. and abroad and has taught many Indian and foreign students. She also continues her research by visiting temples and gives lecture-demonstrations on the dance form at conferences and seminars. She won the Nishagandhi Puraskaram of the Government of Kerala in 2017.

Sara and Urs Baur, two American filmmakers, have made a documentary, Beyond Grace, on Mohiniyattom and the art of Shivaji which features her daughter, Vijayalakshmi, too. The 78-minute film, which details the work of the mother-daughter combination, was premiered on 9 July 2011 at the Raleigh Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles.