AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DHANANJAYANS

The saying ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’ is an apt way of describing the career graph of the Dhananjayans. The Dhananjayans are today amongst the most acclaimed and popular dancing couples in India. Dhananjayan personifies Tandava (rhythm) and majestic dignity, and his wife Shanta  personifies Lasya (delicate movement) and delicate finesse. An admirable duo, they have worked together to create  ‘Bharata Kalanjali’ their dance school, considered a citadel of dance in Chennai.

I was born in a poor family of eight children.  My father was an elementary school teacher. I was brought up by my grandmother. A revolutionary, she enforced strict discipline. I remember days of starvation, going from house to house, to buy rice and vegetables. I have seen days with just tapioca and sweet potatoes. Due to rationing, in those days, rice was not available. I used to be very artistically inclined. I would write poems in Malayalam. I liked nature a lot. As a child, I would show interest in odd things, something which normal children in the village would not be interested in. I used to evince keen interest in the work of craftsmen, in learning folk dances, rituals, participating in temple activities and acting in dramas. All this was in the forties and fifties. I finally ended up joining Kalakshetra at the age of twelve, after completing my eighth standard.

It is destiny that has made me a dancer. I had absolutely no knowledge or exposure to dance in my early years. The only traces of my vague acquaintance with dance were occasional Kathakali performances in the village or temple grounds. My father noticed my inclination towards the art. He sent me to Guru Chandu Paniker, a renowned Kathakali teacher at Kalakshetra. Actually, it was a strange quirk of destiny….my father happened to be in the same compartment in which Guru Chandu Paniker was travelling to Payyannur (my birthplace), in Kerala, in search of a boy to be trained at Kalakshetra. That is how I came to Kalakshetra. Sensing my potential, Sreemati Rukmini Devi gave me a scholarship to study in the institution.

I met Shanta at Kalakshetra when she was a girl of 10. Shanta had a striking personality. I somehow took to her immediately. She was a deeply reserved girl, self-disciplined and never exhibited her feelings in anyway. She kept her love well hidden. Of course, I told her what I felt about her. I thought that, she would never consider marrying a man who hailed from a comparatively lower economic background. I did not have the slightest idea that she would come back to marry me! She left Kalakshetra in 1962 after her post graduation and stayed with her parents in Malaysia till 1965.

Shanta’s genuine good nature impressed me the most. I can still recall how popular she was among our classmates. She is a very lovable person. She is also very independent. She is a superb teacher, capable of driving dance even into a piece of rock, if need be. She has immense patience, even with the most unreceptive of students.

No. We are lucky that ours has been a perfect match. Believe it or not, we have been functioning as one soul in two bodies. We think alike…..we compliment each other in dance. There has never been a major conflict. Our profession has not been a hindrance to our marital life. In fact, dancing has enhanced the value of our life and we feel much closer to each other and share every bit of our feelings.

On the 5^th of October, 1953, I  landed in Adyar with Guru Chandu Paniker. I was very excited about meeting Rukmini Devi Amma and Sankara Menon. In those days, Kalakshetra was full of such greats as, Bhudalur Krishnamurthy Sastrigal,  Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Mysore Vasudevachar, Mylapore Gowri Ammal and others.      

The atmosphere at Kalakshetra  was congenial for learning, with strict discipline, and classes from dawn to desk. The relationship between teachers and students was very good. It was a real Gurukulam. There was no time-bound teaching. A learner could learn at any time of the day or night. 

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