Dr. (Mrs.) Kanak Rele, The Maestro of the Mohini Attam Dance form Received Lifetime Achievement Award
Founder-Director of Nalanda Dance Research
Centre and Founder Principal of the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya (Mumbai),
Dr. (Mrs.) Kanak Rele (age 81); one of the most highly recognised and honoured Indian
Classical Dance Exponents, a Pioneering Dance Educationist and a Noted Dance
Scholar; has once again received recognitions for her significant contribution
to the Classical Dance Form – Mohini Attam, which is also known as Mohiniattam
or Mohiniyattam.
According to a press note from the Nalanda
Dance Research Centre, Dr. Rele has been conferred with two prestigious awards
in December 2018: Guru Gopinath National Natya Puraskaram – a lifetime
achievement award instituted by the Natanagramam on behalf of the Cultural
Affairs Department of Kerala; and Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar – instituted
by the Sangit Kala Kendra headed by the Birla Group Director, Rajashree Birla.
Since time immemorial, Indian dance forms had
gained popularity not only inside the country but also at different parts of
the world. However, with passage of time, many of these classical art forms
faded due to lack of adequate sponsorship and systematic conservation efforts. Dr.
Rele, a qualified lawyer and researcher in International Law at the University
of Manchester U.K., also took up the cause to promote the Mohini Attam dance
form and received her Ph.D. from the
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Mumbai.
Around fifty years back, when Mohini Attam
had reached a point where only a few items from its once rich repertoire were
remembered, Dr. Rele received a research grant (1970-71) from The Ford
Foundation and filmed the traditional dances of the surviving exponents of
Mohini Attam. She critically analysed this recorded data with diligent care in
light of the ‘shastric’ (classical) tenets and arrived at an authoritative
format for the technique of Mohini Attam. Thus, she revived the old and almost
forgotten dance items of the Kerala tradition, and cast them in Sopana (a form
of Indian classical music that developed in the temples
of Kerala) mode. With her deep knowledge of the technique of
the ‘shastras’ (works of sacred scriptures) and native creative brilliance, Dr.
Rele has choreographed more than 50 of these items. Thus, Mohini Attam now has
a rich repertoire that it can claim all to be its own.
Erstwhile, Dr. Rele received many
significant recognitions for her work including Padma Bhushan in 2013;
Padmashree in 1990; Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship – Akademi Ratna in 2013;
Nrityachoodamani, Madras in 1978; Nartan
Vilas, Sur Singar Samsad in 1983; Gujarat State – Gaurav Puraskar Award in
1989; Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award in 1994; Vice President’s Citation as Best Choreographers in 1995;
and Sarangdev Fellowship in 1995.
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