Joel Thome composed a piece ‘Savitri’, based on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophical work

MRINALINI SARABHAI

Mrinalini Sarabhai, India’s celebrated dancer and choreographer, has achieved an international reputation that is unmatched by any contemporary Indian classical dancer. The syntax of her creativity mediates between a moral commitment to traditional form and the desire to claim one’s own experiments as unique, unrepeatable. This interface of technical mastery and creative expressionism achieves a profoundly versatile language of the body-simple, eloquent, visually inspiring.

The creative anarchy of her essentially modern style is convincingly disciplined by the taut orthodoxy of her classical technique, learnt from her guru Sri Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. The result is an exalted visual statement combining almost fanatical purity of vision with modish formal experiments. An alchemy of skills, almost unparalleled: the result of both rigorous training and eclectic learning. This manifests itself even more clearly in her choreography, where she has attempted innovations that have increased the vocabulary of dance. It is no wonder that she is a legend in her lifetime’ and has been called the ‘Empress’ and ‘High Priestess of Indian Dance’...

FILMS

In 1971 the B.B.C. London, did a one hour documentary on Mrinalini and Darpana, called ‘Darpana- A workshop of the Arts’, directed by Margaret Dale, which won numerous international awards.

In 1972, C.B.S., U.S.A. , made a film on her abstract piece ‘Song of Creation’. In 1978, ZDV, West Germany, filmed Schubert’s ‘Shakuntala’, choreographed by Mrinalini. In 1980 she choreographed a film for the Films Division, India,’ Aum Namah Shivaya,’ about a dancer in search of her identify.

In 1982, the distinguished modern composer Joel Thome of the U.S.A. inspired by Mrinalini’s dance recitals, composed a piece ‘Savitri’ , based on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophical work. ‘Savitri’ was choreographed and presented in 1993.

She also authored more than 400 articles published in various magazines and news papers. Posted by SAGA OF SARABHAIS at 10:05 PM Friday, December 7, 2007