Utpal K Banerjee writes about the life and achievements of Mrinalini Sarabhai, a legendary danseuse, who passed away on Thursday
The legendary dancer-choreographer-author-poet-playwright-social activist, Mrinalini Sarabhai, is no more: “gone away for her eternal dance”, as her equally famous daughter Mallika Sarabhai quipped. How does one write about the blithe soul, who winged breezily over ninety-seven springs — attending her daughter’s and disciples’ dance-performances in the Darpana auditorium till the very end of her life — and was stopped short of being a centurion by providenceIJ
One can only dip back in memory and visualise the lissome, dark girl from Kerala: landing in Santiniketan for her education and being sighted by Rabindranath Tagore for her debutante skills in Bharatanatyam. The poet nominates her to do the lead role Vajrasen in his just-completed dance-drama Shyama and she essays it with flying colours. Tagore admires the teenager’s “South-Indian techniques” and assigns her to do all the men’s roles in his still-incomplete dance-drama Mayar Khela. Indeed, Tagore leaves the dancing to dancers like her. later, when Kelu Nair — also from Kerala — lands there as teacher, Mrinalini uses Kathakali as well.
One then sees Mrinalini (still Swaminathan) hone her talents in different dance-forms. Having received, in Switzerland, first lessons in the Dalcroze school in Western technique of dance movements. We see her in for a short stint in the USA — where she enrolls in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts — and her returning to India for training in Bharatanatyam under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and classical dance-drama of Kathakali under the legendary Guru Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup.
Wedded to the outstanding space-scientist, Vikram Sarabhai, one now finds her establishing, in 1938, Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad for promoting Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam and puppetry. But, since roots of Santiniketan ran deep into her, she choreographs, for Darpana, Tagore’s Chandalika in Bharatanatyam; Tasher Desh in free style; Chitrangada in Kathakali as well as Manipuri; Tagore the Poem inBharatanatyam andKathakali; besides the plays Visarjan and Karna-Kunti in Gujarati.
We see her in 1961 — celebrating Tagore’s birth-centenary — showcasing Tasher Desh: by expanding Tagore’s anti-Brahminism: to envelop all “isms” and their stifling roles. She creates new movements to suit the theme and is highly appreciated. She once reminisced, “In October 1978, I led a 43-member dance-ensemble to China. On the first night, we danced Tasher Desh and other items. The very next morning, the Ambassador requested me to delete Tasher Desh from our repertoire. Of course, I understood, for the Tagore play showed ill effects of regimentation and here the country was China!”
One’s last memory of hers is to see, just a few years back, Darpana staging Victoria Ocampo and Tagore — in a flash-back mode — with Mallika as Victoria, her live-wire son Revanta as junior Tagore and the noted actor Tom Altar as senior Tagore: with her sitting happily in the front row in the auditorium’s pit and oneself sitting at her feet.
As the very last of the Tagoreans, hers is a loss that cannot be filled ever.