Photo: Vikadan Rajasekar
Bharatanatyam dancer and guru Narthaki Nataraj is known for taking the art form to audiences across the world, and training innumerable other artists. Recognising her contribution to the world of dance, Chennai’s Bharat Kalachar will honour her with the Viswa Kala Bharathi award.
“When I came to Chennai in 2001, I didn’t know how I would establish myself as a dancer. But everybody accepted me after seeing me perform, and due to my guru’s lineage,” says Narthaki, a trans woman and disciple of K P Kittappa Pillai, a direct descendant of the famous Tanjore Quartet Brothers.
Narthaki will receive the award on December 16, the inaugural day of Bharat Kalachar’s 35th Marghazhi Mahothsav festival. Margazhi is the season of music and dance in Chennai when sabhas (organisations that promote performing arts) conduct performances by eminent artists. The annual festival draws performers and audiences from across the world.
“Narthaki has dedicated her entire life to Bharatanatyam, and taken it to the world,” says YG Madhuvanti, cultural consultant, Bharat Kalachar. “Art transcends gender and Narthaki has transcended both.”
On December 3, Narthaki also received the Trailblazer Award at the fourth edition of ‘Margazhi Matram’, organised by SciArtsRUs, California-based non-profit that aims to make arts and science accessible.
“Narthaki is not only a dancer par excellence but also a great ambassador when it comes to inclusion in the arts. She has blazed a trail by using her stature to create awareness about the transgender community and their contribution to the arts,” says Ranjini Kaushik, founder, SciArtsRUs
Narthaki, who came to terms with her gender identity when she was 10 years old, was shunned by her parents and bullied by classmates for being effeminate. In the darkness of the night, Narthaki practised dance in the privacy of a graveyard near her home in Madurai, with just her friend Shakthi Bhaskar for company. Later, both of them moved to Thanjavur, where Narthaki pursued traditional gurukula training from Kittappa Pillai for 15 years.
She has received numerous accolades, including the Padma Shri in 2019. Along with Shakthi, she established the Velliamballam Trust – School of Dance in Mylapore. “Today, my students have their own dance schools across the world and the dancers they taught are charting out their own careers,” says Narthaki, a member of the State Planning Commission, TN government. “People from all over the world come to learn the rare compositions of the Tanjore Quartet.”
