Dancing her way through thick and thin in life

Four-year-old Ananda Shankar Jayant was distracted from her prayers at the Sri Subrahmanyaswamy Temple in Secunderabad when she noticed a woman with a big red bindi and jasmine in her hair climbing the stairs towards her. She grasped her mother’s pallu as the two women spoke. ‘Your daughter has lovely large eyes, you should enrol her at my dance school’, said the stranger. Ananda’s mother, Subhashini Shankar decided to follow this lady’s advice and enrolled her in a dance class. Thus, began Ananda Shankar Jayant’s tryst with dance mudras, ghungroos and rhythm.

Invited on a scholarship to Kalakshetra, after winning an all-India gold medal for dance in the junior section, she joined Kalakshetra in Chennai at the age of 11. “I spent six years at Kalakshetra, learning Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, veena, dance theory, philosophy etc., and acquired a PG Diploma in Bharatanatyam. I also learnt the grace of a firmly executed movement, the need to perfect the bodily stances and thereby, forget the body and rise above it. It taught me to think, create, go beyond and ascend realms of a higher consciousness. Since then, I have been performing, teaching and choreographing,” says the 54-year-old Padma Shri awardee. 

After her stint at Kalakshetra, Dr Jayant returned to Hyderabad and pursued a Master’s in Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology. It was there that she was introduced to the concept of the UPSC exam, as she saw her classmates scampering to prepare for them. Not only did Ananda top her university, she also cleared the UPSC exam to be offered a job in the South Central Railway traffic services, as their very first lady officer. “Although everybody was happy, my mother was worried that dance would take a backseat and I assured her it never would,” she shares. It never did. By day, she was the lady officer in an all-boys-club carrying out train inspections, assessments of accident sites, control room duty where she would accept calls about technical complaints and other such things. In the evening, she was a danseuse, and summoned that part of her soul that would come alive when immersed in motion while betrothed to raga.

She was also initiated into the world of Kuchipudi by her Guru Pasumarthy Sri Ramalinga Sastry. “I trained with him intensively, learning Kuchipudi even as I explored new vistas in Bharatanatyam and performed both across India. Those were the years when audiences sat through a three-hour performance. I would present Bharatanatyam in the first half and then Kuchipudi in the second,” she says. Talking about her love for dance, she adds, “I truly believe that dance is my greatest communication tool, my best language, that helps me visualise and share, inspiring stories and myths, uplifting philosophy, commentaries on topical issues or even humour! My dance is a reflection of what inspires me, tickles me or bothers me!” She is the Honorary and Artistic Director of Shankarananda Kalakshetra, a premier institution for classical dance. “Teaching dance to young aspirants at rejuvenates me. I pass on a tradition to a younger generation and am very gratified to see youngsters make stunning debuts, and strike out as performers and teachers,” she smiles. 

Dr Jayant, who has already received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kala Ratna Award, Nritya Choodamani, Kalaimamani Award, is thrilled to receive the prestigious Viswa Kala Bharathi award for the year 2016 from Chennai-based Bharat Kalachar. “I dedicate this award to my parents and gurus, even as this award will push me to go further into the beautiful artistic and aesthetic depths of my art,” she finishes.