Chandralekha Overview

Chandralekha is credited as being the first to make a place for contemporary dance in India. She used her own style of classical Bharata Natyam to convey social messages and and political critiques. Her work has a quality that allows it... [more]

Chandralekha is credited as being the first to make a place for contemporary dance in India. She used her own style of classical Bharata Natyam to convey social messages and and political critiques. Her work has a quality that allows it to reach diverse audiences and has toured internationally, performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1998 as part of the Next Wave Festival. Chandra has gained increasing support in India, where her secular use of Bharata Natyam is not always readily excepted. Originally trained in Bharata Natyam, Chandra did not understand the automatic smiles and commercial values of these dancers, and ended her solo performance career after ten years. She claimed she "never regretted what I have rejected." She decided not to marry, a rarity in Indian society, and became involved in the women's movement as well as other left-wing political movements. She began choreographing in 1961, but did not receive acclaim for her work until 1984. Chandralekha is known not only as a dancer and choreographer, but also as a writer, designer and activist for human rights and feminism. [show less]