I cannot find truer words to describe the celebrated dancer Malavika Sarukkai. As someone who has watched a part of her journey for more than 27 years, I must confess that mere good technique would never have kept her audiences seeking her at every performance.
Malavika’s training began from the age of seven. Her first teachers in bharatanatyam were Kalyanasundaram Pillai and S K Rajaratnam Pillai, and later, she learnt abhinaya under Kalanidhi Narayanan.
It was the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra and Ramani Ranjan Jena who inspired her and initiated her into the world of odissi. By the age of 12, she had made her entry on stage formally, and soon she found herself completely enveloped in the mystical world of dance.
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