Bani / Style

There are Different Banis/ Shylys or Styles Followed in BharathaNatyam based on the place, the person who propagated it and also by the name of the Institution. The Prominent Banis are Vazhuvoor Bani, Kattumannar kovil Bani, Thanjavur bani, Mellattur Bani, Mysuru bani, Dhandayudhapani pillai Bani, Kalakshetra Bani etc

Nivedanam Follows the Dhandayudhapani Pillai Bani by and large.

NatyaKala Chakravarthi Padmashree

1. N. DHANDAYUDHAPANI PILLAI Born into a traditional Nageswaram players family of Karaikal on 14 July  1921 To Shri. Karaikal Natesa Pillai and  Smt.Subbammal. He had His early lessons  from his father  and later from his grandfather’s  Brother Ramakrishna Pillai.  His initial aim was to join  the Periyamelam. He migrated to Chennai at a the age of 17 as Singer for Dance to Kalakshetra  he learnt nuances of nattuvangam from Kattu Mannarkovil Muthukumarappa Pillai.

He was an unique teacher whose combination of intricate and tough  choreography was amazing . In his recitation of Jathis one could observe his outstanding grip and expertise in laya oriented  choreographies.

He played with laya Details with passion and wowed  the audience  with Kaarvai(Pauses) and Korvais ( Patterns of Dance Movements). His  Navaragamalika  Varnam  is  a bench mark. He was a great Vaggekara(Composer) .

He was the first musician and nattuvanar to receive the Padmashri Awarded in 1971.  He was the Dance Director  of the Hollywood movie River and also had sung in it.

His famous Disciples  are Vyjayanthi mala, Srividya, Jayalaitha ( Former C.M of Tamil Nadu), Manjula, latha,  Chandrakantha ,Rajasulochana, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sheelapathy kausalya, Vidya, Geetha, Uma, Padmini, Radha, Anuradha, PriyaDarshini, Sarojini( Sri Lanka), Jayagowri, Padmavathy, Sarojini,

1. Suganthy(Malaysia) , Gayathri (Kovai), Rani Williams( Singapore), Vasantha Daniel ( Sri lanka) Soorya, Soorya kala, Chitra , Uma, Chandrakala Jagannathan and many more.

His Bani / Techniques is being carried on by his immediate and extended family also  by his students  and their students.