The National Center for the Performing Arts – NCPA, is hosting a specially curated program, “A Tribute to Excellence – the Artistry of Malavika Sarukkai”, through a festival in different venues across the city, from January 9 to January 16, 2016, showcasing Malavika’s prolific journey as an Artist.

Malavika Sarukkai’s choreographies are known for the incandescent beauty of the classical language of Bharata Natyam and the energized articulation of a contemporary mind.  Intense, extraordinary and luminous are the qualities that distinguish Malavika Sarukkai’s dancing. With her artistic mastery and technique she continues to command a distinctive presence on the world stage, from the time she inaugurated the Festival of India in 1982 as the youngest solo dancer ever to do so.

Over the years she has chiseled her art and its expression to choreograph a vast canvas of themes from the traditional to the contemporary. She has innovated boldly, adding several dimensions and interpretations to her choreographies and held her own as a solo dancer for nearly 4 decades. 

A key highlight of this program will be the premiere of ‘Vamatara – To the Light”, the latest dance creation of Malavika, which opens a new chapter in her artistic journey with the introduction of a group choreography for the first time.

Commenting on this program and group choreography, Malavika said, “When a prestigious institution like the NCPA center-stages excellence and artistry, it signifies a vital step – that of fore-fronting the essential quality that moves art from the ordinary to the extraordinary. For me, the language of Bharata Natyam has been like a prism, constantly showing me different facets of exploration. This has challenged me to go beyond the familiar and repeated and it is this quest that helped me conceptualize and create a large body of solo work. Choreographing Vamatara allowed me to introspect, repossess tradition and validate the powerful language of Bharata Natyam. Working on group choreography with 4 other dancers was different. It demanded I visualize the dancing body afresh in space. I was now working with 5 centers of energy, 5 minds, 5 individuals who had to relate to each other to create the whole….and that was exciting”

In recognition of her contribution, Malavika Sarukkai has received many awards including the Padmashree, the Sangeet Natak Academy award, the Kalaimamani award, the Raza award, the Mrinalini Sarabhai award, to name a few.

Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, head for Dance programming, NCPA said, “One of the main reasons behind this initiative is to celebrate an artiste who is still performing at her prime and has significantly contributed to the field of dance. Malavikaji is an epitome of excellence, her choreographic interpretations and enchanting style make her one of the most enduring solo performers in the history of Indian Dance. This retrospective is a compilation of her aesthetic journey that celebrates the gradual shift from solo presentations to her premiere group choreography – Vamatara.”