Ballerina. Perhaps her country's most renowned classical dancer, she shall be remembered as both a performer and choreographer over a long career. Born Mrinalini Swaminadhan to a distinguished Brahman family, she was initally educated in Switzerland then returned to India where she studied at Shantinketan and decided on a career in dance. Following a time at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts she went back home and became one of the first women to perform Kathakali, an art form depicting Hindu legends, as well as Bharatanatyam, a dance previously restricted to Hindu temples. In 1942, she married pioneering physicist Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) who was to to be her partner in much of her work. In 1949 the pair founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts and produced "Manushya". Appropriately enough, Mrs. Sarabhai presented the work in Paris as she had her Kathakaki troop dance naked so that the audience could fully appreciate their body movement. Over the years she created a number of acclaimed works, among them "Memory Is a Rough Fragment of Eternity", the drama of a young bride's suicide, "Ranmalpur" which centered on the killing of five Dalits (untouchables), and 1979's "Aspirations", a successful protest against the building of a dam in Kerala. Remaining active into old age, she took her Darpana Company to major venues the world-over and received multiple honors. At her death following a one day episode of stomach problems a coveted Indian dance award carried her name.
Ballerina. Perhaps her country's most renowned classical dancer, she shall be remembered as both a performer and choreographer over a long career. Born Mrinalini Swaminadhan to a distinguished Brahman family, she was initally educated in Switzerland then returned to India where she studied at Shantinketan and decided on a career in dance. Following a time at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts she went back home and became one of the first women to perform Kathakali, an art form depicting Hindu legends, as well as Bharatanatyam, a dance previously restricted to Hindu temples. In 1942, she married pioneering physicist Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) who was to to be her partner in much of her work. In 1949 the pair founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts and produced "Manushya". Appropriately enough, Mrs. Sarabhai presented the work in Paris as she had her Kathakaki troop dance naked so that the audience could fully appreciate their body movement. Over the years she created a number of acclaimed works, among them "Memory Is a Rough Fragment of Eternity", the drama of a young bride's suicide, "Ranmalpur" which centered on the killing of five Dalits (untouchables), and 1979's "Aspirations", a successful protest against the building of a dam in Kerala. Remaining active into old age, she took her Darpana Company to major venues the world-over and received multiple honors. At her death following a one day episode of stomach problems a coveted Indian dance award carried her name.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Family Members
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See more Sarabhai memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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