Rani Karnaa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1939 (1939) |
| Died | 7 May 2018(2018-05-07) (aged 78–79) Kolkata |
| Occupation | Kathak dancer |
| Spouse | Nayak |
| Parent | Assandas Karnaa |
| Awards | Padma Shri Vice-President's Gold Medal Order of the Queen ofLaos Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Varidhi Vijay Ratna Senior Fellowship - Govt of India |
Rani Karnaa was an Indian classical dancer, known for her proficiency in the Indian dance form ofKathak, and regarded by many as one of the greatest exponents of the art form.[1][2] She was honoured by theGovernment of India, in 2014, by bestowing on her thePadma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of dance.[3]
Rani polished her Kathak into an instrument of elegance and grace in which she has few equals., Late Dr. Charles Fabri, art crtitic, wrote about Rani Karnaa in theStatesman.[citation needed]
Rani Karnaa was born in 1939, in aSindhi family of amirs[4] inHyderabad,[5][6] in the present day Pakistan and erstwhileBritish India.[1][2][7] Her father, Assandas Karnaa belonged originally to the Karnamalani family ofLarkana region. The family name of Karnamalani, over a period of time, got abbreviated to Karanani and eventually to Karnaa. In 1942, her family moved to Delhi when the young Rani was three years old.[2] She had her early schooling in Delhi and graduated inBotany from the Hindu College, Delhi. She also did Honours degree in Botany later but forsook academics to concentrate on her dance career.[2]
Rani Karnaa's family moved from Sindh to Delhi when she was three[8] and settled atConnaught Place.[4] She soon grew a fancy for dance seeing a neighbor dancing,[8][9] insisted on learning the art and started learning dance from the age of four,[6][10] learningKathak,Odissi,Bharatanatyam andManipuri.[2] Her early teachers wereNrityacharya Narayan Prasad and Sundar Prasad. She continued her studies to master the Jaipur gharana style under Guru Hiralal and the Lucknow gharana ethos fromPandit Birju Maharaj.[2]
Rani Karnaa shifted her residence toBhubaneshwar when she got married into anOdia family in 1963[1][10] and this gave her an opportunity to meetKumkum Mohanty, the famous Odissi dancer. Through her, Rani Karnaa got in touch with the renowned guru,Kelucharan Mahapatra and learntOdissi from the master from 1966 to 1985.[2][4][5] She has also trained under various other famous gurus such as Amubi Singh, Narendra Kumar andLalita Shastri, a disciple of the renownedRukmini Devi Arundale.[4][11]
Rani Karnaa performed extensively across India and outside,[10] performing at almost all the major classical dance festivals in India.[7][10] Her performances are said to have received acclaim in places like UK, Russia and many other European countries.[7][9][10]
Rani Karnaa lived in Kolkata, since shifting fromBhubaneshwar when her husband, Nayak, was transferred to Kolkata in 1978,[8] attending to her duties as the director ofSamskritiki Shreyaskar and was active until recently, her last public performance was in 2013, at the age of 74.[8] She died on 7 May 2018, aged 79.[12]
Apart from contributing to the propagation of Kathak through her performances, Rani Karnaa is credited with integrating the traditions ofJaipur andLucknowgharanas.[1][7][9][10][13] Many critics have acknowledged her contributions in bringing different cultural traditions into Kathak, by integrating their literature, music and dance.[1][8] She is said to have combined artistry with creative expression.[2] She has done research on the aesthetics of Kathak[2] with Professor S. K. Saxena ofDelhi University and the body of that research work is well recognized.[13]
She established a dance academy,Samskritiki Shreyaskar,[4] 1995, and also guides theSangeet and Nritya Sikshan Bharati, a division ofBharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata.[13] She is also the founder and the first director ofCalcutta School of Music and worked there from 1978 till 1993.[7][10] She established the dance division of Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata, by name,Ahana and headed the department from 1980 to 1987.[1]
Samskritiki Shreyaskar is a dance academy founded in 1995, by Rani Karnaa,[4][10] with the aim to propagate the dance form of Kathak and to develop the performing arts in general. The academy stands alongJodhpur Park, Kolkata and offers various courses in various dance forms. The academy and its students have participated in various cultural festivals across India such as:[5]
The academy, apart from the courses it offers, conducts workshops and live demonstrations. It has associations withRabindra Bharati University and Nehru Children's Museum, New Delhi, for conducting regular workshops.[5] It also has a subsidiary centre in Odisha, started in 2005.[4]
Rani Karnaa was honoured by theGovernment of India by awarding her thePadma Shri, in 2014, in recognition of her efforts to the cause ofKathak dance.[3][14] She has also received many other awards and honours such as:
