May 13
Born Today:
Balasaraswati
Indian dancer Balasaraswati (1918-1984), was born a seventh generation Devadasi, or temple dancer, and trained in bharatanatyam dance. Before her time, the dance form had fallen into disrepute, as it became linked with prostitution and nautch dancing, a word which sounds as sordid as the practice. Balasaraswati became the face of the revamped bharatanatyam and she introduced the dance to audiences all over the world from the 1930s onward, restoring dignity to the form and respect for its practitioners. She opened a school in the 1950s and began training dancers, but continued touring the world for decades. Balasaraswati was admired and supported by famed dancer Uday Shankar (1900-1977), who had collaborated with Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) and brought attention to the dances of India a generation before.
Also Born Today: Dancer/anthropologist La Meri (1898-1988) traveled the world and studied many forms of dance, later forming the Ethnologic Dance Center (1942-1956). She was considered an expert on many world dance forms and inspired others to respect and investigate dances from other continents. Director/dancer Herbert Ross (1927-2001) was married to ballerina Nora Kaye (1920-1987) and choreographed House of Flowers (1954) on Broadway before directing several dance films including The Turning Point (1977) and Footloose (1984). Dance writer/critic Clive Barnes (1927-2008) wrote about dance for the New York Times from 1965-1977 and wrote several books as well. Augustin "Augie" Rodriguez (1928-2014) and his wife, dancer Margo Rodriguez (1929-2019) helped to popularize the Mambo in the US during the 1950s.
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Broadway Premiere: The Pajama Game in 1954
Ballet Premiere: Le Dieu Bleu in 1912