Alarmel Valli
| Alarmel Valli | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 14, 1956 Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Residence | Chennai |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Indian classical dancer, choreographer |
| Known for | Pandanallur style of Bharatnatyam |
| Spouse(s) | Bhaskar Ghosh |
| Website | www |
Alarmel Valli (born 14 September 1956) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam and also her own distinctive style. She is the founder of 'Dipashikha', a centre for fine arts in Chennai, established in 1984, where she also teaches Bharatnatyam.
In 1991, Alarmel Valli was the second youngest dancer to be conferred the President’s award of Padmasri after Vyjayanthimala. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, followed by Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India in 2004.
Alarmel Valli was born and brought up in Chennai, where she did her schooling from The Sacred Heart Matriculation School, at Church Park, Chennai and later studied at the Stella Maris College, Chennai.
She has trained in the Pandanallur style of Bharat Natyam under Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Subbaraya Pillai. She has also studied music forms like Padams and Javalis under eminent musician T. Muktha, of the Veena Dhanammal style of music for many years.
She made her stage debut at an early age of 9 1/2 under the auspices of Indian Institute of Fine Arts, Madras and was conferred the Natya Kala Bhushan award and won her laurels on the International scene when she was barely 16 at the International Dance Festival of Theatre organised by the prestigious Sarah Bernhardt Théâtre de la Ville, in Paris, and has been performing ever since, both in India and aboard.
She also learned Odissi under Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and his disciple Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena, and studied classical Tamil literature anthologies of the 2000 years old, Sangam poetry. Over the years she has gradually evolved her own distinct style that extended her tradition within the broad framework of classical Bharatanatyam.
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