Shanta Dhananjayan and V.P. Dhananjayan are famous for which dance form?

Explanation

Shanta Dhananjayan and V.P. Dhananjayan are a famous husband-and-wife pair of Bharatanatyam dancers, teachers and choreographers. They are among the most respected names in Indian classical dance, and they have performed and taught together for more than five decades.

Both Shanta and V.P. Dhananjayan were born in Kerala and trained at Kalakshetra in Chennai, the institution founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale. They learnt Bharatanatyam in the Kalakshetra style and also trained in Kathakali, which gives their dance a special strength and expressiveness. They were leading dancers in Rukmini Devi's famous dance-dramas. In 1968, they founded Bharata Kalanjali, a dance school in Chennai, which has trained many dancers from India and abroad. They are known for their energetic and graceful duet performances, their creative choreography and their commitment to the traditional values of the art. They have performed in many countries and have also worked to use dance as a means of promoting peace and social awareness. They received the Padma Bhushan in 2009, among many other honours.

Bharatanatyam is the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. It developed from Sadir, the temple dance of the devadasis, and was revived in the 1930s by E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale. Other famous couples in Indian classical dance include Raja and Radha Reddy (Kuchipudi) and Kelucharan and Laxmipriya Mohapatra (Odissi).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kathak is associated with dancers such as Birju Maharaj.
• ✗Kuchipudi is associated with the dancing couple Raja and Radha Reddy.
• ✗Odissi is associated with dancers such as Kelucharan Mohapatra.