Sitara Devi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sitara Devi
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Sitara c. 2010
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Dhanalakshmi
8 November 1920 Calcutta, British India
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| Died | 25 November 2014 (aged 94) Mumbai, India
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| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Kathak dancer |
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Sitara Devi (born Dhanlakshmi; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an amazing Indian dancer. She was famous for her classical Kathak dance style. Sitara Devi was also a singer and an actress. She received many awards and performed in famous places around the world, like the Royal Albert Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.
When she was young, Sitara Devi met the famous poet Rabindranath Tagore. He encouraged her to help bring back old Indian dance forms like Kathak. After seeing her dance when she was only sixteen, Tagore called her Nritya Samragni, which means "Empress of Dance." Many people still call her the "Kathak queen."
Contents
Early Life and Dance Journey
Sitara Devi was born in Kolkata (then called Calcutta) on 8 November 1920. This day happened to be Dhanteras, a special festival in India. She was named Dhanlakshmi, after the goddess of good fortune.
Her father, Sukhdev Maharaj, was a scholar and a Kathak dancer. He loved classical dance and taught it to his children, including Sitara. Her mother, Matsya Kumari, also came from a family of performers. Sitara learned dance from her father. Her style mixed two different Kathak traditions, known as Benaras and Lucknow Gharana.
Starting Dance at a Young Age
When Sitara was eight years old, she was expected to get married, as was common at the time. But she really wanted to go to school instead. She insisted, and her marriage was called off. She then joined Kamachhagarh High School.
At school, there was a play based on a story called Savitri and Satyavan. Sitara showed her teacher an amazing dance performance and got the main dance role. She even helped teach the dance to other students! It was around this time that she was renamed Sitara. She also helped teach dance to her older sister, Tara. Tara is the mother of another famous Kathak dancer, Pt. Gopi Krishna.
Early Performances and Fame
By the time Sitara Devi was ten, she was already performing solo. She often danced during the short breaks in movies at a friend's cinema. Her dedication to dance meant she didn't continue her schooling.
When she was eleven, her family moved to Mumbai (then called Bombay). Soon after, she performed Kathak for important people like Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, and Sir Cowasji Jehangir. Tagore was so impressed that he asked her to perform again. After watching her dance for three hours, he praised her greatly and gave her a shawl and a gift.
Her first big public performance in Mumbai was at Cowasji Jehangir Hall. When she was twelve, a filmmaker named Niranjan Sharma hired her. She danced in several Hindi movies, including Usha Haran (1940) and Mother India (1957). In Mother India, she performed a Holi dance dressed as a boy. This was her last movie dance, as she decided to stop acting to focus completely on her classical Kathak training.
Personal Life
Sitara Devi was married four times. Her last marriage was to Pratap Barot, and they had a son named Ranjit Barot, who was born in 1950.
Awards and Recognition
Sitara Devi received many important awards for her contributions to dance. These included the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1969) and the Padma Shri (1973).
She famously refused the Padma Bhushan award, saying it was "an insult, not an honor." She felt her contribution to Kathak was so great that she deserved the highest civilian award in India, the Bharat Ratna.
On 8 November 2017, Google honored Sitara Devi with a special "Doodle" in India to celebrate her 97th Birthday.
Later Years and Legacy
While Kathak was her main dance style, Sitara Devi was also skilled in other forms, like Bharatanatyam and various Indian folk dances. She even learned Russian ballet and other Western dances.
As she got older, she danced less but worked on a book about dance research done by her and her father. She also taught Kathak to many famous Bollywood actresses, including Madhubala, Rekha, Mala Sinha, and Kajol. She dreamed of opening a formal academy to teach Kathak.
Sitara Devi passed away on 25 November 2014, in Mumbai, after a long illness. She left behind a wonderful legacy as an "Empress of Dance" who helped keep Kathak alive and popular.
See also
- List of Kathak exponents
