Baby Saroja
Baby Saroja
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Lineage Overview
- ✦This lineage is based in India.
- ✦Bharatanatyam is the primary style.
- ✦No further generations recorded yet — be the first to link a shishya's own students.
🪔 About
Madras Kadiravelu Saroja, widely known as MK Saroja, was a prominent Bharatanatyam dancer born on April 7, 1931, in Madras. She began her training in Sadir dance, the precursor to Bharatanatyam, at the tender age of five under the tutelage of Guru Muthukumaran Pillai, becoming his exclusive exponent. Her career as a sought-after Bharatanatyam dancer spanned from the 1940s through the 1970s, during which she performed extensively on stage and also featured her classical dances in three films: "Krishna Bhakti," "Nalla Thambi," and "Paithiakaaran." MK Saroja danced for an impressive 60 unbroken years, from 1940 to 2000, making her a significant direct source of dance history for the art form. In December 1949, she married Mohan Khokar, who later became the head of the first Department of Dance at MS University, Baroda. During their 12 years in Baroda, she witnessed the development of the first university-level dance course in the 1950s. She was offered a seven-movie contract by Gemini Studios in 1946 but declined it.
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