Sunayana Hazarilal is a petite, unassuming lady, whom I used to meet at the gym every day but had no idea that she was a gifted dancer until she was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011. It was then that I got an inkling as to what her extraordinary accomplishments were - Sunayana, along with her husband, Guru Pandit Hazarilal, were both instrumental in revitalizing the fading Jankiprasad Kathak Gharana of Banaras.
Pandit Hazarilal’s Guru, Nritya Samrat Ashaque Hussain, was an accomplished actor and dancer of the Jankiprasad Gharana, and young Hazarilal was his most promising disciple. Unfortunately, at the age of eighteen, he was left alone to continue the tradition of this unique dance style, as in 1947, his Guru Ashaque Hussain migrated to Pakistan. By the late 1950s, a senior Jankiprasad Kathak dancer passed away and the Gharana was on the brink of dying out.
Pandit Hazarilal had a debilitating injury, which did not allow him to perform on stage, but nevertheless he continued his devotion to the Gharana by teaching dance. In 1957, young Sunayana Desai started training with him. An Honours graduate from Pune University, she was living in Mumbai when she started learning dance, but when her father was posted to Shimla she had to leave with her family. However, she realized that dancing was her passion but performing on stage was not permitted by her parents, so she eloped and married her Guru. Realizing that reviving the Gharana was in her hands, she practiced relentlessly, and was constantly being told by Pandit Hazarilal, “Ban ke Nacho”!
She started giving recitals on stage in Mumbai but her first break was in 1974 with Birendra Shankar (nephew of Ravi Shankar), who was the Director of the Sanskrithik Festival in London. She had to perform every day for a month and was well-received by her audience. Soon after that, at one of her performances in New York, she succeeded in moving her audience to tears – that is when she truly understood the exhortation, “Ban ke Nacho”!
She and her husband, Guru Pt. Hazarilalji in 1969, founded Natwari, a cultural institution, committed to the promotion and preservation of traditional Indian Performing Arts. It was named after the famous NATAWARI BOLS which were composed by the great Kathak Guru.
In 1992, at the age of 62, her life partner Guru Pandit Hazarilal passed away and Sunayana sank into a deep depression which lasted several months. However, with the help and support of her friends and students she slowly recovered and started dancing again.
At the age of 80+, Sunayana continues to teach in the pure Jankiprasad style, which is characterised by expressive abhinaya, a unique vocabulary of Natawari bols, and a devotional repertoire that seeks to uplift the soul. She has performed all over the world, has taught at international ballet schools and has won numerous prestigious awards.
Her accomplishments:
She has performed all over UK, and European countries like France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Finland, USA, Canada, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Doha (Qatar) and Bahrain several times during her 27 tours abroad since 1974. She has participated in various International Music and Dance Festivals like the Sanskrithik Festival in 1974 in England, The Florence Festival in Italy,1981, International Conference of Jeunesses Musicales at Liege, Belgium 1981. The World Peace Conference, Oslo (Norway) in 1986, Festival of India in Switzerland in 1987, International Rhythm Festival, Oslo (Norway) in 1988. She was sent to Syria, Doha and Qatar in September 1994 by ICCR and in the same year performed in US, Canada, and Belgium in October/November. She performed for 50th year of India's Independence in France, Belgium, and Switzerland in December 1997. she was invited to the Canary Islands in Spain in 2004. She was sent for performance tours of Latin American countries by ICCR– including Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Chile.in September/October 2002. Her tour to Hong Kong was sponsored by ICCR to perform in Lignan University and Chinese University in 2017.
She has also taught dancers from big ballet companies in Torino (Italy), Berlin. She regularly holds dance workshops in New York, San Francisco, Raliegh, Hong Kong. She was invited to teach in the Dance Department of UCLA in Los angeles in 1990. She was awarded Senior fellowship to document the old compositions of Banaras Gharana. She has been giving lecture demonstrations in schools and colleges for spic Macay for many years.
Awards:
She has been awarded Abhinaya Kala Sarswati by Bala Subramanya Sabha, Madras, Sringar Mani by Sur Singar Sansad, Bombay, Nritya Sharda By Pracheen Kala Kendra Chandigarh, Kala Shree by Shri Sangeet Bharti, Bikaner, and Nritya Vilas by Sur Singar Sansad, Bombay. In New York she was honoured along with her husband Guru Pt. Hazarilal by the Adhyayan Universal Mission Cultural Centre in 1986. She received the Maharashtra State Cultural Award in 1994, for her achievements in Kathak. And a citation from The Hindi Vikas Mandal of North Carolina (USA) in June 2003 for her contribution in the field of Kathak. She has received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Kathak for the year 2003. and Maharashtra Gaurav Samman for the year 2004. She won M. L. Kosar Award on February 20, 2009, given by Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2011. Recently she was awarded the Life-time Achievement Award on 28th November at Nehru Center by ITM, Mumbai.
Watch Sunayanaji's video: “Antarang”:
https://www.facebook.com/sangeetnatak/videos/253228235652285/?v=253228235652285
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