Milena Salvini (23 April 1933 – 25 January 2022) was an Italian-born French exponent and teacher of Indian classical dance. Especially known for her services to

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

, in 2019 she was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Life and career

Salvini was born in 1933 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Her father died when she was four years old. Her mother brought her to France, where she began learning music. She also studied modern dance, performing with the Ballets Contemporaines de Karin Waehner in ''Sensemaya'' by Sara Pardo in 1963. In 1962, Salvini obtained a two-year scholarship to train in Kathakali at the Kerala Kalamandalam. Upon her return to France, she established a tour by the Kathakali troupe of the Kalamandalam under the auspices of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. Salvini and Filipuzzi opened the Mandapa Centre in Paris, France, in 1975 to teach classical dance. In 1980, she arranged for the Kalamandalam's Kutiyattam troupe to travel to Europe with funding from UNESCO. In 1999, another Kutiyattam tour she organised resulted in UNESCO encouraging an application to its newly established Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity programme. Kutiyattam was added to the list in May 2001.

Personal life and death

She married Roger Filipuzzi, an architect in 1974. Her daughter Isabelle Anna is also an Indian classical dancer, specialising in Kathak. Salvini died in Paris on 25 January 2022 at the age of 88.

Selected works

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salvini, Milena 1933 births 2022 deaths 20th-century French dancers French female dancers Italian emigrants to France Indian classical choreographers Indian dance teachers Kathakali exponents Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts People from Milan Italian expatriates in India French expatriates in India