Esther Luella Sherman (18 August 1893- 23 January 1982), better known as Ragini Devi, was an Indian classical dancer of

Bharata Natyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Petoskey, Michigan. Her mother, Ida Bell Parker Sherman, her father, Alexander Otto Sherman, had Canadian-German ancestry and was an immigrant tailor. Soon after Esther’s birth, her family moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, where Esther spent her formative years. She and younger brother, DeWitt, grew up in a clapboard house near Lake Harriet in

Career

Ester sought out formal instruction from a local dance teacher, by the time she graduated from high school, in the 1910s, her passion for dance, now well-established, led her to engage a local man (a Russian immigrant) to teach her ballet. Soon, the pair was performing a revue of "international" dances at local cabarets and small theaters around Minneapolis. Using the stage names "Rita Cassilas" and "Todi Ragini" Sherman spent her nights performing an array of Russian folk dances and self-styled Greek-and Egyptian-themed pieces, and her days studying Indian history and culture at the University of Minnesota at St Paul (most likely as a non-matriculating student). In 1922 she moved to New York with her husband Bajpai. In New York, she found some work in silent films, but her career turned a corner on 28 April 1922, in a solo performance, onstage, at Manhattan’s Greenwich Village Theater. There, dancing supposedly "authentic Indian entertainments", she made her debut as "Ragini Devi" who, she told her American audiences, was a Kashmiri Hindu born, raised, and trained to dance in India. From then on, she was known, on stage and off, as Ragini Devi (although in India, she never passed for anything other than a Westerner—albeit one with the "instincts and attitudes of an Indian"). Between 1922 and 1930, her self-styled performances earned praise from American dance critics and exotica-seekers alike. In 1928, she published her pioneering first book, "Nritanjali :an introduction to Hindu dancing", which earned critical acclaim in the U.S., with June 17, 1928's edition of The New York Times calling it "a happy circumstance". as well as in India. In 1930, seizing her new international fame, Ragini Devi decided to travel to India, which she had been long eager to do. Committed, above all else, to dance, Devi left her husband and set sail for South India. Where, upon arrival, she gave birth to her only daughter, Indrani. Devi travelled, seeking out teachers, eager to study Indian dance at its source. In Madras she studied Sadir (also known as

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

) with ex-devadasi Mylapore Gowri Ammal of Kapaleeswarar Temple. and, travelling to the Kerala, after she received an invitation from the Maharaja of Travancore to dance in the Arts Festival. She got an opportunity to meet poet Vallathol. She became the first woman to study Kathakali at the legendary

Kerala Kalamandalam Kerala Kalamandalam, deemed to be University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major center for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the Southern states of India, with the special emphasis on K ...

. It is here where she met young and handsome Gopinath, the Kathakali dancer from Travancore, who agreed to be her dance partner in her tours. Eager to join the young, nationalism-inspired effort to revive and reinvent indigenous Indian arts in a national tour aimed at introducing audiences in the rest of India to Kathakali. Shortening the length of the dances, streamlining the costumes, and staging them on an indoor, proscenium stage, Ragini Devi and Gopinath gained prominence by transforming Kathakali into evening entertainment for urban theatergoers. From 1933 to 1936 they toured India, presenting their adapted Kathakali "dance dramas" to entranced audiences and rave reviews. In 1938, Devi set sail (without Gopinath) for a European tour which had barely begun when the escalation of European hostilities forced her to return, with her daughter, to the United States. In New York, Sherman established the India Dance Theatre, a dance school and company on West 57th St where she profited from the growing American rage for "ethnic" and "exotic" dance. In 1947 she travelled back to India (where her daughter, now married, was living) and in 1948 won a Rockefeller Foundation grant to support her ethnographic work. For the next several years she travelled the young nation, documenting regional classical and folk dance forms. Meanwhile, carrying on the family torch, Indrani became the first-ever "Miss India" in 1952. Soon she was one of India's best-loved cultural ambassadors, performing the dances her mother had fought to preserve before world leaders such as Mao and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. Devi half-jokingly lamenting this state of affairs, "My daughter has already pushed me to the background. There was a time when I was known in my own right!" Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Devi lived in Bombay, compiling the results of her research. In 1972 she finally saw "Dance Dialects of India" published in 1978.

Personal life

Esther met Ramalal Balram Bajpai (1880–1962), a young scientist from

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, India and an activist for Indian independence. Bajpai was wanted by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

for defacing a public statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. He avoided capture and escaped to the United States where, in 1916, he enrolled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. In 1921, against her parents wishes, Sherman married Bajpai in a civil ceremony in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. Esther embraced Hinduism upon her wedding and took the name "Ragini Devi". and together they moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. The couple moved to India in the 1920s. Their daughter, Indrani Bajpai, was born on 19 September 1930 in Madras. Who also studied to learn

, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Miss India Miss India may refer to: * Femina Miss India, the most prestigious and oldest surviving national beauty pageant in India that started in 1964. It sends its winner to Miss World. * Miss Diva, the national beauty pageant that sends its winners to Miss ...

in 1952, and, at the age of 15, eloped to marry Habib Rahman (1915–1995), a Bengali-Muslim architect, in 1945. The couple had a son, artist Ram Rahman, and a daughter, Sukanya Rahman (Wicks), who would also dance with mother and grandmother. Her grandsons are Wardreath and Habib Wicks.

Death

She left India, tearfully, to retire at the Actors Fund Home assisted living facility in Englewood, New Jersey, where she died from a stroke on January 22, 1982. Her New York Times obituary (January 26, 1982) noted that Devi's greatest achievement was that she "was instrumental in introducing dances of India to the U.S.". But, looking back, it is clear that in addition to her artistic and ethnographic achievements, Ragini Devi's life is notable for what it suggests about the history of Americans' fascination with "the East", and the exotic longings that reside at the heart of American whiteness.

Career

Personal life

Death

References

Further reading