Shirin Vajifdar (died 29 September 2017) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, instructor and critic. She was one of the first

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

s who took up Indian classical dance. A doyenne of

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

, she was an acclaimed performer and teacher. Her choreography in the film '' Mayurpankh'' (1954) was lauded.

Life

Shirin Vajifdar was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She had two younger sisters, Khurshid and Roshan. They were brought up in an orphanage in Bombay. In the 1930s, defying the disapproval of her community, Vajifdar began to learn Kathak with Sunder Prasad, a teacher from the Jaipur Gharana. She also attended the Nrityalayam dance academy run by Madame Menaka in

Khandala Khandala is a hill station in the Western Ghats in the state of Maharashtra, India, about from Lonavala, 12 kilometres from Khopoli and from Karjat. Khandala is located at the top end of the Bhor Ghat, a major ''ghat'' (meaning valley i ...

, at the same time as Shevanti Bhonsale and

Damayanti Joshi Damayanti Joshi (5 September 1928 – 19 September 2004) was a noted renowned exponent of the Kathak dance form.She believed Kathak is the art of storytelling. She began in the 1930s dancing in Madame Menaka's troupe, which travelled to many pa ...

. Here she learned other forms of Indian dance: Manipuri and Kathakali. Vajifdar married

Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...

in 1950. She was his second wife.

Career

Vajifdar taught dance to Khurshid and Roshan, with whom she began to perform as the ''Vajifdar sisters''. They trained in all the major schools of Indian dance, including

Bharatnatyam 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 ...

and Mohiniattam. The sisters were the first Parsis to perform Indian classical dance. While conservatives in the Parsi community were opposed to them, she received support from others. The modernist dancer Ram Gopal was one of their instructors. Among the Vajifdars' contemporaries in performance were

Mrinalini Sarabhai Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai (11 May 1918 – 21 January 2016) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, ...

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...

, and the Poovaiah sisters. Vajifdar ran a dance academy, ''Nritya Manjari'', in Cuffe Parade in Bombay. Along with Krishna Kutty, she founded the ''Nritya Darpana Society''. On the eve of Indian independence in 1947, Vajifdar and her pupils, ''The Marwari Belles'', performed at Bombay's Taj Mahal Hotel. In 1951, Vajifdar and her sisters toured South East Asia, performing and promoting Indian culture. There do not appear to be any extant recordings of Vajifdar's performances. The

Films Division of India The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...

had made a film, but it was lost. In 1952, she appeared on BBC Television. In 1954, Vajifdar choreographed a dance sequence in

Kishore Sahu Kishore Sahu (22 November 1915 – 22 August 1980) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. He appeared in 22 films between 1937 and 1980, and he directed 20 films between 1942 and 1974. His directorial venture Kuwara Ba ...

's film '' Mayurpankh''. Roshan and Khurshid performed in the sequence. In 1955, she was part of a dance delegation to China. She essayed the role of

Mohini Mohini (Sanskrit: मोहिनी, ') is the Hindu goddess of enchantment. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a '' femme fatale'', an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them ...

and

Bhasmasur In Hinduism, Bhasmasura ( sa, भस्मासुर, ) is an asura or demon, who was granted the power to burn up and immediately turn into ashes ('' bhasma'') anyone whose head he touched with his hand. The asura was tricked by the Vishnu's ...

a with Krishna Kutty, to considerable acclaim. By 1957, Vajifdar had retired from performance. She then began to write reviews of dance for the

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

Selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajifdar, Shirin 2017 deaths Dancers from Maharashtra Artists from Mumbai Indian art critics 20th-century Indian dancers Parsi people from Mumbai