Swarnamalya

Swarnamalya Ganesh is an Indian actress and TV anchor. A multidisciplinary artist, she was identified as a talent from a young age; firstly as a dance performer, later becoming well known as an anchor of several popular TV shows, an actor in films across various languages and an activist and public intellectual. She is a respected classical dancer. She holds two master's degrees, one of which is in Dance and a doctorate degree in History of Performing arts from the University of Madras. In 2014-2015 she received the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Professional and Academic Excellence Fellowship, awarded by the United States and Indian governments through the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF).

Ganesh went to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to teach and pursue her post-doctoral research. She received the award "Yuvakala Bharat" at the age of 17. Since then has received national and international recognition for her contribution to the arts. Ganesh serves as an honorary advisor to the Ministry of Culture, Telangana government and on the Board of Studies to several universities including University of Hyderabad (Sarojini Naidu School of Arts) and University of Punjab. She first gained fame from the Sun TV show ''Ilamai Pudhumai'' and then went on to do a number of films in the Tamil language with such directors as Maniratnam and Radha Mohan.

Background and family

Swarnamalya was born into a family of advocates (i.e., lawyers or, especially, barristers). she is a daughter of Ganesh sarma and Malini Ganesh, an advocate with 50 years in practice. The eldest of two children, she has a younger sister, Radhika Ganesh who is a social activist and one of the founders of Ek Potlee Ret Ki and Kaani Nilam.

She has ancestry from Ganapathy Aghraharam on her father's side and Kattuputhur on her mother's side. Great-granddaughter of Brahmasri Vaidhyanatha Dikshitar who wrote a commentary for the Sri lalithasahasranamam she is the granddaughter of the famous playwright of Tamil dramas, Prof Viswam, more popularly known in the areas nearby Trichy as "Lady Viswam".

Education

Ganesh is a sociology graduate from MOP Vaishnav College where she was the student president. She went on to do her diploma in acting for camera from San Jose State University, California, United States. She also has a Masters in and a Ph. D in performance history from Madras University.

She started learning dance at the age of three under (Kalaimamani) K. J. Sarasa for many years and debuted her arangetram in the presence of Dr Avvai Natarajan and Dr Padma Subrahmanyam at the age of 12. She has also extensive music training under Panchapakesa Iyer, Bhagavatalu Seetarama Sarma (1945-2018), and special compositional training under the Sangita Kalanidhi T. K. Govinda Rao and V. V. Srivatsa at the University of Madras. Having trained under Isai Vellalar gurus all her life, she went on to identify more hereditary women artistes from rural areas and learnt and documented their art. Among them are Thiruvalaputhur Jeevaratnamala and Kasthuri, daughters of the famous Kalyani Daughters.

She has been extensively documenting and working with her guru Viralimalai R Muthukannamal who recently received the Padmashri award from the Government of India. Swarnamalya realigned her practice and teaching of dance from Bharatanatyam to Sadira attam in a historic move. While speaking on it she says "it is to re-contextualise dance history and also to recognise the denied presence of hereditary artistes communities in Bharatanatyam". She teaches , music and other art forms at Ranga Mandira Academy of World Dance, Performance and Indic Studies which she founded in 2005 as a centre for training in the arts and also research in History and Indology. She was trained in Tamil epigraphy under Historian and Epigraphist S. Ramachandran.She also learnt Middle Eastern music from A.J. Racy at UCLA and studied Iranian music with Este Haim from Jerusalem. She was the senior disciple of musicologist T. S. Parthasarathy. She is a student of " Seekizhar-adi-p-podi", Dr T. N. Ramachandran for Tamil; and Saiva Siddhantham and Sri Govinda Vadyar for Vedas and Upanishads. Her mentors in Sufi poetry, philosophies and art are the great Sufi singers Abida Parveen and Arvinder Chamak.

Educational achievements

* 2014–2015, Recipient of the Fulbright Nehru Fellowship for
* Professional and Academic Excellence for Post-Doctoral research, WAC/D, UCLA and studied under Prof. Sanjay Subramaniam (Dept of History)
* 2012, Ph.D. in Dance history, Department of Indian Music, University of Madras on the topic “Research and Reconstruction of Dance Repertoire of the Nayak period”.
* 2006, M. A. Bharatanatyam (Classical Indian Dances), Department of Indian Music, University of Madras.
* 2001, BA Sociology, M.O.P Vaishnav College, University of Madras.
* 2009, Certified in "Deciphering South Indian Inscriptions" (Tamil Brahmi and Chola); 2012, (Tamil Grantham) from REACH foundation by Director (former) Archaeological Survey of India
* 2003, Post Graduate Diploma in "Acting for Camera" from San Jose State University (SJSU), California

Dance career

Ganesh started performing onstage from age 12, when she did her arangetram in the presence Dr Avvai Natarajan and Dr Padma Subrahmanyam. She has since performed in many national and international stages to critical acclaim. Apart from dancing in leading sabhas of India such as the Narada Gana Sabha, Krishna Gana Sabha and the Vishaka Music Academy, she is often invited to perform in other prestigious festivals such as the India International centre, New Delhi, Modhera Sun Temple festival, the Henry Martin peace festival.

She is an empanelled artiste with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and has been sent by the government to represent India, performing in various festivals. She has toured the United States, Canada, in Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia, and the Middle East to perform. In 2018 she was sent with her troupe to Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic, and to Austria and Eastern Europe to present an opening dance at the International Expo. She toured the United Kingdom for Akademi, going to Cambridge and Scotland with her production ''From The Attic''. She has performed for the Asia Topa festival at Huru Hara, Australia. She has taught dance in many universities including UCLA. She is currently a professor of Practice, Literature and The Arts, at Sri City, India started by Vagul, Seshasayee and others.

''From The Attic''

Ganesh's doctoral work was ''The research and reconstruction of lost repertoires of the Nayaka Period in Early Modern South India''. She has created a performance-exhibition-lecture series titled ''From The Attic'' aimed at journeying through the past performing practices, invoking multicultural memories of (Bharatanatyam). This series opens with ''Stories from the Attic'', a lecture on the dance histories and contexts of Early Modern Era. ''Beholding the Attic'' is a special travelling exhibition curated to showcase rare sculptures, murals, scripts, costumes and photographs of courtesans of the 16th–20th centuries. The performance of ''From The Attic'' features repertoires like Mukhacali, Jakkini (Persianite influenced dance), Perani (A five act theatrical repertoire), Gondali (Marathi influenced), oriental padams (Works of Ruth. St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Ester Sherman and others). After a very successful premiere at The Madras Music Academy in 2014, FTA has travelled across the country to New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and other cities and to countries outside India like the United States, Canada, UK, Europe, Middle East and Australia.

Nayaka repertoires reconstructed by her:
* Gondhali
* Sivalila
* Jakkini
* Perani (Perini)
* Bahucari
* Char cari
* Danda Lasyam
* Duru Padam
* Nava Padam
* Kelikai
* Mukhacali

She has collaborated with many artistes internationally, she choreographed the dance sequences for A.R. Rahman album penned by Kapil Sibil. She collaborates with the Manganiyars Anwar Khan Manganiyar, Feroz Khan Manganiyar of Rajasthan and others. She worked with the multi medium curator Thomas Henry (musician) on installations "Dance in".

She has worked on many Tamil language epics, literatures. For the Tamil Isai Sangam, she created ''Kannan Vazhi Tamil'', a production on Sangam Poetry. ''Sri Valli'' based on Sankara Das Swamigal script, ''Vaiyathunai Valluvam'' based on Thirukural for the International Thirukural conference, her magnum opus ''Nammai Marandarai Naam Marakka Mattom'' (dance drama based on the second century Tamil Epic—Principle performer, concept, research and choreography: Swarnamalya, featuring 15 artistes, virtual sets and 35 member orchestra, special music of the age).
* Margam-- (performance series of rare Tanjore dance repertoire)
* Classical dance series, Raj Video Vision (solo repertoire)

Publications (selected)

# Kshetrayya and the legacy of erasing women's voices from erotic poetry, ''The News Minute'', Feb 2020, Chennai https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kshetrayya-and-legacy-erasing-women-s-voices-erotic-poetry-118165

Whose aesthetic is it anyway? Why classical arts must become more inclusive
The News Minute, April 2019, Chennai
# ''Nammai Marandarai Naam Marakkamattom''. Dr. Swarnamalya Ganesh.; published by South Indian Social History Research Institute (SISHRI); 2014.
# ''Dance History enshrined and decoded- Bharatanrityam and Bharatanatyam''; published by Nartanam Dance Journal, Hyderabad. 2016

Through the Sheer of Gossamer" for NCPA OnSTAGE, Mumbai

Daughters of Pandanallur- the other story (Dance and history of the 28 Kilometer From Pandanallur to Kumbhakonam)
The Kalakshetra Journal Vol IV, 2015

Sex and Gender in Performance- Locating Power and Resistance as Discursive arguments
SNC Journal of Intercultural Philosophy, Chennai. Vol 28, Oct 2015; pp. 45–54

Disrespecting the Devadasi: What the MS Subhalakshmi debate has exposed
The News Minute, Chennai.

"Writings as operations of en(dis)franchisement, investigating manuscripts and choreographer's notes from the 16th-19th centuries. Advantages and problems in reconstructing from the papers"
as part of ''Writing dance and dancing writing conference proceedings of Society of Dance History Scholars, USA''

Notions of "Classical" in Bharatanatyam; a cultural operation of the classes- arguments of cosmopolitan Margi and indigenous Desi, repertoires of the Nayak period"
''Kalakshetra Journal'', Issue 2.

Mired in Dravidian Politics: Were Tamil Nadu’s Isai Vellalars always socially backward?
''The News Minute'', Chennai

"Womanity--- selfhood and tenacity as keynotes of Sangam women"
published essay as part of ''Voyages of the body and soul, selected female icons of India and beyond''; Edited by Ketu Katrak & Anita Ratnam, Cambridge University Press, 2014
# "Past performing practices of the Nayak period as vestibule to today's Bharatanatyam", ''The Madras Music Academy Journal''; Vol 84, 2013, pp 10–118

"How the art of the Devadasi is appropriated to create the world of Bharatanatyam", ''The News Minute'', Chennai. Feb 2017
# "What's In a Name; Sadir and its Arguments", ''Journal for India International Center'', New Delhi, Oct 2015
# Regular contributor for ''OJAS-Oriental Journal of Asian Studie''s, SASTRA University, department of Oriental studies-Peer Reviewed ()
# "Stripling rogue at the shrine of the neat herd: A review of the Karana panels at the Sarngapani temple", ''Kumbhakonam'' (December 2012), pp. 47–61
# Presented research paper "Past performing practices of the Nayak period: Research and reconstruction" for the C. P. Arts foundation
# Womanity- Selfhood and Tenacity as keynotes for Sangam women, ''OJAS'', 2013 (March) ISSN 2319-717X
# Book - ''Raghunathabhyudayamu- transliteration and translation'', a yakshaganam work in Telugu written by King Vijayaraghava Nayaka in the 17th century (forthcoming)
# "Ravana Hatta, Ravana hasta and the Modern Violin, CARVA Academy of Violin, 2010 Rasa theory and Sigmund Freud—a psychological interpretation" ''Journal of the University of Madras'', 150th year special issue, 2008
# Editor of the monthly ''Newsletter for Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India'' (ABHAI); issues--- 25 issues, 2005, 2006
# Founder editor of ''Tha Dhim'' the journal of the Department of Indian Music, University of Madras, 2007
# Submits articles and research papers for academic journals and annals on dance history including for the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) U.S.
# ''Decolonising Dance History'' project- "Why we must not write a book on Devadasi (alternative ways of writing subaltern history)", PRAXIS, India; Oct 2020.

Other career fields

Archaeological work

Ganesh is engaged in archaeological research including site excavations, estampaging temple wall inscriptions and indological studies. She works under the mentorship of senior epigraphists and archaeologists in site excavation of her ancestral village near Turaiyur, Kattuputhur. She also conducts heritage tours for students to temples and monuments with a prepared site guide book, complete with historical notes, photos and information.

Digital media

Ganesh presents digital works for public engagement and education on performance art and cultural matters.
* Ojas #Devadasi Factoid series
* Decolonising Dance History
* Welcome O Vannegada !
* In From The Attic she showcases all her research and artistic works

She creates special edutainment content based on art, literature, history, cinema and lifestyle in her newly launched YOUTUBE CHANNEL

and on her official Facebook page you can find more engagements.
She is also active on her Instagram page.

Endorsement work

* Brand ambassador for Bru Coffee

Film career

She made her film debut through Maniratnam's ''Alaipayuthey'', where she played the role of Shalini's elder sister Poorni.

Despite receiving more acting offers, Swarnamalya chose to pursue her higher education and her dancing career. She did only a few high-profile films such as Manobala's ''Naan Paata Ninepaethellam'' opposite Ramesh Aravind, a remake of the Hindi film '' Abhimaan'' (1973). Later she played a pivotal supporting role in '' Mozhi'' along with Prakashraj, Jyothika and Prithviraj to critical acclaim and ''Engal Anna'' opposite Prabhudeva.

Filmography

Television career

She began as a television anchor in Sun TV's show ''Illamai Pudumai''. She became very popular with this show and was hailed as the "Madonna of Chennai". She also was the anchor of Vijay TV's ''Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru Part 2''. She has travelled the world to host many international film shows, music concerts etc. She has also done ''Anbulla Sneghithi'' alongside Anu Hassan for . After this, she also acted in Bharathiraja's ''Thekkathu Ponnu'', Jaya TV's ''Vandhaale Maharasi'', Revathi's ''Yaathumaagi Nindraal'' and also played a guest role in Sun TV's ''Thangam''.
;Television performances
Sun TV, Vijay TV, Raj TV, Kalaignar TV, K TV,Sakti TV (Colombo), Vasantam Central (Malaysia)

Television appearances

References

External links

*
* Swarnamalya site
* Visit he
website
to see a collection of her reviews and videos

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Living people
Television personalities from Tamil Nadu
Tamil actresses
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Kannada cinema
1981 births
San Jose State University alumni
University of Madras alumni
Actresses from Chennai
Indian film actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
Actresses in Tamil television