Rohini Bhate (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: रोहिणी भाटे) (14 November 1924 – 10 October 2008) was among the senior most

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 ...

dance exponents in India, who developed as a performer, teacher, writer, researcher and critic this Indian classical dance. During her career, she was awarded with several recognitions, such as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and the

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman ( hi, कालिदास सम्मान) is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The ...

. Rohini studied Kathak from

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

and Lucknow gharanas. She created a large corpus of dance compositions, where she applied an analytical and innovative approach to '' abhinaya''. Due to her knowledge in

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

, she often composed the music for her dance creations. According to the critic

Sunil Kothari Sunil Kothari (20 December 1933 – 27 December 2020) was a noted Indian dance historian, scholar and critic. He was also former Uday Shankar Professor at Ravindra Bharti University, Kolkata. Career He completed M. A. in 1964 and PhD in 197 ...

, her choreography for '' Shakuntala'', directed by

Vijaya Mehta Vijaya Mehta (born 4 November 1934), is a noted Indian Marathi film and theatre director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is a founder member of Mumbai-based theatre group, Rangayan with playwright Vijay Tendulka ...

, is noteworthy. Her choreography of Kālidāsa's ''

Ṛtusaṃhāra ''Ṛtusaṃhāra'', often written ''Ritusamhara'', (Devanagari: ऋतुसंहार; ऋतु , "season"; संहार , "compilation") is a long poem or mini-epic in Sanskrit attributed to Kalidasa. The poem has six cantos for the six ...

'' and ''Usba Sukta'' from

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...

was also well acclaimed.

Studies

Born in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, Bihar, Bhate completed her school and college in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. She came from a middle-class Karhade Brahmin family. Rohini was initially trained in

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 ...

under Guru Parvati Kumar. She obtained her degree in arts of the

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

in 1946. The same year she started learning

with Sohanlal of

Jaipur Gharana The Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (also known as Jaipur Gharana, Atrauli-Jaipur Gharana, and Alladiyakhani Gayaki) is an Hindustani music apprenticeship fraternity ('' gharana''), founded by Alladiya Khan in the late-19th century. Evolved from the dhru ...

. Shortly after, she specialised in Kathak under the guidance of Pandit

Lachhu Maharaj Pandit Bajinath Prasad also known as Pandit Lachhu Maharaj (1901–1978) was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer of Kathak dance. He came from a family of illustrious Kathak exponents in Lucknow, and also worked as film choreographer, ...

, for more than twelve years, and of Pandit Mohanrao Kallianpurkar, from the

Lucknow gharana The Lucknow Gharānā, also known as "Purab Gharâna" for tabla, is a discipleship tradition (" gharana") with a tabla legacy and Kathak legacy. These two traditions are known for being one of the six major gharanas of tabla and three gharanas of ...

, for more than fifteen years. She also learnt Hindustani music from the musicians

Keshavrao Bhole Keshav Vaman Bhole ( mr, केशव वामन भोळे, 23 May 1896 – 1967), also known as Keshavrao Bhole, was a well-known music composer and critic in Indian cinema. He was the founder of a theatrical company called Natya-Manvanta ...

and

Vasantrao Deshpande Vasantrao Deshpande (2 May 1920 – 30 July 1983) was a Hindustani classical vocalist renowned for his contribution to Natya Sangeet (musical dramas). Early life Vasantrao Deshpande was born into a Deshastha Brahmin family in Murtizapur, Akol ...

, and obtained a doctorate in Kathak.

Career

Due to different circumstances of her learning, geographical, intellectual, temporary, among others, Rohini could experiment freely in Kathak, applying her musical and intellectual interests. Bhate founded the Nrityabharati Kathak Dance Academy at

in 1947. Over the last six decades she trained hundred of dancers from her academy. She popularized kathak dance among the middle-class families of Maharashtra. In 1952, she visited China as a member of Indian cultural delegation. This travel was an opportunity to her to study old scriptures relating to Indian dances and drama, and thus refined her technique. She served on the committee of

Khairagarh Khairagarh is a city in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district. Formerly, it was the part of Rajnandgaon district. History Khairagarh State was a feudatory state of the former Central Provinces of British India. Pandadah (8 kilometer from ...

University and guided the preparation of syllabi for Kathak courses at Lalit Kala Kendra,

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

, where she served as Visiting Lecturer and

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

. Rohini also served as an examiner for students in the Delhi Kathak Kendra, although she never adopted its curriculum. Rohini Bhate authored several books in

, including her autobiography, ''Majhi Nrityasadhana'', a translation of the autobiography of

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

, ''Mi Isadora'', and an edited version of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

manual of music and dance, ''Abhinaya Darpana'', called ''Kathak Darpana Deepika''. Rohini based several of his choreographies and creative projects in this ancient book. She also wrote numerous papers on Kathak. In 2002, she participate as herself in a German documentary movie called ''Time and Space''. Regarding collaborations with other artists, Rohini known the

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

player Chandrakant Kamat when he came to Pune in 1952. The musical association of both artists lasted for 15 long years. Rohini also made a comparative study of '' abhinaya'' in Kathak and

with

Kalanidhi Narayanan Kalanidhi Narayanan (7 December 1928 – 21 February 2016) was an Indian dancer and teacher of Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, who was the early non- devadasi girl to learn the dance form and perform it on stage in the 1930s and 19 ...

. She was a close friend of Reba Vidyarthi, another important Kathak exponent.

Death

Bhate died on 10 October 2008 at the age of 83, in Pune, Maharashtra, India. According to her daughter-in-law and disciple Shama Bhate, Rohini Bhate had been suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

for her last five years and died from complications arising from the ailment.

Legacy

Rohini Bhate performed extensively for five decades, and trained a large number of disciples who became important exponents of Kathak, such as Roshan Datye, Shama Bhate, Hasita Oza, Pranati Pratap, Sunil Ganu, Neelima Adhye, Prabha Marathe, and

Prerana Deshpande Prerana Deshpande is a recognized Indian exponent of Kathak dance. She started to study Kathak under Sharadini Gole when she was seven years old. Her first performance was when she was fifteen years old. Then she studied Kathak under Guru-Sh ...

, among several others, who continued to perform posthumously events in her honor. The academy has its head office in Pune's Shivaji Nagar, seven branches in the

city, one each in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Germany, and another in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. Documentary films have been made on her work.

Awards

* 1977: State government's Maharashtra Rajya Puraskar * 1979: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award * 1990: Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar * 2001:

* 2006: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship * 2007: Akademi Ratna award from the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, New Delhi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhate, Rohini 1924 births 2008 deaths Kathak exponents Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Artists from Patna Indian dance teachers 20th-century Indian dancers Indian female classical dancers Performers of Indian classical dance Indian women choreographers Indian choreographers Women educators from Bihar Educators from Bihar Dancers from Bihar 20th-century Indian women artists Women artists from Bihar