Aniruddha_Knight

Aniruddha Knight  www.aniruddhaknight.com


Aniruddha Knight, solo dancer, is the sole remaining exponent of the hereditary practice of bharata natyam.  The only grandchild of the great dancer T. Balasaraswati, Knight is the ninth generation of one of India’s most distinguished families of professional musicians and dancers, and the last direct inheritor of his family’s style and repertoire.  His concerts, a suite of music and dance compositions partly choreographed and partly performed extemporaneously, follow the format established in the early 19th century in the Royal Court of Thanjavur.

Knight was trained in music and dance by his mother, Lakshmi Knight, Balasaraswati’s only daughter and principal student.  He also studied the family musical repertoire with his great-uncle, National Heritage Fellow and Wesleyan faculty member T. Viswanathan, and with his great-aunt T. Muktha.  He is now a vocal student of his aunt Vegavahini Vijayaraghavan.  Knight’s performance reveals the mastery of technique and improvisational skill that are the hallmarks of his family’s music and dance style. 

Historically, bharata natyam, like all the performing arts of India, was taught and practiced within families of professional musicians and dancers.  Musical styles evolved, and repertoire was assimilated and performed, within the family, central musical roles filled by family members.  In this traditional setting, the dancer and accompanying musicians developed a common musical approach that was both highly evolved and always changing. But Aniruddha Knight is also representative of the face of young America:  biracial, bicultural and, as an artist, completely contemporary. 

Knight began his career as a vocalist in concert with his mother during the 1990’s.  He gave his debut dance concert in Chennai, India in 1994 and his American dance debut at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1997.  Since then, Knight has performed throughout India and North America.  In 2003, the Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram conferred on him the title of “Natyakalamani” (“Pearl of the Art of Dancing”).  He is the only solo Indian dancer to receive support in the 14-year history of the National Dance Project.  Knight lives in Chennai and Middletown, CT.