Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma

Kalamandalam Kalyanikutti Amma (1915–1999) was an epoch-making Mohiniyattam danseuse from Kerala in southern India. A native of Thirunavaya in Malappuram district of the state, she was instrumental in resurrecting Mohiniyattam from a dismal, near-extinct state into a mainstream Indian classical dance, rendering it formal structure and ornamentation.

Kalyanikutti Amma, one of the early-batch students of Kerala Kalamandalam, was married to the late Kathakali maestro Padma Shri Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair.

Of the two books Kalyanikutti Amma has authored, "Mohiniyattam - History and Dance Structure" is considered as an elaborate and only authentic documentation on Mohiniyattam. Noted among her disciples are her daughters Sreedevi Rajan and Kala Vijayan and Mrinalini Sarabhai and Deepti Omchery Bhalla.

A winner of both the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, Kalyanikutty Amma died on 12 May 1999 in Tripunithura (where the couple had settled) at the age of 84. Her son Kalasala Babu was a cinema and television actor, while her granddaughter Smitha Rajan is a noted Mohiniyattam artiste.

She got 'Kavayithri' award from the famous poet Vallathol Narayana Menon. In 1986 she got Kerala Kalamandala Fellowship.

Kalyanikutti Amma passed the art of Mohiniattam beyond India. The first Russian dancer, Mohiniattam, was Milana Severskaya. In 1997, Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma blessed her on the continuation of the Mohiniattam tradition. Milana Severskaya created in St. Petersburg, Russia the first outside India school of education Mohiniattam. She founded the Natya Theater, where you can see the choreography Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma in the play, dedicated to her memory. Milana Siverskaya has released a film dedicated to the memory of the guru Kalyanikutty Amma in which one can see how the guru taught dance in deep old age.

References

External links 
About Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma
IGNCA Documentations
IGNCA Documentations
Narthaki.com Profiles/Kalamandalam Kalayanikutty Amma
Mohiniyattom ManoramaOnline.com Articles on Culture

See also 
 Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair
 Indian women in dance
 Smitha Rajan

Category:Malayali people
Category:Dancers from Kerala
Category:1915 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:Performers of Indian classical dance
Category:Mohiniyattam exponents
Category:Indian dance teachers
Category:Indian female classical dancers
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Category:People from Malappuram district
Category:20th-century Indian dancers
Category:Women educators from Kerala
Category:Teachers of Indian classical dance
Category:20th-century Indian educators
Category:20th-century Indian women artists
Category:Educators from Kerala
Category:Women artists from Kerala