{"id":21043,"date":"2024-10-28T14:42:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T18:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=21043"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:43:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:43:01","slug":"oct27-nov3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2024\/10\/oct27-nov3\/","title":{"rendered":"Oct 27th- Nov 3rd: Balasaraswati performs in Kilbourn Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730134867303{background-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;]<em>Published on Oct 27th, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/this-week-at-eastman\/\">Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1726852979961{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;1965: Dancer Balasaraswati performs in Kilbourn Hall&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1762958561587{border-top-width: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 1px !important;border-color: #dddddd !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730135577497{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}&#8221;]Fifty-nine years ago this week, Kilbourn Hall was the venue for a University of Rochester guest appearance by the world-renowned South Indian dancer Tanjore Balasaraswati.\u00a0 Balasaraswati (1918-1984), professionally known by her surname alone, gave two performances on the afternoon and evening of Tuesday November 2<sup>nd<\/sup>, 1965. \u00a0Her appearance at the University of Rochester was jointly sponsored by the University\u2019s South Asia Language and Area Center and the India Association of Rochester, in cooperation with The American Society for Eastern Arts. \u00a0The extensive printed program (displayed here) offers a substantive biographical sketch and also explains the roles of the assisting artists in the performances.\u00a0 The program also provides detailed dramatic and narrative information to accompany the various dances. \u00a0While Balasaraswati had enjoyed a thriving career at home in India, her international career was newly established at this point in the 1960s; her first visit to the USA had been in 1962.<\/p>\n<p>A seventh-generation performer from a family of performers, Balasaraswati was born in Madras and later died there (today the city is known as Chennai).\u00a0 She was a leading exponent of <em>bharata natyam <\/em>(frequently spelled as one word)<em>, <\/em>one of the classical Indian dances that unites song and dance, incorporating Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Jain elements. \u00a0In the years following India\u2019s independence from British rule in 1947, the <em>bharata natyam <\/em>tradition has been carried throughout the world; it is now taught in many countries, including the USA. \u00a0There is much regarding Balasaraswati\u2019s life and work that can be accessed online, including an upload of the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ak_a1RJ2DZc?feature=shared\">documentary <em>Bala<\/em><\/a> (1976) by Satyajit Ray, as well as numerous video clips from performances. Her biography was written by her son-in-law, relying largely on primary sources that had been retained by her family.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> In addition, her work in the context of the <em>bharata natyam <\/em>tradition has been addressed in scholarship.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a><\/sup>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730135831296{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}&#8221;]<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Balasaraswati\u2019s UR engagement in Kilbourn Hall was highly significant in that it represented exposure to the Rochester audience of the work of a major non-Western performing artist.\u00a0 At this time such an interest held no permanent curricular place at the Eastman School; it would be another 15 years before ethnomusicology would be established in the Eastman School curriculum with the appointment of Dr. Ellen Koskoff.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730145962523{padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;21044&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_image&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730141639247{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_video link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ak_a1RJ2DZc&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_row_inner equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;top&#8221; gap=&#8221;15&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729611957231{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1728062726600{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;][vc_images_carousel images=&#8221;21048,21049,21050,21051,21052,21053,21054,21055,21056,21057,21058,21059,21060,21061,21062,21063,21064,21065,21066,21067,21068,21069,21070,21071,21072&#8243; img_size=&#8221;medium&#8221; wrap=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"> \u25ba Printed program for Balasaraswati\u2019s appearance at the University of Rochester in November, 1965. Her guest engagement here was jointly sponsored in a collaborative endeavor by the UR with two external organizations. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729605152975{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;][vc_images_carousel images=&#8221;21076,21073,21082,21075&#8243; img_size=&#8221;400&#215;750&#8243; wrap=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">\u25ba Press items covering Balasaraswati\u2019s performance in Kilbourn Hall, published in the Rochester press and preserved in Rochester Scrapbook November 1965\/January 1966, Sibley Music Library. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;black&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1730139387418{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}&#8221;]<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0 <em>Balasaraswati: Her Art &amp; Life <\/em>by Douglas M. Knight, Jr. (Wesleyan University Press, c2010).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Publications include the monograph <em>Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam <\/em>by Katherine C. Zubo (Lexington Books, c2014).<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1726852979961{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_empty_space]<svg id=\"gambit-row-separator-1\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMax meet\" class=\"gambit_separator gambit_sep_bottom gambit-sep-type-straight\" viewBox=\"0 0 1600 38\" data-bg-color=\"#f4f4f4\" style=\"display: none; width: 100%; height: calc(19 \/ 1600 * 100vw)\" data-height=\"19\">\n<rect x=\"-4\" class=\"gambit_sep_decor1\" style=\"opacity: 1;fill: #ffffff;\" width=\"1608\" height=\"18\"\/>\n<rect x=\"-4\" y=\"12\" class=\"gambit_sep_decor2\" style=\"opacity: 1;fill: #dddddd;\" width=\"1608\" height=\"18\"\/>\n<rect x=\"-4\" y=\"24\" class=\"gambit_sep_main\" style=\"\" width=\"1608\" height=\"16\"\/><\/svg>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1631195300893{margin-top: 40px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=&#8221;post&#8221; max_items=&#8221;4&#8243; element_width=&#8221;3&#8243; grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1762958554888-ec251a0e-c976-9&#8243; taxonomies=&#8221;18&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On November 2nd, 1965, Kilbourn Hall was the venue for a University of Rochester guest appearance by the world-renowned South Indian dancer Tanjore Balasaraswati.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":21044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[21,20],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-21043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-week-at-eastman","tag-november","tag-october"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21043"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22450,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043\/revisions\/22450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21043"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}