PALAKKAD:Kalamandalam Satyabhama teacher had a passion for teaching dance dramas, ballets and mohiniyattom and devoted much of her life for the cause of the art form.
Though the Padmasri came calling only in 2014, she had no regrets and placed her eventful career above everything else. By that time, her disciples, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Dr Kanak Rele and Bharathi Sivaji had already received Padma awards.
Says Kalamandalam Geethanandan, head of the Department of Thullal at the Kerala Kalamandalam, “Perhaps she was late to receive the awards as she chose to prioritise her teaching commitments, choreography and her urge to groom her disciples and therefore performed less on stage. Usually it is the stage performers who are recognized early and Satyabhama teacher was a “kalari teacher”.
He added, “I knew her since 1974, and she stuck to the traditional Chinammumma tradition, which had some styles like bunching up the hair upwards. She had composed a large number of items like “enthoko vallabha eneram mouna bhavam” for bharathanatyam, “pannimathi mukhi ballet” for mohiniyattom, “Kannan vara Kaanane” for bharathanatyam, “Kanthanod chennu mele” for mohiniyattom and “Karuna cheyuvan entho thamasam Krishna” for mohiniyattom. These were the few among the 11 padams which she composed.
She also composed five new varnams like “Manasine Parithapam” and “Suma Sayakam” which are generally accepted as the basics of mohiniyattom, said Shobha Geethanandan, a disciple of Satyambhama teacher. She said that she had many disciples like Kalamandalam Sugandhi, Kalamandalam Hymavathy, Kalamandalam Padmini and Kalamandalam Leelamma.
Geethanandan said that coincidentally as in the case of Satyabhama teacher who received the Padmasri late after her disciples, her husband the late Padmanabhan Nair also did not get a Padma award. But Kalamandalam Gopi, his disciple, received the Padma award.
Kalamandalam Geethanandan said that Satyabhama teacher was often remembered as a loving mother and a teacher par excellence. She had choreographed two films for director Sreekumaran Thampy - “Bandhukal Shathrukkal” and “Gaanam”.
Kalamandalam Satyabhama teacher was also the first woman to head the Kerala Kalamandalam.