Rukmini Devi Arundale: Arts Revivalist and Institution Builder

by VR Devika

Rukmini Devi Arts Revivalist and Institution Builder tells the
story of an extraordinary woman who found herself in fortuitous
circumstances and used them to revive the arts and build educational
institutions. She was able to say no to the offer of becoming India’s
first woman President and to the title of World Mother proposed by
the Theosophical Society.
In this book we see how Rukmini Devi saw dance, learnt it and made
it available to everyone who desired to learn it through her institution,
Kalakshetra. She re-situated the dance and set up a traditional
space for its training amidst nature, clothing it in handloom, pure
colours and texture, jewellery and handicrafts that deserved to be
celebrated. She used the unique position she found herself in, to tap
into and revise the regenerative resources of the tradition of dance,
reinterpreting it in her own creative way.
This monograph describes how a young Rukmini became the
celebrated Rukmini Devi, and the struggle she underwent to set up
the various institutions that are her living legacy today.

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2024