'''Aniruddha Knight''' (November 13, 1980) is an artist of the Indian classical dance and music known as Bharatanatyam.<ref>"19-year-old keeps alive his Indian dance heritage", ''The Herald-Sun'' Durham, NC - Sunday, July 2, 2000</ref><ref name=sampath>{{cite web |title=To dance like a man |url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/To-dance-like-a-man/2013/09/11/article1778018.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218131635/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/To-dance-like-a-man/2013/09/11/article1778018.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 18, 2013 |work=New Indian Express |author=Janani Sampath |date=11 September 2013 |accessdate=November 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name=nyt-dunning/> He is a 9th-generation descendant of a 200-year-old family of dancers and musicians from southern India.<ref name=sampath/><ref name=nyt-dunning>{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E7DC1331F935A35751C1A9639C8B63 |title=DANCE REVIEW; A Family's Moves, Centuries Old |work=The New York Times |author=Jennifer Dunning |date=December 6, 2005 |accessdate=November 17, 2013}}</ref> The dances are traditionally performed by women - Knight is unusually the first male of his family to take up this style of dance.<ref name=nyt-dunning/> His grandmother Balasaraswati was a celebrated and prolific dancer, ''Newsweek'' said she has been "recognized as the greatest Indian dancer of all time".<ref name=nyt-dunning/><ref>Douglas M. Knight Jr., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3EsA2NooW4C&q=aniruddha ''Balasaraswati: Her Art and Life''], Wesleyan University Press (June, 2010) - Pages: xvii, 17,246,248-250,249.251.</ref><ref name=newsweek/>
== Early life and family ==
Born on November 13, 1980, Aniruddha Knight spent his growing years both in India and the United States of America.<ref name=newsweek/> His father is an American, Douglas Knight, who married into the family when he studied classical drumming on a South Indian mridangam at Wesleyan University, where Aniruddha's late grandmother T. Balasaraswati and her two musician brothers had taught since 1962.<ref name=newsweek>Vibhuti Patel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080418044058/http://www.newsweek.com/id/131556?from=rss "Dance, Indian Style"], ''Newsweek'', April 2008</ref> Aniruddha's childhood was an endless round of dancing. Initiated into the family's style of art by an aging Balasaraswati, Aniruddha's first formal lessons began at the age of six with mother Lakshmi, Balasaraswati's daughter.<ref name="Ramnarayan2009">Gowri Ramnarayan [http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/dance/it-is-not-entertainment/article10660.ece "It is not entertainment"], ''The Hindu'', August 28, 2009, 28th.</ref>
== Training ==
A trained classical dancer, Aniruddha Knight brings intrinsic exposure to the varied nuances of Bharatnatyam and Carnatic Music. Traditionally Bharatanatyam was a way of life requiring complete devotion, and in the case of the Balasaraswatis, a performing family that completely embraced the art.<ref>Sandhya Kumar, [http://asiasociety.org/arts/performing-arts/dance/life-was-art-dancer-balasaraswati "A Life That Was Art: The Dancer Balasaraswati"], AsiaSociety.org, June 24, 2010.</ref>
Having received intensive Bharatnatyam lessons as well as vocal training from his mother Lakshmi Knight, Aniruddha's classical music skills were further honed by T. Muktha and T. Viswanathan. Currently under the tutelage of Smt. Veghavahini, daughter of T. Brinda, for vocal music and the Veena, Aniruddha continues to take advanced lessons from Shyamala Mohan, one of Balasaraswati's key disciples.<ref>Sujata Srinivasan, [http://sujatasrinivasan.com/SampleClips/Community/CTIL-AniruddhaKnight-March2008.pdf "Heir to a Weighty Legacy"]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''CT Indian Legacy'', March 2008, Vol: 2, No: 3.</ref>
== Career ==
Aniruddha Knight is the artistic director of Bala Music & Dance, a school of dancing in Middletown.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} His debut performance at the Jacob Pillow Festival (1997) in Massachusetts, began his career in the arts. He was featured in ''Newsweek'' magazine as one of 16 youngsters poised to re-shape India's future.<ref>"Daylight's Children", ''Newsweek'', August 1997.</ref>
In 2008, he was chosen for the National Dance Project Grant, which recognized Bharatanatyam as a mainstream contemporary art form in the U.S. and covered a four-month tour across the United States.<ref name="Ramnarayan2009" />
In January 2012, Aniruddha founded the Balasaraswati Scripps Foundation in Chennai, India. Established as an offshoot of the Balasaraswati Performing Arts Centre, supported by the Samuel Scripps Foundation, it houses Louise Scripps’ collection of books, papers, articles and photographs on the history of dance as well as the Dhanammal school, which remains open to researchers.<ref>Gowri Ramnarayan [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203062204/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/12/15/stories/2006121502490700.htm "Throwing light on a magnificent tradition"], ''The Hindu'', Dec 15, 2006.</ref>
== Grants and awards ==
Aniruddha Knight has been the recipient of several grants from the US government. * New Jersey Council for the Arts 1997, 1999 {{citation needed|date=November 2013}} * Asian Cultural Council - 1997, 2007 {{citation needed|date=November 2013}} * The LEF Foundation- 2004, 2008 {{citation needed|date=November 2013}} * National Endowment for the Arts 2005<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120111110938/http://www.nea.gov/about/05Annual/2005AnnualReport.pdf "National Endowment for the Arts - Annual Report 2005"], page 64.</ref> * NEFA’s National Dance Project grant 2008<ref>[http://www.nefa.org/sites/default/files/AnnualReportFY07.pdf "New England Foundation for the Arts - Annual Report 2007"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416044841/http://www.nefa.org/sites/default/files/AnnualReportFY07.pdf |date=2012-04-16 }}, page 20</ref> * New England Foundation for Arts 2011<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bates.edu/dof/files/2010/09/FacultyPublicationFinal20111.pdf |title="Faculty Publications, Grants, and Awards - Bates 2010-11" |access-date=2013-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114072544/http://www.bates.edu/dof/files/2010/09/FacultyPublicationFinal20111.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nefa.org/sites/default/files/nefa2011annualreport.pdf |title="New England Foundation for the Arts - Annual Report 2011" |access-date=2013-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416070020/http://www.nefa.org/sites/default/files/nefa2011annualreport.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== References ==
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== External links == *[http://www.aniruddhaknight.com Aniruddha Knight], official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Aniruddha}} Category:Bharatanatyam dancers Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)