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'''Kalamandalam Devaki''' is an Indian exponent of the [[Ottan Thullal]] dance and song tradition. She was the first woman artist in this male-dominated field. She was awarded the Kalamandalam prize and the [[Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi]] award. <br />
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==Early life==<br />
Devaki was born in Nelluvai, [[Thrissur district]], [[Kerala]]. She came from an artistic family: her uncle Kalamandalam Gopalan Nair was a [[Kathakali]] performer and teacher, while her father Kadambur Damodaran Nair was an actor and bhagavatar in [[Kottakal]].<ref name=nayar/> At an early age, she began instruction in dance at Lalitha Kalalayam in her village.<ref name=trendsetter>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/trendsetter/article2091775.ece|title=Trendsetter|author=G.S. Paul|date=10 June 2011|accessdate=23 February 2019}}</ref><br />
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At age twelve, she joined the [[Kerala Kalamandalam]] as its first woman student to learn Thullal in 1960. Her [[Arangetram|''arangettam'']] was a performance of ''Paatracharitham'' in 1961.<ref name=nayar>{{cite news|newspaper=The Hindu|title=Singular FEAT|author=V.R. Prabodhachandran Nayar|date=10 September 2015|accessdate=22 February 2019|url= https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/spotlight-on-thullal-exponent-kalamandalam-devaki/article7632767.ece}}</ref><br />
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Her guru was Malabar Kannan Nair. Her training involved dance as well as Sanskrit, ''abhinaya'' and ''sahitya''. In particular, she concentrated on ''mudras'', which are not as explicit in Ottan Thullal as in [[Kathakali]].<ref name=trendsetter/> She trained in Kathakali under [[Ramankutty Nair]].<ref name=nayar/><br />
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She married Kalamandalam Narayanan Nair Nelluvai, a ''[[maddalam]]'' artist.<ref name=nayar/><br />
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==Career==<br />
She continued her work after marriage. She studied ''[[Kuchipudi]]'' under [[Mrinalini Sarabhai]], in whose [[Darpana Academy of Performing Arts]] her husband had become a member.<ref name=trendsetter/> <br />
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Following her graduation from the Kerala Kalamandalam in 1964, she was invited by [[Milena Salvini]], a French teacher of Kathakali, to perform in Paris. She joined the staff of the Kalamandalam as a teacher, where she worked for three years.<ref name=trendsetter/><br />
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Returning to Nelluvai, Devaki became widely sought as a Thullal maestro, both for instruction and performance. She established the Dhanwanthari Kalaakshetram, a dance institute.<ref name=nayar/><br />
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== References ==<br />
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{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Devaki, Kalamandalam}}<br />
[[Category:Malayali people]]<br />
[[Category:Indian dance teachers]]<br />
[[Category:Dancers from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]<br />
[[Category:1940s births]]<br />
[[Category:Possibly living people]]</div>>Gjs238