CultureNational and Dravidian movements
Rukmini Devi's first public Bharatanatyam performance
· Adyar
At the Theosophical Society's Diamond Jubilee convention, Rukmini Devi Arundale danced Bharatanatyam in public for the first time.
The theosophist Rukmini Devi Arundale studied the dance under Mylapore Gowri Ammal and, through E. Krishna Iyer's help, under Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. Her public debut came in 1935 at the Theosophical Society's Diamond Jubilee Convention in Adyar. That performance did much to win the art form acceptance among new audiences. In January 1936 she and her husband set up the dance academy later known as Kalakshetra.
