Abstract

Dance was one of the best medium with which Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore spread his ideas. Emissaries were sent to different places within India such as in Kerala and abroad such as in Sri Lanka to gather dance knowledge. Eminent scholars were interacted and invited to Santiniketan to enrich the dance knowledge. It was also the cultural exchanges made with the places during Gurudev’s visit and with the visitors of Santiniketan that marked the beginning of dance education in Santiniketan. The distinct Kathakali and Kandyan dance forms that we see today in dances and dance dramas of Santiniketan are outcome of such interactions. Therefore the study was performed to analyse the dance education in Santiniketan from the perspective of Kandyan and Kathakali dances which will enrich the knowledge and will open different scopes for further research.