Dr Chandrabhanu OAM is a dancer, choreographer and director. He is also an anthropologist, intellectual and cultural activist. With an illustrious career spanning over forty years of creative and pioneering work, he has shaped Australia’s arts scene as a Bharata Natyam, Odissi and contemporary choreographer. In 2025, he is celebrating his 75th birthday.
His latest production, Bharatam Reprise (June 7 & 8 at Darebin Arts Centre Preston), revives the classical and contemporary compositions of the Bharatam Dance Company. The performance will comprise a cast of 9 recent graduates of the Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy, and Dr Chandrabhanu himself will take to the stage.
Image credit: L - Chris Doig, 1984. R - Prashaanth Ravindran. Dr Chandrabhanu in Diamonds are Forever, 2010.
Image credit: Charlotte Dirckze. Bharatam Reprise cast, 2025.
First established in 1983 with 4 core members; Ambika Docherty, Tina Yong, Arun Munoz and Dr Chandrabhanu himself, the Company created something never seen before, and yet to be seen again – becoming a critically and commercially successful performance company which revolutionised the face of multicultural arts in Australia.
Image credit: Jim Hooper. Bharatam Dance Company production, Shakti: Goddess, at George Fairfax Studio, Melbourne Arts Centre, 1993 (National Library of Australia).
“The main purpose of Bharatam was to develop the artistry of the cultures of people who have been transplanted from their original countries,” Dr Chandrabhanu, known to his students as Mamu, explains. “We didn’t see ourselves as only classical dancers. We were contemporary dancers, using Bharata Natyam, Odissi and contemporary genres to explore issues of cultural significance, social justice, migration, displacement and post colonialism.”
This breadth of artistic exploration is evident in the productions staged by the company over its three-decade run, including Devi: Goddess Absolute (1987) and Navagraha: The Planets of Destiny (1991) in classical form, to Milarepa (1987), Medea (1992), The Jungle Book (1993) and Alice (1999) in contemporary form.
At the height of its career, the Company produced two to three seasons a year presented at the George Fairfax Theatre at the Victorian Arts Centre. This would go on for 9 years, from 1985-1994. A key aspect of these seasons were the stage aesthetics designed by Melbourne artist Geoffrey Goldie, who was also Dr Chandrabhanu’s partner. Geoffrey created stunningly bold and vibrant sets and costumes never before seen, matching the depth and intensity of Chandrabhanu’s extraordinary artistic vision.
Image credit: Jim Hooper. Chandrabhanu in Bharatam Dance Company production, Bodhisattva, at George Fairfax Studio, Melbourne Arts Centre,1994 (National Library of Australia).
The Company toured New South Wales and Western Australia, and internationally to Malaysia, England, New Zealand and the Philippines. Malaysia was an annual feature and highlight as Dr Chandrabhanu’s country of origin. In each country, the shows were highly successful, drawing in audiences of all backgrounds to witness spectacular productions which traversed universal stories.
“I don’t spell it out,” Mamu says, “I use the narratives within the works to question the issues, to encourage the audience to find some meaning in what we were doing. As an anthropologist I look at the facts, I research, I observe, and I weave that into my works.”
Parallel to performing, the Company ran a Dance in Education outreach program, which took the art forms to schools and communities across Australia to cultivate a deeper understanding of multicultural arts. When back at home in Melbourne in between rehearsals for productions, managing the publicity and logistics for shows, sewing costumes and creating props, the Company dancers also were teachers at Bharatalaya Dance Academy, nurturing the next generation of talent. In addition, Dr Chandrabhanu himself was nominated to the Australia Council Dance Board in 1987 and advocated for increased funding of cross-cultural performing arts over a 3.5-year term.
Image credit: Dr Chandrabhanu. Teaching at the Orwell Cottage studio in Richmond, Melbourne.
When asked how they did it all, Mamu laughs.
“All I remember is that I had very little sleep in those years. Some days we had to get up at 4am, drive somewhere, and just dance,” he says, “We were always getting up in the middle of the night and driving somewhere!”
The success of the Bharatam Dance Company was owed to dedication and hard work, and the fruits of that labor appeared in the changing understanding of what South Asian arts could really be. The company had an immensely successful run, with widespread publicity in an arts scene where the public had little or no understanding of classical South Asian arts. People from all backgrounds worked with the Company to share in the story telling, including script writing by Paul Carter for Alice (1999) and Old Wives Tales (1997), and music scoring by Tim Hook for Alice, Tom Fryer and Amelia Barden for Bodhisattva (1994).
Image credit: Jim Hooper. Bharatam Dance Company production, Alice, National Theatre, St. Kilda, Melbourne, 1999 (National Library of Australia).
The synergy of talents contributing to the Company was in and of itself proof that dance in Australia did not have to be homogenous, that a breadth and depth of collaboration could create art with purpose, meaning and universal appeal.
Now on his 75th birthday, Mamu is reviving the iconic choreographies with a new generation of dancers whom he has trained in collaboration with original cast member, Ambika Docherty. She has reconstructed and re-energised the works for a group presentation, while drawing on her wide experience with the Company. All cast members were born years after the dances were initially composed, a remarkable feat demonstrating the enduring quality of this art.
When asked about his legacy, Mamu has a simple response.
“I never sought fame. All I wanted to do was create works and teach and relate the narratives of people from many cultures. In that way, I have educated audiences, students and people on what my dancing is. That is what my wish has always been.”
Image credit: Sanvik Photography. Dr Chandrabhanu in Kanchaniyam, Drum Theatre, Dandenong, Melbourne, 2023.
Tickets & Discount Code
You can join the celebration of Dr Chandrabhanu and the Bharatam Dance Company on June 7 & 8, at Darebin Arts Centre in Preston, Melbourne.
Tickets: https://arts.darebin.vic.gov.au/Whats-on/Bharatam-Reprise
Use GOLDPROMO25 at checkout for 15% off Gold tier tickets.
Instagram: @bharatam.reprise
Facebook: Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy
https://www.chandrabhanubharatalaya.org/
Image credit: Sanvik Photography. Senior Bharata Natyam dancers at Nrityanjali, Darebin Arts Centre, Preston, Melbourne, 31 August 2024.
Tanaya Joshi is a Bharata Natyam dancer, climate analyst at Bank Australia and contributing writer at SAARI. You can connect with her via LinkedIn.
