Nritya (Dance)

MOHAN KHOKAR DANCE COLLECTION(MKDC)

The Mohan Khokar Dance Collection is the single-largest dance holding of Indian dance in the world. The UNESCO Dance Council, the Lincoln Center Dance Collection at the New York Public Library, and the Stockholm Dance Museum have hailed this Dance Collection of Prof. Mohan Khokar (1924-1999) and his illustrious dancer-wife guru M.K. Saroja (1931-2022), as one of the unique treasures on dance. Mohan Khokar was the first male student from North India at Kalakshetra in 1945.

The first founder-head of the dance department of the first University in independent India to offer dance at graduate level (The M.S. at Baroda), and the first Officer on Special Deputation for dance at the Education Ministry in Delhi (when the Culture Dept. was still part of the Union Education Ministry). He was then placed at the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), which in later years he also headed. He steered the Kathak Kendra and the National School of Drama, when he was working at SNA. Later, after SNA, he was Professor emeritus at Rabindra Bharati University and a visiting dance expert to many states and universities. He founded and helped many dance institutions of note. His initiatives at SNA helped Chhau and Koodiyatam get a new lease on patronage, when the princely kingdoms were over. For many years he was also in-charge of cultural shows at Rashtrapati Bhavan for visiting heads of states. He wrote many definitive books on Indian dance and hundreds of research papers for CORD, UNESCO and Indian official agencies. He was the dance editor of Marg, dance critic of The Hindustan Times and later the Statesman. His photographs on dance in natural action, not posed, were never sold for commercial purposes, but given exclusively for academic use. Only his dance photos have graced the Indian Posts stamps (a series of six stamps in 1975-6) and many publications of note, worldwide. He continues to be a universal authority on Indian dance, and his equally reputed critic-historian son and successor Ashish Khokar continues the mission with vision at IGNCA. He also pioneered dance research and documentation. He created systems and methodology where none existed. Having no previous models to follow, the systems and courses he set in place in the 1950s are still the basis for research at the Baroda University’s archives, for Chennai’s sabha pedagogy, for Delhi patronage systems, and for Mumbai’s dance documentaries. He is the foremost dance studies/dance Indologist of India. His numerous articles are the first publications with photographic evidence from those days. He was the only pan-Indian dance writer, as others wrote either in the vernacular or for regional readers.

The Collection is important for it contains direct proof of over 200 years of Indian dance history through nearly 4000 books, 5000 journals, 25,000 photos, 50,000 program brochures and over 100,000 press clippings. Add hundreds of posters, masks, costumes, objects d’art and crafts. All in original condition. Nowhere in the world does such a direct record of Indian dance in its totality exist. Prof. Khokar started collecting dance materials in the 1940s, even before India was born as an independent nation.

The Collection is not only a public interest museum of dance, but also an important academic archival tool for research and books; films and documentaries. The MKDC is a collection in toto, i.e, it cannot be separated into categories of the written word, the archival word, the documented word and the objects. Rare art pieces are as important as the books for they show dance heritage and history. Photographic evidence from the 1890s, glass negatives, slides and recordings of masters no more, enhance the MKDC with vintage and variety.

The collection is a national treasure, archived at the IGNCA Cultural Archives for reference & research. Many Ph.D students have referred to it and film makers shown interest to get first-hand information and proof. No dance book or paper of depth is complete without reference to his work. The IGNCA has hosted it with respect and Padamshri Shri Ram Bahadur Rai, Chairman (IGNCA Trust) and Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, dance-connected trustees Dr. Sonal Mansingh, MP (Rajya Sabha) and Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, who with dance connoisseurs Dr. Bharat Gupt and Dr. Saryu Doshi, have also valued this donation of the Khokar family to the nation.