Yakshagana Kalaranga will felicitate and present an award to Yakshagana guru Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna here on July 15. Mr. Suvarna is the principal of Yakshagana Kendra. Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Bhaskaranand Kumar, president of the felicitation committee, said that Mr. Suvarna was a master Yakshagana performer and a seasoned Yakshagana instructor. He trained under more than 20 Yakshagana gurus of yesteryear, including Matapady Veerabhadra Naik, Hiriyadka Gopal Rao and Nilavara Ramakrishnayya.
He was among the few surviving Yakshagana trainers who had expertise in some of the rare traditions of Yakshagana dance and stagecraft. He also revived and refined many features of the northern style (Badaguthittu) Yaskshagana. He had a long association with writer and Yakshagana reformer, late Kota Shivaram Karanth.
He learnt choreography under Maya Rao and worked for Yakshagana-based theatre productions of director-actor late B.V. Karanth. He also worked with internationally acclaimed theatre director Ellen Stewart to produce a stage show on Bhagwad Gita in New York.
Born in a poor family in 1955, Mr. Suvarna had formal school education of just two years. Due to his work, he is among the foremost authorities on Badagathittu Yakshagana.