On August 11, 1936, Amrita Bazar Patrika published a dramatic photo of the Indian hockey team celebrating their gold medal win at the Berlin Olympics. The bold headline read: “Hockey Team Honoured.” But who’s the mysterious woman in the saree at the centre?
The photo isn’t just about the team; it includes some stern-looking German officials and, intriguingly, an Indian lady in an ornate saree, radiating confidence. This gem was uncovered by the brilliant Baijayanti Roy for the Menaka Archive.
Meet Madame Menaka (October 15, 1899 – May 30, 1947), the stage name of Leila Roy / Lady Sokhey. An iconic Indian dancer and choreographer in the Kathak tradition, she was born in Barisal, Bengal to a Bengali father and British mother.
Though she trained as a violinist in England, her heart belonged to dance. By 1928, she dazzled audiences in Bombay, impressed none other than Anna Pavlova and later began teaching and choreographing at the Haffkine Institute.
In 1930, she mesmerised Paris, and her Menaka Ballet company toured Europe from 1935 to 1938. Madame Menaka modernised Kathak with her ballets, adding mime, exquisite costumes, and enchanting music, while remaining true to its classical essence.
In fact, she was one of the first Brahmin women to perform Kathak on a public stage. This was a bold move in those days, as Kathak was stigmatised and linked with the nautch movement. Her courage paved the way for future generations of dancers.
But how did she end up at the Berlin Olympics? Here’s where it gets fascinating.
The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin was more than just sports; it was Hitler’s grand showpiece. He masked his oppressive measures to dazzle foreign visitors. The games were a propaganda triumph, painting a deceptive picture of a peaceful, welcoming Nazi Germany.
And, dance was considered a powerful medium to captivate international audiences. So, in 1936, the Nazis included dance in the Olympic art competitions, alongside gold and silversmithing and sports films.
Their goal? Mask their hateful agenda, highlight Hitler’s achievements and attract international participants for the Berlin Olympics Games.
They organised an International Dance Competition alongside the Olympics opening ceremony which listed dancers from 14 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Yugoslavia, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland.
The theatre, nestled in a natural hollow near the Sports Field, seated over 20,000 spectators. It was a breathtaking sight, with a state-of-the-art stage ensuring perfect acoustics, allowing every word to reach the farthest corners without distortion.
Among the stars were Germans Harald Kreutzberg and Mary Wigman, Mia Corak-Slawenska from Yugoslavia, and Madame Menaka’s group from India – thanks to German impresario Ernst Krauss, who tirelessly organised performances for Madame Menaka’s ballet.
Now, they find themselves on the grand stage of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Menaka and her troupe wowed at the Dance Olympiad, winning three prizes for their stunning Deva Vijay Nritya on the second day!
Madame Menaka’s presence symbolised Nazi Germany’s attempt to exploit Indian culture for its political agenda, leveraging the Olympics. This success opened new doors for Menaka’s troupe, leading to shows across Europe and even appearances on the silver screen.
However, the fate of all the dancers wasn’t the same. Some had to face extreme hardships in the years that followed. German dancers had to conform to the regime’s strict rules. This crackdown on expressionism hit top dancers like Mary Wigman and Rudolf von Laban hard.
Post-Olympics, Mary Wigman realised the Nazis no longer valued her. Once a celebrated modern dance pioneer, she now fought alone, her work labelled degenerate. The Nazis saw her as an intellectual threat and marginalised her.
Laban fled Berlin for respite but was placed under house arrest, scrutinised for his past Freemasons membership, and forced to prove his Aryan heritage. He ended up jobless, another victim of the regime’s purges.
Quite the fate, isn’t it? But, amidst this story of the Olympics, art and fascism, Madame Menaka stood out as an Indian cultural ambassador, captured in that iconic photograph, forever a part of history.
Sources:
Baijayanti Roy, Menaka Digital Archive, Madame Menaka and the Indian hockey team in Berlin, menaka-archive.org/notizen/madame
Schlaffke, M., 2022. Die Rekonstruktion des Menaka-Archivs: Navigationen durch die Tanz-Moderne zwischen Kolkata, Mumbai und Berlin 1936-38. Weimar. db-thueringen.de/rsc/viewer/dbt
ELIZABETH A. HANLEY, The Role of Dance in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SY
OLYMPIC GAMES INSPIRE MUSIC EVENT, Musical America 1936-09: Vol 56 Iss 14, archive.org
Religious Entanglements Between Germans and Indians, 1800–1945, Springer Nature, library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.
Arshiya Shethi, DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 31 THE MATURING OF THE CHOROGRAPHIC INSTINCT, epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploa
Karen McKinlay Kurnaedy, Our Love Affair With Dance, FriesenPress
Kanhai, P. (2023). ‘The Priestess of Hindu Dance’: Leila Sokhey’s Repertoire and Its Reception in the Netherlands and Germany (1927–38) link.springer.com/chapter/10.100
Wikimedia Commons
Menaka Archive Database menaka-archive.org
