First, a bit of history. When one reads of the history of Mohiniattam dance, two figures are often considered to have been instrumental in ensuring the survival of the dance form to the modern day. The first is Swathi Thirunal, the Maharaja of the princely state/kingdom of Travancore (roughly modern-day Kerala) in the early 19th century, whose patronage of many forms of classical music and dance at his court helped Mohiniattam survive. Kerala's Department of Culture has a nice website dedicated to the life and music of Thirunal. The second figure is Vallathol whose founding of Kerala Kalamandalam in the 1930s revived the dance after a period of decline.
