Greetings on World Dance Day…
Thanks to Dance… A career of my choice…
A cruise with grace and poise…
My mother was my first inspiration. As growing up in a middle-class south Indian traditional home, my personal aspirations in academics and artistic pursuits were completely determined and firmly encouraged to give me the very best of all opportunities.
I started learning dance at the age of three. My mother took me to guru Kalamandalam Sumathi teacher. The first Guru has tremendous impact on a child’s imagination. It definitely was true in my case when Sumathi teacher took me under her training. Her scape and forte in Bharatanatyam – especially abhinaya, makes her an unusual artiste.
As a student, learning under Sumathi teacher was not merely dipping into the ocean, but she pushed me into the fast current and made my dance performances worthy. School kalolsavams were imbued me with high voltage energy and showmanship and became “Balathilakam’ in Ernakulam district in Kerala at the age of 7 and my teacher then tamed me and showed me the depths of minute things in classical dance, thereby I found meaning both in my dance and in myself. During that time, learning classical dance was not performance-oriented but certainly process-oriented and had a spiritual context. Her training is the strong base and initial foundation which has been reflecting in me.
The following years were completely performance oriented with school, regional, district and state level competitions. Thus we, students came to know that dance is not only an internal journey but also has some external elements to create an impact on the viewer and for the audience and for the applause.
Every thought, action and pulse of mine is fulcrummed on the dance. So, the conviction about this divine art which is woven around my existence ensued me and erupted after a long decade in my early thirties. That resolution itself had brought unbelievable physical and mental stamina, ie my sadhana for exploring my knowledge – to find out deeper meanings- to work for new choreographers and the irrational experiences of teaching, all resulted in ultimate inner fulfilment.
Passion – preparation – potential- preference – all these pursued with rigor and honesty, the path simply unfolded.
That’s how NRITHYATHI was born.
Creative choreography has happened at different times in this journey and that is why my performances have evolved in various ways; some solo or group, and some very interesting artistic collaborations. It is perfectly alright and I am deeply respectful to stick on the tradition with legacy and be soaked in it and delving deeper into that is an amazing creative journey. The experiments of merging different adavus, the experience of how one movement seamlessly melts into the next, all these are pristine pleasures I had been going through. But the contemporary mind and trend are simultaneously seeking other validations with regards to competitions and theme-based choreographies. The habitat in a metropolis like Mumbai impacted my artistic frame of reference and enriched my visual vocabulary and pushed me to explore “out of comfort” zones.
Gradually I learned another aspect of dance, to contextualize dance and look dance at the contemporary angle, not merely as an ancient tradition that needs to be kept alive but how to improvise and innovate and take it to the next level.
Choreography of Classical and semiclassical devotionals and visualizing and performing poetries of great legendary poets all enriched me as an artist by deep processing to make my own style. All these were planned, formatted and successfully performed as a communication tool with some or other social messages which need to be addressed, keeping in mind that artists must have certain social responsibility.
NRITHYATHI has evolved as an interesting laboratory for exploring an alternate teaching-learning pedagogy. Again, synthesizing what my gurus gave me, I have woven multiple streams of learning into the core Bharatanatyam lesson to make the experience dynamic, contemporary, and forward looking. At NRITHYATHI, we probe the continuing relevance of classical tradition in a world of changing social values. NRITHYATHI celebrates the aesthetics of Bharatanatyam and its history, while exploring linkages between history and continuity, between external body and internal mind-space, between artist and audience.
In some ways technology has aided young dancers to perform more frequently since high quality recorded music is now possible and acceptable which is a luxury. Through the pandemic and after, has embraced teaching classes online, which has a huge outreach possibility – but with a huge number of limitations too. Performances with live music is limited. My teacher didn’t even permit a book and pencil into the class. Everything was imbibed in the pristine SHRUTI -SMRITI (see & hear-learn & -repeat and imbibe) pattern in a divine GURU – SHISHYA tradition.
To me the public reaction to my art is what is most precious. If my art can move unknown people to tears and if it encourages youth to probe deeper into our cultural ethos, my mission is done.
It is my personal choice to become a professional dancer. For me It’s my divine elegant attitude and by immersing into it, I am exploring my deepest feminine beauty.
There are two ways of working with the body. One is when mind informs the body, the other is when body itself informs the mind, body impulses will guide the artist to make movements to a creative process, beyond words, beyond conscious thinking and that’s the thrill of working with movements. It’s so amazing how sometimes movement flows in automatically when listening to melodies.
What I realised is that there is no particular time, place or mindset for creativity. It just happens, how it happens cannot be explained. It is simply a blissful experience and elation.
Now everybody wants to become popular and famous through readymade items for social media’ short performances. All may not be actual hardcore dancers but media influencers. It is dangerous for the overall health of teaching and learning. There are no shortcuts in dance. It’s a long, dedicated process. I would suggest that students should study for about 7 years before arangettam and should do justice to the margam. After that it is their choice to carry on dancing parallel with their job or to take it as a full-time career. However, very few want to continue as a full-time artist. Sustained mentoring from a guru is very crucial for any art form. Being in a hurry is worrisome…
