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Friday, Mar 07, 2008
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Kerala

Steps sans borders

“I get immense joy while performing Bharatanatyam,” says Yuwa.

For Yuwa Yokota it was a case of love at first sight — with Bharatanatyam. And for the past one decade, the Japanese girl has been passionately pursuing it.

Of these, she has spent the last five years under the tutelage of N. Srikanth, one of the finest Bharatanatyam dancers of his generation. On Thursday, she gave her first ever performance at Kozhikode, a city which is second home to her, now that Srika nth has shifted base from Chennai. She stays in India for six months every year to learn Bharatanatyam.

“I get immense joy while performing Bharatanatyam,” says Yuwa. “I dance for this sheer exhilaration and not because I nurse ambitions about being a famed artiste.” The Tokyo-based dancer has, however, given several performances in India over the last four years. Last year, she danced at Nishagandhi festival in Thiruvananthapuram and the Thunchan festival at Tirur.

“I came to India first in 1988 as part of a theatre group from Japan and was enamoured of Bharatanatyam,” she recalls.

Learning from the best

She is also learning the ‘abhinaya’ aspect of Bharatanatyam from Priyadarshini Govind, one of India’s leading classical dancers.

“I always wanted to learn Bharatanatyam from the best teachers and I am happy that I have been able to do that,” says Yuwa. Her guru is impressed with her. “She is very dedicated and sincere,” says Srikanth.

P.K. Ajith Kumar

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