Cathartic movements
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Vyjayanthi Kashi, the renowned Kuchipudi dancer, is a choreographer, therapist, and a teacher. She tells ARUNA CHANDARAJU that dance has worked wonders for her
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— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Vyjayanthi Kashi: `Dance has not just kept me physically fit and agile, but also mentally alert and confident.'
SHE WAS born to dance. Her father was an admirer of Vyjayanthimala Bali and he resolved to groom his daughter into a dancer and a proficient one at that. So much so, he even named his daughter Vyjayanthi!
Vyjayanthi Kashi, the famed Kuchipudi dancer, was initiated into the art when she was just six years old. "My parents were very supportive, in fact they overdid it. So much so that I gave it up when I was in the 10th Standard. Only to pick it up about a decade later when I was feeling lonely."
She got her basic grounding from Tumkur Ramanna, who gave her a strong foundation. After a couple of years, she switched over to Kuchipudi. Vyjayanti Kashi, being the granddaughter of the doyen of Kannada theatre, Gubbi Veeranna, was always drawn to theatre. So Kuchipudi, she says, was a natural choice, because of its strong theatrical elements. She was trained under greats such as Vempati Chinna Satyam, C.R. Acharyalu, Vedantam Prahlada Sarma, Korada Narasimha Rao and others. Vyjayanti Kashi is not only a critically-acclaimed and popular performer of Kuchipudi, also but runs the Shambhavi School of Dance. She's also one of the rare performers of the temple-dance Mayura Kautam, a peacock dance. "I don't perform it too often because it requires elaborate stage preparation. And nowadays not many audiences have that kind of time or patience," she says ruefully.
She has choreographed more than three-dozen pieces, with the latest being Yagna. Dance can be a great healer too, she says, though it sounds rather unusual. "I noticed it happening to me. It kept me not just physically fit and agile, but also mentally alert and confident. I also noticed that each time I donned a role (Sita, Amba, Jamadagni, Sathyabhama), and emoted the respective characteristic emotions, it had a cathartic effect. For instance, if you are an introvert, playing a bold, flamboyant person, it helps overcome your shyness." And so, she uses this technique to train her students depending on their background.
However, she reveals that given the vastly different cultural milieus, her approach with students in the West is different from those here. "It has to be different or each student. In fact, that is possible because of the unique guru-shishya parampara we have. It teaches the guru that he/she has to totally understand each student and treat him as an individual." She's successfully held workshops and seminars in India and abroad and she has been much appreciated for it.
Pursuing dance as a profession today isn't easy, says Vyjayanthi. There are no rajas or maharajas around to provide royal patronage that her gurus spoke so nostalgically about.
Even now, dance isn't considered a lucrative profession, more so, since it can't guarantee a regular monthly income.
In fact, she herself worked in a bank for 18 years and has quit only recently. But things are looking up, she says. With ever so many more dance festivals, corporate sponsors, dance halls, TV channels, dancers have a lot more opportunities.
Her daughter too has taken to dance and often performs alongside her mother in dance-dramas. But no, not because it was the mother's dream for her. "It was entirely her choice and I will be happy if she turns professional. If she wishes, I could give her all the help too." While she, like many others, thinks that there is no shortcut to success, she thinks genuine passion can take you places.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
