The freedom to express oneself as a performer is a universal need. Some achieve it through poetry, others through prose. Yamini Reddy believes dance to be her answer. By Aakriti Narang
Daughter and disciple of legendary Kuchipudi exponent Raja Radha Reddy, Yamini Reddy, follows his path today. A young star of the Kuchipudi firmament, she, with her poised ability to hold difficult balancing poses along with her finely honed sense of rhythm can easily dazzle audiences.
Tell about An evening of storytelling.
Kuchipudi is a very beautiful dance style, a combination of Natva Mala and Natya Mala. Basically, it is a temple dance and a theatre form. I wanted to bring out the beauty of kuchipudi, which is its very uniqueness. I chose the title An evening of story telling through which I plan to tell stories about the creation and the evolution of man with dance as my medium of expression. I’m also going to do a very popular Ram bhajan composed by Tulsidas.
You had done your first dance performance at the age of three. Do you remember anything of itIJ
I don’t remember much about it but my parents usually tell me about what happened that day. I have their memories. I’ve always been very crazy about dance. When I was very young, I use to trouble them a lot by repeatedly saying that, ‘I want to perform on stage just like you.’ They would humour me by making me wear a costume and then leave me in the changing room. They used to say that they’ll call me on stage later. They did that for a few performances. Soon afterwards, when I had discovered that this was only a trick to keep me away from the stage, I got quite angry. Then during one performance I ran out on stage and started hitting my dad during the middle of his performance. I began accusing him of not calling me on stage and never giving me the chance to dance in front of everyone, in the same way that he did. The audience found it very funny. They decided to let me perform whatever small little thing I could do. After seeing me dance, they were quite amazed, especially given my age.
What is your favourite aspect about dance; is it the ability to tell storiesIJ
The thing about dance for me is that it touches my soul directly. I feel rejuvenated and gain a creative space where I can express myself. Dance is also a beautiful art form that coordinates the mind, body and soul, particularly an Indian dance. We practice training our body to the extent that we end up forgetting about it. The heart supersedes the mind. As dancers, we aspire to reach something much beyond our physical bodies. Engaging all these three aspects of ourselves: body, mind and soul is a very difficult and long process that any dancer will have to undergo. Once it does, magic happens. That magic is also created on stage. The first step always involves mastering the body so that you eventually become an instrument for allowing all the feelings to flow through you.
How is kuchipudi received across the worldIJ Do they understand the story or the emotions that are trying to be conveyedIJ
Dance is a universal language, which can be understood by everyone. So, even though the song and its lyrics may belong to different languages, if the dance itself is performed effectively then anybody can understand it. When we travel abroad, even though the people there may not know anything about our dance form, our Gods or the stories related to them, they do nonetheless understand what we are doing on stage. They thoroughly enjoy it. Of course, a little bit of explanation is provided to them before the performance begins. We have performed in so many places where we have received standing ovations. I am sure we have managed to get through to them. In fact, once I had gone to Russia to perform. There, an old Russian lady came up to me and she was in tears. That’s how much she had appreciated the performance. Dance has that power to move people.
Your family has just celebrated the silver jubilee of teaching dance to so many young Indians. They are renowned dancers themselves. In the light of this, do you feel pressure to meet up to their expectationsIJ
I guess when I was younger and had just started doing solo performances, I used to feel the pressure. Now I’ve grown beyond that. I’ve realised that I do this for myself and not for my parents. I dance because I love to dance and not because I have to carry on a legacy or anything like that. That’s all that matters at the end of the day. If I do feel any pressure it’s only because I know that I need to put up a good show or with regard to any experimentation that I’m doing with the presentation of the performance.
When you dance, do you think from the audience’s perspective as to whether they will understand your intentions or not, or do you value your experience of the dance moreIJ
I try to strike a balance between the two because both are very important. I don’t want to dilute a traditional dance just to please the audience but at the same time neither do I wish to inundate them with a lot of technical pictures which they cannot understand. Ultimately a compromise has to be made, through which the audience can enjoy what they are watching and the dancer can enjoy what he or she is doing. To achieve this, I don’t really mess with the grammar of the dance form itself. Instead I try to make the presentation of my art form more interesting and different to what my parents used to do. This could include the introduction to the dance, or its narration or even the lighting and costumes. I play around with the presentation of the dance but not with the dance itself.
What kind of preparation do you go through for your performancesIJ What frame of mind are you in, since you’ve got a performance is this weekIJ
We are still getting everything together. Right now, all I want is to put up a good show. I want all the different pieces to fall into place so that the ultimate, complete jigsaw puzzle that emerges is appreciated. We are working on the music, the lighting, the narration and it is only on stage during the final event that everything will come together beautifully. I’m really looking forward to it.
Yamini Reddy will be performing An evening of storytelling on June 9, at 7pm at The Habitat Centre