During a discussion with Geeta Chandran at IIC, Yamini Krishnamurthy shared that she learnt Kuchipudi at the age of 61, before which she had not seen the dance form. By Arjita Mishra
When a Bollywood or television celebrity performs on stage, the audience goes crazy. Sometimes to a point where they even find a way to the stage. Stories like these are often heard but have you ever come across a news where an audience reaching the stage at a classical dance performanceIJ This has happened to danseuse Yamini Krishnamurthy, not one, not twice but several times over. The first time something like that happened was when the artiste was performing at a concert in Europe.
“While dancing, I took a pose and a gentleman thought that I was calling him. He was so lost in my performance that he forgot that he was at a concert and and he came to me,” shared Krishnamurthy with a smile on her face.
This was one of the many insightful and interesting stories about Krishnamurthy’s life that we came across at a discussion organised by danseuse Geeta Chandran to celebrate World Dance Day at the India International Centre.
During the conversation, Chandran asked about the earliest memories that Krishnamurthy has of dance. She paused for a while and said, “When I was three-years-old, I used to go to Thillai Natarajah temple (Chidambaram temple) where I lived during my childhood days. For hours and hours, I used to look at the dance poses of sculptures. I loved them and that continued till I was five because then my father shifted to Chennai.”
Those figures and poses made a special place in Krishnamurthy’s mind and could be seen in her performances. “Even at that time, I was interested in making poses. It is strange that even after so many years I clearly remember them and sometimes, incorporate them in my dance,” she said.
Krishnamurthy learnt Bharatanatyam in Kalakshetra School of Dance, Chennai. The dance school gave her a diploma degree before she completed three years. of the course. “I was so naughty that everyone wanted to get rid of me and that is one of the reasons why they gave me the diploma to me before I could finish my course,” she laughed.
The danseuse started her career in 1957 with a live performance in Chennai, and there has been no looking back since. Ever since, she has continued on her journey making a path, alongside, to learn other genre of dance — genres she has never attempted before. Soon her popularity crossed boundaries and she was asked to perform in other parts of the world.
It was surprising to learn that the danseuse, now so deft in Kuchipudi had not seen the dance till she was 61. When she met her guru, who later taught her the nuances of the dance, he enquired why Krishnamurthy has not tried some other classical style apart from Bharatanatyam. She had blatantly confessed that she had never seen the dance form before. “He had smiled and asked be to begin from there. He taught me the dance form, that, too without touching the basics. That is how I started,” she pointed out.
It saddens the exponent to see that most of the present generation dancers perform on recorded audio tracks.
While the conversation was going on, Chandran started to discuss the changing trend in the performances of younger generation where the young dancers dance on recorded audio, Krishnamurthy said that “It is sad that today we don’t get good musicians. In my time, there were brilliant musicians who stayed with us in our home. It was easier for us to practice. But today, the tragedy is that we don’t have good music artistes. Therefore, young dancers don’t have any option left except to perform on recorded music,” said the dancer. She also added that if she were asked to perform on a recorded piece of music, she would not be able to dance.
Chandran added that three set of musicians travel with Krishnamurthy as she performs Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi.
When asked about her critics, Krishnamurthy immediately said, “I don’t believe in critics. One has to be their own critic. It is you who know about the art which you perform, and not other.”