Kuchipudi dancer Arunima Kumar tells Sakshi Sharma that she wants to break the traditional notion associated with the dance form and use it as therapy to lift others
As newer dance forms make their way into the art industry, it is important to revive these traditional dance forms and teach the younger generation about their richness too. Ustad Bismillah Khan awardee and Kuchipudi dancer Arunima Kumar feels the urge to fill this void and takes dance to places it has never been before.
She practises dance therapy with cancer patients in hospitals as she is a keen believer of inclusive art. “We tell them stories through dance, do chants, slokas and a lot of rhythm and footwork next to their beds. This brightens them up and helps them validate their existence,” says she.
Arunima recalls one of the incidents when a girl, who could sing well, sang with them and the entire ward joined her. It was a treat to their eyes. Such positive activities help them regain their confidence in life. And in a similar way, she makes the cancer survivors dance as they start getting better. Everyone has a state of distress in life at some stage or the other but Arunima feels that when you are involved in art, it has the capacity to lift you up and teleport you to a very different world altogether, where you forget the worries of life.
She believes that art deserves to travel places rather than sticking to the stage. “There shouldn’t be any restrictions in dance. It should encompass a diverse range of human activities and their ways of expression,” she says and adds, “Folk dance culture began from farmers who danced and celebrated the harvest season. And people enjoyed that together irrespective of the age gap or the differences in financial status between them.” But things are different today. She points towards the rigid structure that we are slowly getting accustomed to and it needs to break down. Her first step towards this, she says, was “visiting villages and slums and teach the natives about dance and its diverse applications across the world. When I interact with them and answer their questions, the kind of happiness I see in their eyes is unparalleled.”
She is trying to change the dynamics of Kuchipudi and Indian classical dance across the globe by organising festivals that would showcase its richness. She will be organising the third edition of the Kuchipudi International Festival in November in London, which would provide a platform to 80 to 100 artists to show their talent. It will include her students ranging from the age of four to 60, Natayanjali group from Cambridge, Bharatanatyam group and various others. She says, “It is a festival where we promote different dance forms and music but the focus remains on Kuchipudi. We also invite guest artists and facilitate innovative collaborations.” Through this she wants to inspire children as they see amazing artists perform so beautifully. This generates curiosity in them to know the dance form and its roots. “Otherwise they just perform with each other and get bored after a few years. Through this, they are not just looking among themselves but their seniors as well,” she adds. It also helps to inspire their parents and tell them how important it is to teach the child about our traditions and dance forms at an early age. The audience consists of a lot of foreigners also, this in turn is taking Indian classical beyond the borders. The festival also includes dances on mythological tales, the tales of Vishnu and Kalangan Rathna.
Talking about one of the most innovative collaborations with a step chain studio, she says, “They have dancers who perform Latin American style on wheelchair. This year I have integrated Kuchipudi with it.” She explains the idea behind this that such a dance form challenges the perception of body. When it comes to a disabled person, we look at them with sympathy as they can’t dance. But, sometimes we cannot fathom their potential. “The way they dance with their challenge surprises me because they do it so beautifully,” Arunima adds.
She has collaborated with Baluji foundation, the world’s only blind orchestra and created a piece called antardrishti (inner vision) with them. It is a blind cast of musicians and four dancers who could see. She did that show in darkness as she wanted the audience to feel it and understand how it feels when your world is dark. Citing the experience as an amazing one, she says, “While I was working with them they could sense when I am well and when I am not. They could figure out my mood.”
She developed her love affair with Kuchipudi while she was learning it from Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao. Arunima says she found a home in terms of her dance school because she learnt a lot of tradition and history from them. Along with this she used to have makeup and abhinay session too. Talking about her journey, Arunima says, “It was a beautiful journey initially but was difficult to manage with my studies but I clinged onto it. I would skip a film with my friends but never skip the dance class.” She feels it is this commitment which helped her step the ladder of success.
Talking about the strong identity India is gaining at an international level, Arunima says, “I am very proud of that. I proudly wear my Indian outfits and bindi but I am extremely contemporary in my outlook. I understand the aesthetics of my society so that I stay relevant.” But there is a huge gap to promote classical Indian art in the UK and Arunima wanted to fill this gap. She is trying to embed her art in the DNA of the British society. Indian art can surpass barriers, even if people don’t understand our language they know what we do. She wants to make this art accessible to the global audience. Arunima feels that just like yoga, an entire ecosystem needs to be created to revive dance forms as well. She says, “Indian dance has music and techniques and is an extension of yoga. Our poses, postures and rhythm coupled with mythology offers so much altogether.”
She works on social issues like mental illness and domestic violence as it affects her deeply and is close to her heart. Arunima shares further that she loves to integrate with anything that affects her and her performances are making a difference. Arunima says, “I am glad that at least I am provoking debate, I am breaking barriers. It’s always difficult for me to do it, when I start I don’t know how it will go, but at the end of the day when the artist and the audience have something to say about the performance, I think I have done my bit.”