We often as artists take for granted the support that is extended to us. Sometimes we even feel entitled to support. I have realised that no one is entitled to anything. We are not even entitled to dance. It is a gift and must be treasured and revered. It may leave us one day and we must cherish and thank every moment that we are allowed to have it with us. We feel sometimes that we must not take support. That we need to try to do things by ourselves. This is something that I have felt many times. But Ia��ve realised through the years that when you have a family that stands by you and helps ..read more

    I am going to make my list of teachers and people that I feel have created an impact on my dancing, thought processes, ideologies and physical movement quality. There are obviously people that I will miss out. This doesna��t mean I dona��t think of them and acknowledge them within me. I obviously learned dance from all of my dance teachers, but I am trying to pin down the other things that I learned from them specifically. My first teacher in bharatanatyam was Guru Padmini Rao. My first 9 years, until my Arangetram were under her. She taught me independence. Made me learn to do my hair an ..read more

Classical Dancer Rukmini Vijayakumar on Sacred Spaces and Dance An Interview By Aparna M Sridhar Internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer Rukmini Vijayakumar is well known in dance circles for having pushed the envelope in terms of creativity and contemporary thinking and execution of an ancient dance form. While the dance idiom remains largely constant, she speaks about variables of space and time, body, mind and spirit for a dancer. Line, shape and colour are the building blocks of the perceptual world. How do you use these elements in your choreography? Line and shape in d ..read more

We all have the capacity to move, the capacity for imagination. We often lose this connect with our bodies as we grow up. Children do this, tirelessly. We see them connected to the floor, sliding, falling, running, jumping with little to no effort. They do this repeatedly with poise, ease and grace.   Why do we lose this connect with our bodies? Why do we lose this ability to imagine and express ourselves? I have often wondered this in my years as a dancer. I am especially keen on exploring this idea of just retaining children's ability to move. As dance teachers, we think of training and corr ..read more

I have never thought of myself as an exceptional or talented dancer. Hardworking, diligent, dedicated, yes. But talented? Ia��m not so certain. In reality, I have only always seen my inadequacies. The inadequacies that I continue to see even now. My daily practice is an effort to fill those gaps. Those places that I am lacking. It is a continuous struggle to get better. In reality, better never seems good enough. People say Ia��m good. That they are inspired by me. Inspired by my work. I am pleased. Truly. It makes my effort worthwhile. But, all the praise fades away in moments. I am immediate ..read more

Validation   We all look for validation of some sort. Validation from our parents, friends, spouses, children. I feel like it is almost impossible to live in this world, detached from the feelings of others. In theory, it should be possible. That is what the realised souls, saints and spiritual leaders tell us. They tell us to be content with ourselves. Validation in reality comes from ego. It comes from the fact that we associate ourselves with what we do and who we have become. In art, it comes from a place of wanting to be recognised for our work. We have all felt this way as artists. We wa ..read more

As classical artists we are expected to carry with us a certain precision in our technique. We must master a certain number of physical skills and have a sound understanding of the aesthetic of the technique. We must constantly hone our skills of performance. The basic expectation of a classical artist, in terms of skill is very high. In Bharatanatyam we have the effervescent "araimandi" looming over our dancing personality constantly. We need to have control over rhythm, have a certain postural clarity, emotive presence etc. As Bharatanatyam dancers, (or dancers of any specific classical, tra ..read more

I often forget people's names. I forget where I met them. My husband says it's because I don't pay attention. I convince myself that it's because I have a facial recognition problem; but I'm not so certain. I do not however, forget corrections. I know everything that every teacher has ever put into my body. I know where it's from. I know how I know it. I am also very aware of the first time I discovered it. In the past few years, I have begun to learn and surprise myself with things that I know from a cumulative knowledge. Things that I didn't know I knew. Things that come upon me as 'facts' t ..read more

So many girls I meet want to be dancers. Everyone wants to know how to do it; wants to know how to become a dancer. It really is not a secret. There isn't any trick, code, or complex answer to this. It's just practice. When people see me perform, they see the icing on the cake or lets say 'the tip of the iceberg'. They miss the hours in the studio; the incessant training. I don't think I have taken more than two days away from training in the last 18 years. Dance is life and life is dance. I am unable to separate the two.A� In college and my late teens, I cannot even begin to explain the rigor ..read more

A Dancer A� My eyes close, I breathe, I know that Ia��m beginning. A� I forget my days The agony intense The joy overpowering Everything else seems ephemeral. A� All I have is me, You made me a poet, I speak fluently My articulation impeccable A� Honest, true, I design my limbs They carry a story Intense A� I dona��t speak anymore They speak themselves You made me a poet – Rukmini Vijayakumar The post A dancer appeared first on Rukmini Vijayakumar ..read more