Moving to the rhythm

There is a certain fluidity in her movements as she lithely flexes her limbs that never goes unnoticed. With every nimble spring and stretch, bharathanatyam dancer and actress Rukmini Vijayakumar seamlessly knits an audience for herself, who never spot the trance they have been put in. And even as her repertoire, which is fully stocked with a variety, continues to grow at a great pace, she insists that her vocabulary of movements in bharathanatyam is nothing but traditional.

Often branded for giving bharathanatyam a contemporary twist because of her knowledge of ballet and modern dance, she says that her dance style is “100 per cent bharathanatyam”. “I don’t know why I’m known for that, I never do it. People think that because I’m athletic and flexible. But if you break down the vocabulary, it’s entirely bharathanatyam. A lot of people have this perception that just because I kick high and do splits, it’s modern. If I were to mix the two, one would definitely see it.” But she admits that her approach to stage development and choreography have been tinged with contemporary styles.

She has even taken the liberty of designing her costume, which is definitely an eye-catcher. “It’s different but I think it’s traditional. I just make it convenient for me to move in because sometimes I don’t find the other costumes comfortable.” The dancer is all set for her latest production — ‘Prabhavati’ — with her dance crew, ‘Radhakalpa Dance Company’. Inspired by 16th century poet Pingali Suranna’s novel ‘Prabhavati Pradyumnamu’, the team will take to the stage of Chowdiah Memorial Hall on July 10. “I had toured with this production two years ago in 12 cities in the US, but I hadn’t really done any shows in India. This time, I’ve re-staged and re-choreographed large portions of it and will be performing it soon.” It is the love story of an ‘asura’ princess and Pradyumna. The proceeds of the dance-drama will go to ‘LshVa’, a space for visual and performing artistes. “The space encourages performers to continue their education, as many tend to give up on it as they start dancing. We will have workshops and modular courses for performers,” she says.

Although a take from Suranna’s work, it has been scripted and written by Rukmini herself. “I scripted the lyrics and conversation and it’s a mix of Sanskrit and Telugu. Most dance theatres are a mix of Sanskrit and a regional language. I have also used English so that anybody can understand it.” Was it difficult to work with three languages? “No. It worked organically; all the emotions and expressions are in the Indian languages and they are echoed in English. At first I thought it would be awkward to work with English but no one is suddenly breaking out into English, it is just an echo of the dialogues,” she says.

Does she think there are enough spaces for the arts in Bengaluru? “There are. There are so many festivals, theatre and dance performances; there’s something happening all the time. But I think that it is bubble and only some people go to watch performing arts. ‘LshVa’, a space I’m working on, is trying to break that bubble and reach out to people who don’t normally go to such events and engage with the younger generation.”

It has been a year since she started teaching youngsters bharathanatyam at her school, and she says that one needs to set a good example for kids if they want them to follow. “It’s about how you approach it — I can’t teach kids these days the way I was taught. They ask more questions now and want fun and engaging methods of teaching. We never had such things. My students look astonished when I tell them how different it was then.” She adds that it’s all about motivating them.

Rukmini has a busy year ahead — she is contemplating on acting in a movie and short film. “I’m also working on my art space, some advertisements and school work. We have a class show coming up and a student is doing her ‘arangetram’.” She is also working on another production.

For tickets to the performance at Chowdiah Hall on July 10 at 7.30 pm,
log onto www.bookmyshow.com