Vyjayanthi Kashi, who received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-2009 for Kuchipudi conferred recently in New Delhi, exemplifies the perennial toughness of the nayika. The ladylove so commonly portrayed in Indian classical dance — pining for her lord, scheming to win him back, reigning over him like a queen — may be in thrall to her lover, but she is a survivor and thrives on challenges. So too any dancer, whose every delicate nuance is powered by flexed muscles.
So too, certainly, Vyjayanthi, whose ability to turn hurdles into opportunities constantly asserts itself. Often invited to work with people with special needs, she believes strongly in the healing power of classical dance. Revelling in the different aspects of the art, Vyjayanthi, a disciple of Gurus C.R. Acharayulu, Vedantam Prahalad Sarma and Korada Narashmha Rao among others, is known as a performer, teacher, choreographer and speaker. Currently touring the U.S., the Bangalore-based dancer shares in an email interview her journey in the art. Excerpts:
Different regions of India are sometimes ‘foreign' to each other. Was it difficult to establish a Telugu-based art form in Karnataka?
The very fact that Kuchipudi was foreign to me attracted me. The joy of exploring something new, travelling to a different place, meeting people and artists who speak a different language was a good experience initially. It was all good as long as I was under the guidance of my gurus. But things were different back home. The first challenge was to get good musicians, including a nattuvanar, which is difficult to this day. I was younger than my musicians and to get things the exact way I wanted was a task, one because of age, secondly they did not know the language, the regional flavours, the grammar of Kuchipudi, etc.
Since I had my training under Guru Prahalada Sarma, we followed the old style of Kuchipudi which people in Bangalore and other cities were hardly exposed to. People commented on my style, which was initially very hard for me to digest. But thanks to that, I travelled to almost every nook and corner of Andhra to dig into Kuchipudi's roots. I encountered many gurus, scholars, and worked towards perfection. It was difficult to get good platforms to present Kuchipudi in the early stages.
As a Kannadiga, getting performances in Andhra Pradesh too was difficult, as I didn't have access to the local language and people other than my gurus. Neither here nor there….
As a guru, out of 50 enquires for my classes, only one would be for Kuchipudi. Slowly the numbers increased. Even today, if I present traditional Kuchipudi Yakshaganas, Karnataka audiences find it difficult to enjoy the lyrics.This problem in turn leads me to create dance dramas in Kannada.
You are also a commentator/interviewer on TV….
Necessity is the mother of invention. I had to build my audiences, educate my students and bring awareness about not only Kuchipudi but dance in general and the importance of dance education in transforming the personality. Many youngsters, I believe, love Indian classical dance, but run away due to wrong assumptions, lack of information or lack of opportunities.
I love speaking to our youth and regularly do so in my talks, interviews, workshops and demonstrations. That helped me a lot too, to think beyond performances. I also speak to teachers to be, about the importance of using different aspects of dance in becoming better teachers.
I believe it's not just the performances that make a difference; talking and educating people is so important.
Children's lives are today more multi-dimensional than previous generations. With your own multifarious pursuits, how do you tackle the challenge of maintaining standards?
Since I am still a performer, I am confident that even if someone backs out at the last moment, the show goes on .Yes, training under the guru shishya parampara and dealing with students of today's mentality is a challenge by itself, and that's what I like about it. So exciting, challenging, joyful and painful; helps my expressions glow on stage.
Once the students are given a strong base, and with the speed at which they learn today, it has both the sides to it. Of course, I would love to have students come in each day and practise like in a dance company. But I remain practical and get the most when they are around. I also plan my choreographies so they leave an impact with not only the dance but the theme, music and totality.
Every performance is aimed toward perfection, but in practice it can never happen. In my experience, four performances out of 10 may give the choreographer satisfaction, and two of those will be perfect shows.
Have you developed your own training methodology?
Yes though the base of my teaching is very much influenced by the traditional, I have developed my own methods, from the warm-up sessions, the adavus, the abhinaya aspects, to the items, the interactive sessions and the cool-down.
What are your hopes/dreams for Kuchipudi?
One of my dreams was to establish a Kuchipudi Gurukul, because I found it so hard to find my way through. I am lucky that I have established Shambhavi School Of Dance, which has theatre, library, hostel, good faculty in Bangalore.
They say sky is the limit; dreams have no limits. Dancejathre, India's first ever dance fair, is a result of this limitless dream.
