A young disciple of danseuse Sumati Kaushal made the stage her own in 1976 at her rangapravesam. The media gave glowing reviews to her performance, she was addressed as the ‘torchbearer who could carry the mantle of the Kuchipudi form’ by a noted art critic. The child was Deepika Reddy. Over four decades later, the artiste has lived up to that comment, contributing to the dance form so well that she was selected for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award this year. Every pat on the back is well deserved by an artiste, but the stakes have only gotten higher with this honour, the dancer insists.
“Being handpicked by revered peers, gurus and stalwarts in this arena is a different high. This increases my responsibility further. I have to be very careful of my next step,” she says, despite being happy. The stage has been her learning ground for 47 years now. While dance has been an integral element of her life, she’s been instrumental in handing over the baton to the next generation whenever necessary. She considers this win as a timely reminder to enhance here contribution to the form.
Her only wish was to receive this in the presence of her guru Vempati China Sathyam. Deepika’s dance school Deepanjali bears a life-sized portrait of the legendary dancer in the traditional Nataraja pose, adjacent to the latter’s bronze idol. “Not a day goes by without offering pranams to Vempati garu and the Lord of dance. He has given us an ocean of knowledge, we are swimming and trying to discover new subjects in that ocean.”
Contemporary themes
Deepika has often channelised her talents to changing tastes of art aficionados over the years, though never moving away from the grammar that constitutes Kuchipudi. She has dealt with issues of immediate and contemporary relevance — promoting the use of natural dyes, crafts of the Telugu states, trees, environmental conservation. The balance of information, style and the packaging for a newer audience has been a challenge, but she found the attempts fulfilling. “These are an artistic representation of reality, if not absolute.” A lot of her dance pieces have revolved around the history of Telangana, its tourist attractions, littérateurs and other art forms. “Telangana government’s contribution through my journey has been immense, I give back to them in my own little way. I’ve tried to explore the beauty of Charminar, Golkonda, Taramati Baradari through my presentations.”
The dancer’s prowess has come to the fore at many site-specific performances — the backdrops of Khajuraho, Konark, Golkonda have added another layer to her storytelling. “The ambience is breathtaking. The historic places bring out your creative best, the atmosphere works like a package, helping us create great rasanubhuti .” One of her lec-dems also had her showing fear and the mental agony for those trapped in the Taj hotel on the 26/11 blasts. Prakruti rakshati rakshataha , her ode to nature had her students show a building through a pataka mudra .
Internalising roles has been a key element in her dance career. She grew up watching a handful of mythological movies and she attributes her ease in performing characters of both genders to this. “Imbibing the body language comes naturally to me. Say for Draupadi, I think what it means to be disrobed in front of an entire sabha. One of my favourites as a dancer is also playing Mandodari, she questions Raavana about his interest in another man’s wife despite having a woman who has surrendered herself to him.”
Evolution as guru
Age presents its own challenges with art forms, Deepika has attuned her choreography skills accordingly. From being the girl who strictly obeyed her gurus to bettering her nuances in her teens and growing into a thinking dancer, life has come full circle with her stint as a teacher. “When we start teaching, we really grow. I’ve become a better dancer after I became a teacher. I feel I’ve become a complete artiste in the process. Each child needs to be trained in a different way and the efforts I have taken to present Kuchipudi to them in an understandable form, about the rasas and emotions have matured me a lot.” The choreography skills bettered with time, she spent time on reading, research and various elements that go into a presentation. “We get better with age and experience. Thankfully, I never miss my workouts. I’ll adapt my choreography and age gracefully.”
Her students have started their own dance schools now. “They’re continuing the art form, even after me there’ll be many more, that gives me great joy. The way I teach my students is different, we travel together and are like friends. I’m a taskmaster as long as the class is on, but many address me as their mother later.” The whole experience has made her a better human being.
International adulation has often come her way in places like Turkey and France too. Westernisation poses a challenge to the art form, she admits. Yet many parents initiate their children into Kuchipudi. “Youngsters may have a contemporary outlook towards life but haven’t lost their respect for the form.” Her only word of advice to students who plan to make dance a full-time career, “It is a challenging profession, don’t depend only on this. You should multi-task and pursue other jobs as well. Only when you grow in confidence and realise that’s your true vocation, then make that shift as a full-time dancer. Always have something to fall back on. Dance tests your rhythm, spontaneity, it’ll also help you excel in other fields.”
She wishes to do her bit to revive the conditions of dancers at the Kuchipudi village too. “The Government is doing its bit to improve the conditions there, the authorities know we are only a phone call away, we work as one family.” Deepika feels blessed to have been in a family that has encouraged her pursuits and yet criticised when necessary. Her mother has been a dancer, her brother plays the mridangam, her husband contributes to her dance items. “I always take inputs from my students, there’s no place for ego. That’s how everyone learns. The opportunity to work with legends like Birju Maharaj and many great musicians has added to me getting wider recognition and eventually this prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi. I owe a lot to them in my journey. I couldn’t have done it on my own,” she signs off.
