M yrriam Sophia Lakshmi Quinio, better known as Paris Laxmi, says she was “born to dance”. And with a list of dance forms in her kitty, one believes her. Not only is she trained in Western dance forms such as ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, flamenco and hip-hop, she has also learnt Bharatanatyam and is currently learning Kathakali. While some recognise her as Michelle, the girl who wins Kuttan’s hand in Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days or the danseuse in Big B ’s ‘Oh January’, others know her as the French Bharatanatyam dancer living in Kerala. The dancer, who runs Kalashakti dance school with her husband, Pallippuram Sunil, a Kathakali dancer at Vaikom, has started ballet workshops for children in Kochi and is working on a contemporary solo performance. Dance, clearly has no borders for Laxmi, who gets candid in an interview with Friday Review . The danseuse traces her journey in dance, her moving to Kerala, her stint in movies and more. Excerpts.
The making of a danseuse
I was born with the love to dance and was always dancing, even as a toddler. I was finally enrolled for contemporary dance for children at the age of five.
Foundation in Bharatanatyam
My family and I would come down to India every year for the holidays. We would attend Indian classical dance performances, which I found fascinating. My mother searched for a dance teacher in our town and found Armelle Choquard, a French disciple of V.S. Muthuswami Pillai and Sucheta Chapekar. She taught Bharatanatyam. I started learning from her at the age of nine. I started training under Dominique Delorme, a disciple of V.S. Muthuswami Pillai and Padma Subrahmanyam from the age of 12, while continuing with Armelle. I later learned a bit from Sucheta Chapekar in Pune and trained for a few months at Dr. Padma’s Nrithyodaya School of Dance, Chennai. My first performance in India was at the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple at the age of 19. I have since performed on various stages in India. While performing at Kerala Kalamandalam in 2014, Kalamandalam Gopi Asan sat through the second half of my performance. He honoured me with a ponnada at the end and praised my performance; it meant a lot to me.
A stage name
As I wanted a stage name I decided to spell Lakshmi with an ‘x’. It was Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam, my brother’s mridangam teacher, who added Paris to my name, although I come from Aix-en-provence, in France. Paris sounded better!
Upholding traditional art forms and maintaining its purity
Because it is our roots, our heritage, a part of the blood flowing in our veins... any traditional art should be preserved. As for purity, what does ‘pure’ mean? I don’t think we can call any dance ‘pure’ as every artiste has his or her interpretation of the dance and thus dance forms are always evolving. The audience too evolves with it.
Love, on stage
I first met my husband, Pallippuram Sunil, at a theatre in Fort Kochi where he was playing Kathakali. I was only seven and he was 20. I loved Kathakali and was fascinated by him and the other artistes. We came with my family later and met him again. The next time we met, I was 16. As we shared a similar passion for dance and the arts, we decided to marry. I was 21 then. Even though I was rather young, I realised how big and important a step I was making. Moving to Vaikom was difficult but soon felt like I belonged here.
As a teacher
I have 50 students on the rolls at my school. I teach Bharatanatyam to both children and adults. My husband teaches Kathakali at the institute. I can understand Malayalam now and can speak a bit so it’s easier to communicate with my students and their parents. I train in Kathakali under my husband whenever I can. The Kathakali way of using facial muscles helps me express bhavas better.
As he is an artiste himself, he gives me pointers on how to improve my performance. He observes my choreographies and is always with me during my performances.
He and I are working on a duet called ‘Krishna Mayam’. We also plan to conduct monthly programmes at our institute.
Dance and reality shows
Reality shows are a great way to promote the arts but the problem begins when parents and children get hooked to the ‘glamour’ part of the show and fail to realise that hard work is needed to build a good dancer. I get upset when parents request me to teach their children ‘bits’ for competitions and shows. I want to see children turn into professional dancers or just be able to dance properly; I want them to understand the value of training.
Rasikas and the art of appreciation
People are hooked to the television and the Internet and prefer watching cultural programmes from the comforts of home. However, having said that, I feel the bond between an artiste and rasika, will never break. The emotions shared between the artiste and the audience is unique.
Mollywood calling
I was approached by the team of Amal Neerad’s Big B team to do a simple passing shot with Bala. Amal sir then decided to film the song ‘Oh January’ around me. It was Amal sir who suggested I play the role of Michelle, the character in Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days .
Playing Michelle wasn’t that difficult as she is a foreigner who comes to India to study an Indian dance form.Michelle’s story was a lot similar to mine and she too calls her husband, chetta !
Even as a child I was fascinated with cinema and dance. I would love to play strong women, heroine or not.
Up next
I plan to hold regular classes for ballet soon. I am also working on a solo contemporary dance performance, which I hope to present at my institute.
