“I’ve definitely stepped out of my comfort zone this Season,” dancer Sukanya Kumar admits as she sits down, a cup of coffee in hand. She’s reached the tail-end of this year’s India trip and with a recently-earned terminal Master’s in Dance from the University of California-Irvine and a Season with over ten performances, she is continuing to push herself.
The spirit, she says, comes from the illustrious gurus, who have moulded her over the years.
A disciple of the late Mahalingam Pillai of Mumbai’s Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatanatya Kala Mandir as well as of the late Kalanidhi Narayanan, Sukanya presents an intriguing mélange of styles. And yet, the cutting edge content that drives her own choreographies is admittedly a mark of Sukanya’s current guru, Priyadarsini Govind, and the training she has received over the last decade.
“I was never meant to come to Chennai, actually. Mumbai was my home, both in the arts and otherwise, and dance was my passion as a young child,” she begins. Her arangetram served as a turning point. The late Pillai’s words of advice that continue to ring true made an impact: “Help bring up our school. It is in your hands, in your art.”
All of ten, she took the advice to heart, teaching classes while simultaneously delving into academics with vigour. A curiosity in the electronic media studies brought Sukanya to Chennai’s MOP Vaishnav College and a workshop conducted by Leela Samson opened an artistic door.
“I had absolutely no understanding or awareness of the magnitude of the arts scene in Chennai,” she admits.
The city, it seems, had other plans, especially when a fortuitous introduction to dancer Priyadarsini Govind kicked off a phase of her artistic growth.
“I used to practice in Priya Aunty’s home and invited her to a performance of mine, shortly after moving. The opportunity to learn from her was an unexpected surprise that has definitely shaped my artistic ventures today,” she smiles. The years that followed saw Sukanya continuing to balance her creative pursuits with large academic ambitions that culminated in multiple degrees and an increased interest in the crossover between arts and technology.
“I strongly believe that an educated artiste makes a better-rounded artiste. Many people think the two are disconnected but almost every one of my academic endeavours has enhanced what I want to do creatively and vice-versa,” she explains.
It’s a perspective that has allowed Sukanya to give Indian classical dance a new dimension in her new home in California, choreographic and ideating productions that address topics such as women empowerment, gun violence, and the like. Not to mention her passion for technology, one that she hopes will help her give the art form a new, more involved audience.
“Essentially, I’m looking at using technology to better convey dance ideologies and help make Indian classical dance more approachable, especially by a foreign audience,” she says. Presenting thematic performances this Season is her first step in breaking new ground and while she’s enthusiastic about what lies ahead, she says that there is so much to be done.
“As artistes, we are so privileged because we can assume certain identities on stage to tell certain stories or challenge societal ideals. All the tools we need are built into the vocabulary of Indian classical dance — it lends itself to telling any story we want to tell.”
The necessary bridge in understanding, then, is simple and as Sukanya explains it, the way forward for her is completely clear.
“As an artiste, I simply have to reach out a helping hand out to all of my audiences, from the rickshaw driver to the arts professor. We might not speak the same language, but that is where true passion, true innovation on stage can shine through.”
