This city danseuse is taking the trouble to bring to life forgotten performance spaces with her mudras
Anuradha in her dance avatar
The quietly pretty city-based Bharatanatyam artiste Anuradha Venkatraman might be a serious dancer, but she loves to unwind over books, movies and sometimes anything that’s ‘mindless’ on the telly. All set to perform as part of the 16th Kala Nadam Festival this Friday, she reveals jogging and going for long walks are the ways she likes to keep fit. “I’m a strong believer in exercising. There’s no two ways about it. Everyone must work out as it not only helps you physically but also mentally,” says the dancer, who was initiated into dance on the insistence of her mother. She was all of seven years old when she took to Bharatanatyam and has stuck to it ever since. Today with her own dance academy, art collective and on the brink of showcasing some very exciting productions, Venkatraman is glad for her mother’s foresight on what she was born to do. “I doubt I’d have taken up Bharatnatyam if it weren’t for her,” says Venkatraman, a Tamilian who was born and brought up in Delhi but moved to Bengaluru six years ago.
“We used to visit Bengaluru quite often and loved the place, the people and culture. So we decided to shift base,” explains the artiste, who lives with her husband and daughter.
Apart from dance, Venkatraman also has an inclination towards theatre, which she says is a source of inspiration. “I love the idea of working towards a common goal, the entire creative process and being able to connect with the audience,” she shares. An avid reader, her latest read is God’s Little Soldiers, which she explains is apt for the current global climate. “It’s about religious fundamentalism and quite an eye opener considering the recent slew of killings in the name of religion,” she shares.
While her school, Swastika School of Dance and Music has been around for a long time, it was only earlier this year that she launched AHUM, short for Art Heart U and Mind, a collective that seeks to promote all forms of art in the city be it dance, theatre, music, poetry, photography or paintings. Seeking to connect art with community, she plans to curate events regularly with a focus on spaces that have not been explored in the city. “There are many nice venues around Bengaluru that are unused. And with the city growing so much, it’s not easy to travel from one end of town to the other just to catch a play or a recital. So I hope to stage events at rare places, however small it may be to give people a chance to introduce some art into their lives,” Venkatraman reveals.
Though she currently has her hands full with performances and shows, she plans on working on a production with children who have never had an opportunity to learn an art form, next year. “I would like to do this through conducting workshops and sessions with these children in different forms of art and create something completely by themselves in all respects. Hope I am able to achieve it!,” she concludes.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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