Dance like a passionate woman

Bharathanatyam dancer Navia Natarajan cannot remember a time when she did not feel alive on stage. She debuted on stage through a mesmerising Arangetram at the age of 10. But, her foray into dancing happened much before that – at three, to be precise.  A journey spanning over two decades; Navia believes dancing is a passion that has become a way of life. In a candid chat, the research assistant turned full time danseuse shares the inside track – as she is all set to present Margam... 

“I will be performing the Margam- Bharathanaytam repertoire. I begin it with Parasakthi. In this piece, the witnessing devotee is lost in the beauty of the Goddess, the epitome of beauty and awe inspiring power. This piece is specially researched and put together to showcase the dualistic nature of the goddess as simultaneously compassionate and wrathful, forgiving and fierce. This is followed by Varnam: The central piece in a Bharathanatyam repertoire. The varnam brings together the two main aspects of dance: nritta, or the rhythmic portions, and abhinaya, or the interpretation of the lyrics. poetry - Padam- Which brings out the expressive aspect of the dance form. Here, we see a bold woman who has no qualms about proclaiming her relationship with her beloved. A lady who truly is untouched by what the society thinks. Thillana a joyous conclusion to the repertoire characterised by rhythmic, fast paced movements,” shares Navia, who holds a masters in micro biology and worked as a Research Assistant at the Vitt
al Mallaya Scientific Research Foundation in Bengaluru. The solo performance is also choreographed by her. She is currently being mentored by Guru Sir A.Lakshmanaswamy and Smt Bragha.G.Bessel. While dancing was always a passion, it wasn’t until the calling became really strong that she made a choice, “I have seen people juggle two things and excel, and I truly respect people who can pursue a profession and passion on the side. But the sheer love of dance got to me to the extent that I knew I would be committing the biggest mistake of my life if I didn’t pursue it.” And indeed, the leap of faith got her accolades in due course of time –Navia has been a recipient of awards like Yuva Kala Bharathi award from Bharath Kalachar Chennai, Kala Ratna Award from Cleveland, recipient of the “Sanatan Nritya Puraskar from Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti, New Delhi, Empanelled artist of ICCR Recipient of Scholarship from Centre for Cultural Resources and Training and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, Top grade “A+” grade auditioned artists of Prasar Bharathi, Broadcasting Corporation of India, Doordarshan.

While she is stoked to be performing in the city, her message for those wanting to be a part of the show remains the same as always. “I wish to emanate and spread the pure joy of dancing. If the audience can live a moment of joy with me, if there’s a unison in terms of the happiness felt, that’s all I would like,” she concludes. 

— Navia will be performing at Kinkini Nrithyothsava on January 24 at JSS Auditorium, Shivarathreeswara Circle