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For the Love of Dance

Padmapriya returns to classical dance after a gap of seven years

Glamour, fame and money are added bonuses of being a star but the downside is of being constantly in the public glare ensuring that no part of a celebrity’s life remains under wraps. Most of the Kerala audience know Padmapriya as a thinking actress who has proved her mettle through various roles in different languages, winning regional and national recognition. Her inclination for academics too is well known as she has an MS in Public Administration from the US. So it was a surprise when Padmapriya and her group performed classical Bharatanatyam at Changanassery followed by performances at Swaralaya and Soorya Festival.

The surprise was natural as it was Padmapriya’s first performance in Kerala though she is a trained classical dancer and has more than 450 stages to her credit. Her first stage performance was at the age of four-and-a-half. The audience here saw the dancer Padmapriya completely revelling in her hastas, mudras and abhinayas. But what makes this performance special is that she is returning to classical dance after seven years. Padmapriya says, “I am not religiously inclined and felt that classical dance, especially Bharatanatyam, is devout in nature. The reason why I returned to dance is simply because I love dance. I had also promised myself that I wanted to make more sense of dance, study and understand it far more in detail.”

Padmapriya is happy with the audience response. She danced as part of a group production because she “wanted dance to be the focus rather than the dancer!” She adds, “Kerala audience is different because their expectations are very high. They sat through the entire hour-and-a-half performance; to get an audience sit through a classical dance recital that long is very difficult. It was fun and I was dancing as part of my group where I did a 35-minute solo performance. To me, it is more a celebration of dance with some amazing choreography. More than actress Padmapriya, it was the dancer in me who revelled in returning to stage.”

The Soorya platform is a very prestigious one and Padmapriya is so thrilled to have performed there. The love for the thillanas and jatis is evident with the excitement in her voice. “We did not follow the strict margam format, but started with a pushpanjali and ended with a thillana. The emphasis was on choreography and my guru conceived it really well.” Though Padmapriya was taking a break from dance, it has never stopped her from practising even while she was acting or studying. She quips, “Once a dancer, always a dancer!” The challenges were injuries. She recounts, “I fell off the stairs and hit my head and injured my knee and those were far more challenging episodes. Practice happens constantly!”

The current generation is weaned on a diet of western-influenced Zumba, Rumba and Bollywood-inspired cinematic forms. What does she think of the future of classical dance? “I think classical dance is not seeing the evolution seen by classical music. Collaborations in Bharatanatyam are not pushing the border and nowhere is it mentioned that Bharatanatyam needs to be rigid. The only way to grow is to break that rigidity and give more opportunities to dancers.

Monetisation is available to actors but other dancers might find classical forms unviable financially. See, modern dance forms have a pull because the youngsters can relate to it, but it makes me happy to say that in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, people still relate to classical art forms. I am still an infant to talk about all these and I personally feel that the seven years I stayed away, I should have been more proactive about this dance form.” On the film front, Padmapriya plays a role in Tiyaan starring Prithviraj and Indrajith and is also doing a short film with Madhupal. She ends by saying that she has just done 45 films and still has a long way to go.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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