Sharing an Interview - Divyakala Conversations
A few weeks ago, Atlanta-based Kuchipudi dancer Anvitha Bommireddy and I had a lovely conversation where I reflected on my dance journey, challenges, and philosophies. This was a wide-ranging conversation guided by Anvitha’s thoughtful and probing questions, and here are some of the topics we covered -
About growing up and my dance journey
“Where are you from” and why that’s a complicated question for me
The pivotal year I spent in India, where I started my formal dance education
Moving to the United States and working through my feelings of inadequacy
Dancing through college and my early career
Masters of Kuchipudi at University of SiliconAndhra
Starting the podcast
Navigating confidence
Inspiration (about 30 minutes in)
How we can get inspiration from those around us
Some examples of who inspire me
Choreography and experimentation and conversations on dance
Multiple paths in dance
How to get past being frozen by fear and operate from a place of bravery
How Kuchipudi can maintain its richness (about 42 minutes in)
Let’s look at the numbers
What we can learn from pivotal moments in history to understand today’s landscape
Exclusively training under one teacher vs. cross-training (about 48 minutes in)
My own experience for foundational teaching
Evolution in Kuchipudi pedagogy
Practicing intentionality as we develop our skills
Growing into padams and javalis
Strategies for mastering abhinaya (about 1 hour in)
Why I struggled with abhinaya
Codified abhinaya vs. developing abhinaya
Having a conversation with the choreography
An example - Narayaneeyam slokam
An example - Mandooka Sabdam episode
Living the character
An example - Balagopala tarangam episode where Yashoda’s chastising Krishna for eating dirt
Templates for abhinaya
Developing your abhinaya toolkit
An example - Pooja opening
Observing and absorbing to improve abhinaya
Why I don’t use mirrors to practice or teach
Setting intentions for practice
Playing with your practice
Leveraging video recording to improve your dance
Teaching technique based on how it feels on our body vs. how it looks
Shift in pedagogy over time in response to changing times
Multiplicity in understanding Vempati pedagogy
Two schools of thought on how to execute the second step
Challenges in Kuchipudi and how to address them (about 1 hour 40 minutes in)
What happens when we operate from fixed binaries and fear
What happens when we operate from a place of confidence and curiosity
An example - Narayaneeyam revisited
Growth mindset: Curiosity, conversation, and knowledge
Evolution in the Rasa framework and what we can learn from it
Education, curiosity, and safe spaces
An example - Going from fear to curiosity for padams and javalis
Working through mistakes and trying again
Why I’m not worried about calcification
Transforming Kuchipudi: Building safe spaces, access to knowledge, and community
Taking things forward generation over generation
Achieving balance with dance and work (about 1 hour 58 minutes in)
Rethinking balance and negotiating competing priorities
Staying connected with dance through each phase of life
Strategies: Bias toward actions + Reach goals + Rest and Grace
Going from “Not enough” to “I did what I could but I’ll do better”
Perseverance and faith through difficult seasons
