CHENNAI : The 30-year-old Saila Sudha Dance Academy was the only classical dance academy in Chennai that was chosen to perform at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup opening ceremony in Bhubaneswar on November 27. The opening ceremony was a grand affair held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and seven students from the academy performed with dancers from across the country on the maestro’s anthem.
If you missed watching the performance live, the Academy is all set to launch a video of their performance online soon that will feature their choreography set to the tune of AR Rahman’s Hockey World Cup anthem, ‘Jai Hind India.’ “It was an awesome experience,” said Sailaja, who started the Academy and is one of the senior-most Kuchipudi artistes in the city with a career spanning over 40 years.
“What made it special was that we were the only academy from Chennai to be selected to perform at the opening ceremony. And it was a real treat to be there because the feeling of unity and togetherness comes out only through art, culture and sport.”
She choreographed the Kuchipudi piece for the performance and spoke of the challenges she faced while doing the same.
“It was challenging to sync movements to other styles and to make sure it suits the pace and tempo of the music,” Sailaja said. “This led to our understanding and appreciating other art forms and brought out the unity of the country.” For students who got the chance to perform at the ceremony, it was a night to remember and one that they look forward to documenting through the video which will be released on Friday.
“It was such an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many gurus,” said Rashmi Chowalloor, one of the dancers who performed at the ceremony who has been learning Kuchipudi for almost 22 years now. “It was seven days of constant practice — day in and day out. The most memorable experience was sharing the stage with Madhuri Dixit and dancing to the music composed and sung by AR Rahman.”