KOCHI: Bhagyalakshmi Guruvayoor had always wanted to dance. But life had taken her on a slightly divergent track. It finally did converge when she became an accompanying vocalist for mohiniyattom performances. It was still a little far from her grasp. “Whenever I see mohiniyattom being performed, I have always had the dream to do it myself. But my busy schedule prevented me to do so,” she says. That was until recently. The artist, who donned the chilanka a year ago, will perform a mohiniyattom recital - organised by Edappally Nrithaswadaka Sadas - at Changampuzha Park on Friday.
This time, she will be accompanied by Murali Sangeeth (vocals), Kalamandalam Kiran Gopinath (mridangam), Thrissur M Shyamkalyan (violin) and Arundas (edakka) to the recital choreographed by Kalamandalam Aswathy Sankarlal. The performance will be her second stage since. “Since last year, I have been training mohiniyattom systematically under Aswathy. My first performance on stage was in December,” says Bhagyalakshmi.
Having been an accompanying artist for the past seven years, the artist wants to be known as a vocalist. “For me, music and dance are important equally. As a profession, I have excelled as a musician/vocalist. But I should be in a position to not give up on dance. Learning dance systematically has helped me with vocals. It has given me confidence. To know that a dancer is confident in his or her orchestra was an important realisation. And unlike in a kacheri, the vocalist should not outshine the dancer in a dance performance. Learning dance has helped me realise this,” says Bhagyalakshmi.
This, however, does not mean she is a novice. “I began training dance at the age of three under the tutelage of Kalamandalam Rama. Till Class VIII, I continued my training. After that, I didn’t train but used to perform at school and college annual days,” she says. Though her career as an accompanying vocalist began some seven years ago, Bhagyalakshmi’s training in Carnatic music began since she was three. “My father Ramanathan was my first guru; after that, I was taught by Lekha Krishnakumar and R Venkiteswaran. I am currently trained by Dr VR Dileep Kumar,” she says.
Many dancers today perform to pre-recorded songs. Has that shrunken the opportunities of accompanying artists such as herself? “When you think from a dancer’s perspective, it is difficult to bring along an accompanying orchestra to all remote locations he or she has been invited to perform. So the most practical thing is to perform along with pre-recorded music. However, their performance gets restricted to this pre-recorded music. Hence, many professional dancers, especially if they have to perform solo, always prefer to do so with live music. Because live music gives one the freedom to improvise endlessly,” says Bhagyalakshmi. She is currently a B grade artist at Akashvani since 2017.