HYDERABAD : Kiranmayee Madupu, the name that sounds familiar among the city folks and resonates in the field of dance, is now going to reverberate globally. At her candour best, she communicates with us about her Europe tour and performances, passion that she eventually turned into profession and of course her route to success
Her countenance is all it takes to magnetise us, as she walks on the rostrum in systematic movements, taking big strides, hands on her waist with mudras intact. She takes over the stage, transitioning between persona grata, delineating characters, her finesse hitting the audience like a wave on the shore. Our city’s own artistically gifted child, Kiranmayee Madapu is now bracing herself to captivate Europe with her virtuosity.
With a mystique smile that creates a dint on the cheeks, enhancing her charm, the danseuse says she would be performing in Paris, Berlin and Budapest in June, presenting ‘Porous Earth - The Journey of a River’, a solo dance production taking part in interesting festivals in the aforementioned cities. “I am really looking forward to do this solo tour in Europe. This is like my own solo-backpacking trip, but with dance jewels in that backpack! After UK and Sri Lanka, this is my next international tour and I call this globe trotting with dance as being ‘around the world in Aramandi’ (Aramandi is the traditional half sitting posture which is key in Bharatanatyam),” she smiles.
It seems as a child, Kiranmayee was a scrawny little character with thick glasses, two meagre braids and a frown. She loved anything artsy, be it dance, music, painting or poetry. “I lacked self-confidence as a child. I never thought anything I did was good enough. I had even developed stage fright in fourth grade and shied away from public appearances. It’s funny how all that changed with dance. Now, stage is where I want to be, where I feel comfortable, confident and empowered,” she shares eliciting aspiration in others.
This dance cognoscente fell in love with the art form when was pursuing engineering in CBIT, when she realised how mundane and tasteless her life has become as she lost touch with her creative side. “I had worked so hard for the competitive exams to get into the college by merit that I got completely lost from my art. I went back to my dance teacher Hema just to have my life changed for the good,” she says with a glint in her eyes.
Thanks to her exposure at Deloitte, which she joined post college, she had learnt professionalism, importance of presentation, branding and client satisfaction (in her case, the audience). She also went on to step out of her comfort zone to be out there, network with people and be heard.
Says Kiranmayee, “I learnt dance from the age of six from my Guru, Hemamalini Arni or Hema Aunty as we call her. But the moody self-doubting child in me never understood the beauty of dance. I used to question it, escape from it and finally I even gave up on it in my teen years. When I realised how unique it is, there was no looking back.”
Renowned personalities always attribute their success to their mentors, Kiranmayee is no different. “I believe Hema and I always had a special bond. While dancing in class, she would suddenly change the rhythm of the song, hitting the thatte (the stick used to keep the rhythm) with new improvisations. In a second, I would understand her and change my dance to it. In a class full of students, she and I would exchange a glance – her eyes filled with pride and mine with gratification, having impressed my Guru. No one else would know about this – just her and me! And I think that private exchange of emotions is what made our bond so unique,” she elucidates, melting our hearts.
“If there is anyone in the world who has unwavering faith in my dance, even more than my own mother, it is my Guru. There are times when she went out of the way to help me in my struggles as a dancer,” she adds with moist eyes.“Arangetram is the debut performance. There is only one experience like that in life. I think it was more special than my own wedding for me. After that, I have performed for over seven years as a solo artist and must have completed over 100 performances,” the grounded dancer informs.
Remincsing her Arangetram experience, the diligent dancer says, “I remember going to the temple and praying fervently with my eyes tightly closed, ‘Dear God! I don’t want anything else other than an arangetram! Please-please-pretty-please make it happen! I will work hard, I promise!’ And it came true. I come from a family of limited means . My parents ensured we were comfortable but there was never any extravagant spending. For me to imagine my parents spending a few lakhs on my arangetram just to fulfil my dream was an unbelievable feeling.”
For Kiranmayee, dance is just not a passion turned into profession but a way of life. She started teaching with just one student in her class. “There was a point my rent was double the fees I got for teaching. Hema aunty was always generous with her dance and it is ingrained in me that dance and bread-winning can never go together. Even now, I take on limited students and love spending a lot of time and energy teaching them,” the skilled danseuse informs.
“After years of struggle, I can proudly say I run a small dance school, ‘Hema Arangam – The Golden Platform’. All my girls are really passionate and dedicated to their art. We recently showcased the first arangetram by my student and that was like re-living an old dream. We have a few more girls working very hard for their arangetrams and they keep me on my toes,” she adds with pride.
It is never a smooth journey heading toward the path of success. Kiranmayee, too, had her own share of struggles. “In the beginning, I would have no money to even pay my bills. I used to write articles, review movies, do event management, costume designing, script writing and so on. I worked in Arka Media works for a few months after Deloitte, just to make some pocket money to survive while I danced. During the time, I had the opportunity to write for a crime serial. When I got an opportunity to perform in London for the first time, I was broke. No money for tickets, no money to get visa. But I guess the desire to perform was so strong, the universe conspired to make it happen. Some of my best friends, family and acquaintances came together to make it work. I ended up doing a full-fledged tour with workshops and performances across England,” she recalls.
Ask her about her success mantra, the knowledge-thirsty dance enthusiast says, “Well! Am I successful already? Not sure. I have so much more to achieve. However, if you are writing a story on me in the paper, then I must have done something right. The mantra in my opinion, is just to keep working without expecting any rewards. If you treat every opportunity as your biggest one, and give it everything you have, somebody is bound to notice you and take you to the next level.”
This new bride got married in February this year and feels marriage has been a welcome change. “All these years, I feel I have been fighting an uphill battle in dwindling career all alone. Now, with him around, I feel stronger. We make a great team! He loves hearing about my performances, my challenges, my students, my day-to-day routine, the new things I learned and so on,” she blushes. Her Instagram feed has a few videos of her makeup tutorials, speaking of which Kiranmayee says her belief is that the original features should come through in dance make up! “Lot of people ask me about my routines so I post a few videos. I have some nice professional tutorial videos coming up on my Youtube channel,” she adds.
“Someone told me, if you want to be an artist of value, get out of Hyderabad. There’s nothing here for you. This greatly saddened me. This city is my home and I want to change that notion that it is not very culturally sensitive. I want my dance school to grow, physically and otherwise. I want my school to be a place where nature and art come together, to nourish and shelter artists. Apart from having performance and practice spaces, it should shelter veteran artists, promote sustainable living and educate people on cultural values and spiritual well-being,” she divulges her future plans before concluding.
“May 13 is the 100th birthday of the legendary T Balasaraswati, who was the queen of abhinaya (expressions). She was my Guru’s Guru and through Hema, I get to live the magic of Bala! I will be celebrating her and her legacy on that day at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Auditorium, King Koti,” she finishes the interview in style.
purnima@newindianexpress.com @iyer_purnima