LASYAM is one concept rasikas tend to associate with Mohiniyattam, but if it’s about Gopika Varma the first letter of the word undergoes a change.
Dasyam is the name of the Kerala-origin classical danseuse’s performing arts school in Chennai.
Had Gopika been born a century ago, she would have been the princess of the royal family that ruled Travancore, which is today’s southern half of the “God’s Own Country”. A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Gopika may not be a prospective ruler in today’s era of democracy, but she certainly has some command over the dance form she has mastered at a young age.
Gopika’s confidence in her art and skills is evident from her activities at Dasyam in Adyar, where she has been living for a while now. The air is anything but that of slavishness (if that’s what Dasyam means). An avid performer herself, Gopika’s role goes beyond the usual stories of guiding her disciples and leading group production with them. Admirably, she is keen to mould each of her promising pupils as Mohiniyattam soloists. In fact, she has quite a few of them. Now, that’s a happy development in an age when it is a common complaint that dance tutors tend to smother the stage skills of their students.
For the record, Gopika had five of her frontline students who performed as soloists this December season. And each of them have a tale to tell not just on the spirit of the dance they imbibed from their guru, but Gopika’s openmindedness to ideas and an evident mindset to encourage each one’s talent.
All the same, Gopika has reduced her number of solo performances, as the number of performances under the Dasyam banner has been on the rise.
Her latest group production, Radha Yevide, featured all her senior students and has been acclaimed for its poetic and aesthetic approach. “This shift from being a soloist to a full-time instructor happened gradually,” she notes. “As my students have blossomed into able dancers, I though I should give them enough platforms.” Deepa Chakravarty is totally in love with her guru. The youngster explains how she was recent sent to do a lecturedemonstration in Goa, which was a venue to represent Mohiniyattam on the national level. Vipina Ramachandran, another budding artiste from the Dasyam camp, and has performed in quite a few prestigious festivals. “I came to Chennai to learn Kuchipudi,” she recalls, “but I got inspired by Gopika on seeing her perform Mohiniyattam.” Sarmishta’s story is interesting too: the mother of a boy hadn’t danced until the age of 35. “We met through a common friend, and she found my looks suiting that of a dancer’s. And invited me to join her school.” Remya’s is another beautiful tale.
Gopika was judging a dance-related reality show on a leading Malayalam television channel when Ramya got eliminated at the fourth round. “Chechi (meaning elder sister: that’s how Gopika’s students call her) then invited me to Chennai to learn Mohiniyattam under her.” Adds Ambili Menon, a lawyer and Gopika’s student: “It is really hard for me to find time to learn dance, but Chechi’s sincerity is inspiration enough.”
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