CHENNAI: Muscat-based dancer and guru Padmini Krishnamurthy is one of the senior-most disciples of the 75-year-old Sri Saraswati Gana Nilayam, which is the second oldest dance school in Chennai. Padmini, who was in the city recently, says that despite having been immersed in this rich tradition of dance for a few decades now, it hasn’t stopped her from continuing to learn as a student.
Starting her own dance school Sri Saraswati Natyalaya in 1997, Padmini has so far trained 250 students, of whom 21 have had their arangetram. Shuttling between Muscat and Chennai every six months, Padmini says that she looks forward to her visits in the city. “It is here that we get the criticism and feedback that all artistes want to hear. Back in Muscat, we cannot expect to have such insightful responses from the audience. Most often because audiences don’t understand the art form as much as people here do,” she says.
Trained by the dance school’s director Ranganayaki Jayaraman from the age of four, she had her arangetram at the age of 10, with vocalist Sirkazhi Govindarajan presiding over it. Padmini began performing as part of the dance group and started taking lessons for other students in the dance school at the age of 13. She continued to teach till 1995, when she got married and moved to Muscat. “I have been able to pursue my passion in a place like Muscat, all because of the encouragement by my teacher, family and friends. I was initiated by my father into dance and the journey continues,” she says.
Following her keen interest in talam, an integral part of dance, she is learning more about it from Ram Mohan, grandson of the late Mani Madhava Chakyar, a renowned performance artiste and Sanskrit scholar. She adds that while she has taken up different kinds of themes for her dance productions, which have ranged from the Panchatantra to Thiruvasagam and Thiruppugazh, Padmini says her prime focus has been Tamil literary texts. “Though nothing concrete is in place, I want to base my next work on Silapathikaram, a dream project, and Abhirami Antadhi. Dr S Raghuraman, the renowned language scholar, has been helping me with my interest in the texts for productions,” she says.
Padmini, who has travelled far and wide and performed in countries like the US, Canada, Colombo, Dubai, apart from Oman, also learnt dance techniques from Padma Shri awardee Bragha Bessell. “However, I stick to my style and of course I have my guru to keep learning from. I try to push myself looking at her, as she continues to takes classes even in her 80s,” she says.