A rising lioness of Kuchipudi

TNIE catches up with techie and dancer Reshma U Raj, who specialises in the unique artform known as ‘Simhanandini’
 Reshma during her performance
Reshma during her performance Photo | T P SOORAJ
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KOCHI: Reshma U Raj’s passion for Kuchipudi transcends mere artistic pursuit. It is, she says, a vital part of her existence, akin to breathing.

With every note that resonates in the air, she embodies a myriad of characters — from the lively Satyabhama to the fierce Durga — captivating audiences with her enchanting performances.

Reshma’s journey into the world of classical dance began at the age of three. What followed were years of learning, competitions, and performances.

“Usually, learning classical dance in Kerala begins with Bharatanatyam. After my arangettam (debut solo performance) at the age of four, I began my Kuchipudi training,” recalls Reshma, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram and is currently based in Kochi. “I used to reach the state level for Kuchipudi during youth festivals.”

Later, after college education, it was time to choose: job or dance. Though she was particular about being financially independent, Reshma couldn’t let her ‘chilanga’ (anklets) gather dust.

So, when she moved to Chennai for a job at TCS, she parallelly sought to deepen her knowledge of Kuchipudi. She continued training under the legendary Kuchipudi dancer Vempati Ravishankar, son of the renowned Vempati Chinna Satyam.

“Every day, after work, I trained under him for three hours. Since I was in Chennai, these were online classes,” she says. It was taxing, but the dancer in her couldn’t imagine not dedicating enough time to her ‘sadhana’.

“It was difficult, but I persisted. There’s a difference in the teaching and learning styles and variation in the way Kuchipudi is performed in Kerala compared with the traditional style from the Kuchipudi village (in Andhra Pradesh). It took time for me to assimilate,” she says.

Reshma feels the training approach is fundamentally different. “You are expected to turn up every day for at least three hours, without fail. It’s not about stage performances, but about learning the art form in its entirety. It’s not a commercialised endeavour, but about respecting the ‘kala’,” she says.

Until Ravishankar’s death, she remained his devoted disciple, eager to absorb the ancient art form. For Reshma, Kuchipudi is more like a language, a mode of communication.

A dancer speaks to the audience through ‘mudras’ (hand gestures), ‘bhava’ (expressions), and rhythm. “Kuchipudi, in that sense, is more flexible. It opens up more avenues for experimenting, especially since its roots are in dance-drama, much like Kathakali,” she explains.

In her three-decade-long dance career, Reshma has also experimented with and pushed the boundaries of the art form – “always respectfully”.

One of her notable experiments was a solo performance inspired not by mythological ‘krithis’, but by a photograph that deeply moved her: ‘The Vulture and the Little Girl’ by Kevin Carter.

“I couldn’t shake off the image, so I decided to develop a piece around it,” she says.

Reshma first performed ‘The Vulture’ in the US, and the video was later screened at a film festival there. “The accompanying vocals are in English so that the concept and story are accessible to a wider audience,” she adds.

In 2016, Reshma came across a rare dance form called ‘Prenkhini Natyam’. “The dancer did a lion rangoli on stage with her feet. It was mesmerising, and I couldn’t take my eyes away,” she recalls.

Encouraged by her husband, Dipin, she set out to learn this rare form from Voleti Rangamani, daughter of the renowned Kuchipudi exponent C R Acharya. “She had researched the 18th-century dance form and choreographed it for the stage,” she says.

Before this, Prenkhini Natyam was performed during temple festivals in the Andhra-Telangana region, where ‘devadasis’ would draw images with their feet during the temple rath yatras as an offering to the deities.

There are three forms of this dance: ‘Simhanandini’, where the dancer draws a lion (the mount of Goddess Durga); Mahalakshmi Vaibhavam, where the image is a lotus; and Mayura Kauthvam, where the dancer draws a peacock (the mount of Lord Murugan).

Since 2018, Reshma has been performing this dance, painting a lion with her footprints on a frame made of wet white cloth. The dance begins briskly and captivatingly in the ‘simhanandana talam’ – said to be the longest in world music.

As she steps onto the platform, her movements become faster, and within minutes, she finishes painting the lion and transitions to the climactic part. The cloth on the floor is then raised for the audience to view the image.

“It’s a difficult piece to perform,” says Reshma. “The rapid steps, complicated raga and ‘jaathi’ (set of beats) make it hard to master.”

But, that is where true satisfaction lies for Reshma: mastering something, creating something, and expressing herself through an ancient art form is where she becomes her truest self.

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