THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dance may be just an art form for many of us. But for performers like Gayathri Subramanian, dance is life and a passion that cannot be replaced by anything else. But, the danseuse believes that dance should have an impact on the people. Known for her elegant classical dance recitals, Gayathri recently won the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award for Kerala Natanam.
As a student of Music College, Thiruvananthapuram, Gayathri was surprised by the pictures of the mudras that were stuck on the walls. The knowledge that she had accumulated from her Guru Nattuvam Paramasivam from Tanjore made her explore new dance forms. The well-trained Bharatnatyam dancer was introduced to Kerala Natanam, the dance form she had never heard of before.
Today, Gayathri is one of the best performing artists of this dance form. It was created by Guru Gopinath and is an evolution of Kathakali. It does stick on to the basic rules of Natya Sasthra, but on the other hand, it exhibits an individuality of its own. The Mudras, as well as the Rasas, are completely different from those of Bharatnatyam. The unique nature of the dance form was the reason Gayathri was attracted towards it. Gayathri says: “I started doing Kerala Natanam at the age of 16. It was a time when only a few people practised it. This is why I chose to take it forward.”
As a performer, she was invited to perform Bharatnatyam in Taiwan, where she got an opportunity to demonstrate Kerala Natanam. At the International Trade Fair attended by 40 countries, her demonstrations on Kerala Natanam got recognised and she was invited to perform it at Moscow.
Since the past 11 years, she has been conducting classes in her house at Irinjalakuda where there are about ten students for Kerala Natanam. “Many students from far away come and learn Kerala Natanam which is a good sign,” she says.
Asked about her favourite theme in this dance form, she says: “I like the Draupadi and Gandhari theme, where Gandhari accuses Lord Krishna of killing her sons and Krishna replies that it was she who failed as a mother that her sons were killed.” She performed this recently at the Theerathapada Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram. Presently, Gayathri is working on a research project under the Junior fellowship of the Central government where she is attempting to do the Krithis of Swathi Thirunal.