The process of unlearning in performing arts is important. The fun begins when dancer Dakshina Vaidyanathan unlearns outside her performance space and the Ganesh Natyalaya, the Bharatanatyam institution run by her granny Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan and mother Rama Vaidyanathan, where she has been trained by the two gurus.
Recently, Dakshina had a tough time explaining to a Delhi cop why she writes “dancer” as her profession. She says, “The cop had come for passport verification. When I told him I am a dancer he said, ‘Dance karte ho? Bas wohi kaam kartey ho?’ He was totally unaware of Bharatanatyam. I don’t blame him at all. Apart from the Mandi House audience, many in Delhi don’t understand the point of being an artiste.” Delhi has shaped Dakshina’s dance sensibilities. She was born with “a diamond spoon”. “Everything I had needed to become a dancer was already here at the Natyalaya and in Delhi,” she says. Having a “diamond spoon” doesn’t mean Dakshina has it easy when it comes to finance needed for her choreographies. “Financing choreographies is really the sticky part for dancers,” she adds.
Learning Bharatanatyam at the Natyalaya which is also her home, Dakshina grew up walking in and out of greenrooms and anangyetrams. “Delhi’s vibrant cultural scene offers you different possibilities. It excites me so much. Look at the variety that flourishes here. The presence of dance forms like kuchipudi, odissi, bharatanatyam, kathak, chhau, ballet, jazz, contemporary, and Sufi, and the different genres of music helps a performer to widen the body of work.” What’s the biggest put off about Delhi? She says, “People show off a lot. A lot.”