CHENNAI: Slow, yet graceful moves, that emote stories through the dancer’s kohl-rimmed eyes, is how one would express the ancient dance form — Mohiniattam. Traversing the traditional art to different counties and taking up the task of revival and preserving the almost fading dance form, Rekha Raju, Mohiniattam exponent who is in the city, chats with City Express about her journey, love for the dance form, femininity and more.
A Yuva Kala Bharathi recipient, Rekha Raju is one of the youngest dancers and exponents of the art form who has both national and international acclaim. A child prodigy, Rekha started pursing dance at the age of three and she recalls, “It was my mother who wanted me to train in classical dance.
When I first enrolled in a dance class, my teacher refused to teach me as I was too young to learn. But, it was probably the passion I had or well, I am not sure what, I refused to leave the school until she agreed to teach me something!” And, the three-year-old Rekha sat adamantly on the premises for hours.
Giving in, her teacher taught her the basic namaskaram. “She told me that she would teach me the rest if I got this right. I practiced the namaskaram the whole day! And when I showed it to her the next day, she decided to teach me!” she smiles.
The rest is history. Rekha gave her first dance recital at the age of four. “I don’t think I was nervous at all! I was only excited and I performed along with a few seniors from the dance school, and if my memory hasn’t betrayed me, I had a solo piece too.”
Though, Rekha started learning Bharatanatyam in the beginning, her interest shifted to Mohiniyattam citing to its poise, graceful steps and balance. “The art form is very graceful and elegant…and personally, the style suits me. I am feminine and I think it’s a very good form that embraces womanhood,” she shares. She has a bachelor’s degree in commerce and CA but her love for dance made her take up masters in performing arts along with business administration.
“Though the background that I was pursuing was MA in Business Administration, dance became my career option. My parents didn’t say no to what I wanted to do in life. I was lucky, not many parents let their children pursue what they love and I haven’t looked back. In fact I would never want to think about what could have been, as I am completely satisfied!” her eyes gleam.
Her foremost priority remains to popularise Mohiniyattam and its nuances. “Unlike Bharatanatyam, which is known and already learned by many, Mohiniyattam does not have many takers. This is more abhinaya-oriented and the form is very controlled. Not many relate to it and tend to lose interest because of its slowness. But, if you watch it keenly with an eye for what the dancer is trying to emote, you would fall in love with it.
All you need is patience,” says Rekha who also runs an academy Nrithya Dhama Temple of Fine Arts. “My stint as a teacher started very early, at 20. I love to teach and I am very focused on teaching the art to people who want to learn it. More than 350 students have been trained in dance alone, and I teach over ten students free of cost…it’s the passion that matters. Not having funds should not be a barrier to not learn art,” adds Rekha who is currently working on a dance ballet, which will be performed in major cities and countries.