Right from the age of three, Rekha was interested in dance. Her mother, recognised her talent and enrolled her to dance classes. Since then, come what may, dance has become Rekha’s life and today she is a renowned mohiniyattam and bharatanatyam exponent. Rekha shares her journey…
My mother was praying all Gods for a girl child as she could pass on her likes for music and dance. And when I was born, she started to teach me when I was just one and half years old. By three and half years, she enrolled me to dance class and the first day when I entered the place, something caught my fantasy. My dance teacher, Padmini Ramachandran, did not accept me as I was too young. I threw a tantrum, was stubborn and did not move out of the place. I was sitting there for about 3 hours. The teacher took notice of this and taught me to do a simple namaskaram. I practiced the whole night and perfected in front of her the next day. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Passing hurdles and excelling in life…
My mother is my back bone. For my dance performances, she used to stay overnight and stitch my dresses. I used to perform almost every other day and she would be up all night. While it seemed everything was going in perfect sync, suddenly darkness circled my life. We were struggling to get even a single meal. My school was kind enough to let me continue even without paying fees. I was a very bright student and my incapability to help my family tide over this traumatised me. When I came to 8th grade, I started tutoring. I used to take classes for 10th standard children then. Later, I gave my intermediate CA and I got through the first attempt and cleared the finals too. I worked as an intern and I was finding it difficult to find time to dance. It left a lacuna in me. That was when, I decided that I should follow my calling.
By this time, I began learning under another guru, Kalamandalam Usha Dattar. She understood my passion and took me under her wings. When I was doing my Master’s in Performing Arts, my guru, Dr Sugandhi, supported me to learn mohiniyattam. I was always impressed by her approach where she encouraged students to perform in their own style and creativity. This helped me to learn the art through a new lens. I went on to do my PhD in Margi and Desi Techniques of mohiniyattam.
More responsibilities at the fore…
When I turned 16, I started my own academy, Nrithya Dhama Temple of Fine Arts. We have a trust where we focus on holistic development of underprivileged children. They are thought art forms and perform at our events.
In the National Education Policy, they have made music and dance as a subject. I am currently working with two schools in Bangalore to draft the curriculum for this. I think this is much needed to expose kids beyond text books.
I recently received a great honour, the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Sangeet Natak Academy. In the 40 years history of the award, I am the first one to receive for overall contribution to performing arts. This brings in more responsibility and challenges me to contribute more to the field of arts. – JR
