Keeping The Art Alive: A Dedication For Traditional Dance

By Janani D/O Sivalingam

With a strong passion for Bharatanatyam and a stronger mission to spread her passion, this youth is determined to keep the art of Bharatanatyam alive for years to come.

A Poised Pose: Visalatchi takes pride in being a Bharatanatyam dancer as she believes it plays a significant role in who she is today. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

Unlike other youths, 21-year old Sree Visalatchi Devi D/O Palanisamy spends most of her evenings after school and on weekends teaching and sharing her passion for Bharatanatyam to other youths through her mother’s dance class, The Pushpaarpanam Dance Group at Nanyang Community Club.

Old But Gold

Honourable Mentions: The greatest asset a Bharatanatyam dancer could have other than his/her audiences' applause is a cotton shawl given to honour Bharatanatyam dancers for putting up a good performance. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

Visalatchi has always had a fascination with all things cultural and traditional. So, it was no surprise that she grew a fond interest in Bharatanatyam.

As the oldest Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam has rooted strongly within the Hindu community in Singapore and can be widely seen being performed at festive occasions, due to its strong cultural significance.

While the word “Natyam” in Bharatanatyam means dance, “Bharata” encompasses emotion and feelings, melody and rhythm. Bharatanatyam is a dance that tells a story through the dancer’s body movements and facial expressions.

For an art form as intricate as this, it is no doubt that dancers usually take at least five to six years until they are ready to perform.

A Desire To Dance

Experience and Exposure: Visalatchi has had over 30 performances and after each performance, her passion just grows bigger and bigger. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

Despite what seems to be an arduous art form, Visalatchi doesn’t see it that way. For Visalatchi, Bharatanatyam is more than just a complex dance form.

“When I dance Bharatanatyam, I feel happy and at peace. Whenever I am stressed out, Bharatanatyam becomes my healer,” she expressed.

Apart from being a stress-reliever, Visalatchi credits Bharatanatyam as also the main reason her self-confidence and perseverance grew to where it is today. The countless hours spent dancing the steps and practicing the specific hand gestures has taught her to push on no matter how tiring or tedious it gets. Her burning passion is also why she keeps bouncing back stronger.

A Mother, A Mentor, A Muse

In Her Footsteps: Visalatchi mother saw the same spark in her daughter as she did in herself and made it a goal to teach Visalatchi to be just like her. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

If there’s one person she attributes her burning passion to, it is her mother, 51-year-old Pushpalatha D/O Kalimuthu.

Growing up, Visalatchi watched her mother dance and teach her students Bharatanatyam. That was when the passion for Bharatanatyam sparked in her. At the age of three, Visalatchi decided to give Bharatanatyam a try and has never stopped dancing ever since.

“Whenever I am lost or in need of help, be it in dance or life in general, I know my mother is always there to guide me”, Visalatchi beamed.

Bharatanatyam just tightened what was already a close-knitted mother-daughter relationship.

Sculpting Future Generations

Leading the Troupe: Intending to turn her students into successful Bharatanatyam dancers, she does whatever it takes to groom each and every one of them to perfection. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

Visalatchi sees her mother as an inspiration and shares the same strong beliefs about the importance of passing down the cultural art form to upcoming generations.

“We need to preserve our cultural and traditional backgrounds and not lose touch with our identity. That is why it is important to instill this in the minds of youths, as they are the ones who will be passing it down to future generations,” Pushpalatha said.

This is why Visalatchi joined her mother in teaching youths Bharatanatyam, and she is extremely meticulous in her teachings. She ensures that her students learn, understands and appreciates everything about Bharatanatyam, even down to the type of eyeliner that dancers should wear for a Bharatanatyam performance.

The More The Merrier

One Big Family: Visalatchi roped in her loved ones into dancing with her not only so that she can spread her passion to other youths but to also strengthen bonds between them. PHOTO BY: Janani Sivalingam

Visalatchi always aims to spread her love for Bharatanatyam and inspire others to join her and embrace the art form. She has even inspired her friends and siblings to learn and dance Bharatanatyam together with her.

“I never saw myself as someone who was into traditional dance. However, seeing how passionate and involved Visalatchi is, I decided to give it a try and now I truly appreciate and even enjoy dancing Bharatanatyam,” 21-year-old Kayathiri Maran replied when asked why she decided to join Visalatchi.

This isn’t the end for Visalatchi though, as she is on a mission to involve as many youths as possible. She plans to step up and take Bharatanatyam as a profession in the future.