But the audience wanted her to perform and she danced and got a standing ovation,” fondly recalls the maestro. We were totally shocked, and kept shouting at her asking her to come back. She somehow sneaked out of the hands of the nanny after our performance and ran on to the stage. “We were giving a live performance in Delhi when she was barely two-and-a-half. The story of Yamini’s first-ever stage performance is just as endearing. That day usne mujhe dhakka maarke bola, I will conduct the programme. The moment she walked on stage, people started clapping. She was four-and-a-half years old and was part of a production in which we all performed. “Bhavana’s first performance was in Hyderabad. But thankfully, today, there is a lot of awareness and people from varied socio-cultural backgrounds are learning dance,” says Bhavana who has been performing since the time she was a toddler. In some states like Tamil Nadu, art is considered to be a high profession and is taken up predominantly by brahmins but in other states, it is restricted to the lower classes. Only after years of struggle did they find acceptance and success,” recalls Kaushalya.“India is very funny that way. “They (Raja and Radha) ran away from home, penniless, with no support from any quarter. Especially in Telangana, dance was considered a profession of the lower class.” Admittedly, they were the first among the ‘Reddy clan’ who took up dance and had to face a lot of hardships. “In our time, when we started dancing, people were not aware that Indian dance is a divine art, created by Lord Shiva and Parvati. You need to be very competent, yet there was no guarantee of success,” says Radha.
It’s a tough field the scenario was not so favourable for dancers back then. Ironically though, Yamini and Bhavana were dissuaded from carrying forward the Kuchipudi legacy of Raja Radha Reddy, initially by their parents. He’s just as strict as her father about dancing.” Raja Reddy is proud of the fact that his family is the only one in India, completely dedicated to dance. Both, her husband and mother-in-law support her completely.” Laughing, Kaushalya adds, “Srinivas keeps an eye on her practice.
I have to say that Yamini has been lucky that way. “Do you know, it was her dance that got her such a good husband,” says Raja, adding, “After seeing her perform, Srinivas called his parents and expressed his wish to marry her. The family was in Hyderabad for the 10th anniversary celebrations of Yamini’s dance institute, Natya Tarangini. “We fight occasionally, like really bad, but we laugh even louder,” adds her sister, Kaushalya, even as their daughters Yamini and Bhavna smile, nodding in agreement. Our family is all about laughter,” says Radha Reddy. “We share a strong bond, we have great mutual understanding. The camaraderie they share is something they take pride in. But Kuchipudi legend Dr Raja Reddy’s family is one that performs together and laughs together. They say a family that prays together, stays together.
0 kommentar(er)
