Moving beyond traditional roles and stereotypes, dancer, vocalist and narrator, Rajika Puri, makes an impact on global audiences

I am not a celebrity culture person. I don’t want the world to know about my personal affairs, I am my dance,” declares Rajika Puri at the outset. An internationally acclaimed exponent of the Bharata Natyam and Odissi dance forms, Rajika performed in Mumbai recently at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. She is best known for her one-woman theatre recitals where she moves effortlessly between the roles of dancer, vocalist and narrator, for, as she explains, “Over the years, I have realised that the Indian dance tradition was not a theatre performance as it should be. So, I thought it would be better to tell a story on stage instead of dancing to a love poem that nobody understands.”

Travelling around the world has given Rajika the opportunity to experiment with different song and dance traditions. Flamenco Natyam, for instance, which began as a collaboration between her and flamenco dancer, La Conja, explores similarities between flamenco and the dance forms and music of South India. According to Rajika, the music of the Spanish gypsies has ‘mounds of meaning’ that is just as suited to the intensity of the flamenco movement as it is to the subtlety of hastas (hand gestures). “Flamenco drives me crazy,” she gushes.
– ARATI MENON-CARROLL