How Sreelatha Vinod learnt life lessons through natya

Bharatanatyma dancer Sreelatha Vinod to receive Sri Krishna Gana Sabha’s ‘Nrithya Choodamani’ title during Margazhi Mela 2023

At a time when most Indian children were being steered towards learning classical dance or music, or at least trained to play an instrument, it seemed natural for Sreelatha Vinod’s parents to nudge her towards dance when they found a dance school called Natya Vihar in their neighbourhood. It was started by actor Hemamalini’s father. Natya Vihar had one of the finest dance gurus — Tanjai Arunachalam Pillai — and it was under him that Sreelatha began her journey.

The intensive training and Sreelatha’s passion led to her arangetram early on. Sreelatha recalls that dance classes were something she looked forward to, and the gentle but strict guru taught all the technicalities and nuances of Bharatnatyam.

Among the many cherished moments of performing, Sreelatha fondly remembers receiving a medal from the legendary Sivaji Ganesan when she was about five years old. When she was just settling into a routine of learning and practice, her guru became unwell. He was hardly able to take classes, but was so committed that he continued.

It was also around this time that the far-sighted Arunachalam Pillai decided to start a dance school to bring all dancers under one umbrella. He sent a letter inviting dancers and gurus to meet. This laid the foundation for ABHAI (Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India). But, Pillai did not live to see the movement take off.

Soon, Sreelatha’s next chapter of training in Bharatanatyam began with her second gurus, the Dhananjeyans.

Sreelatha says this shift was not easy for her, because not only did she have to unlearn and then relearn techniques under teachers from another school, she also missed the singular attention she had basked in, under Pillai’s tutelage. She soon discovered that the Dhananjeyans, who were performing gurus, were much sought-after. They had already established Bharatakalanjali and so, whenever they travelled, they saw to it that training did not suffer. The senior-most students were put in charge, and it was thus that Radhika Shurajit began to take classes for Sreelatha. But the young girl was not happy. She showed her displeasure, which Radhika was quick to notice. Sreelatha admits that while it was easy for her to touch the feet of her guru before and after the class, she would just touch the talam and not bow to the stand-in guru.

When the Dhananjeyans returned from their performance tour, Sreelatha had a big lecture waiting for her. Shanta Dhananjayan sat her down and told her the importance of respecting the chair, and the person who occupied it. That changed something in her.