In so many ways, 2025 was a year of performances. And yet, it was also a year that forced me to slow down and acknowledge that Bharatanatyam is like any sport that takes its toll on your body. There’s a reason sportspeople retire in their late 30s! As I look back at our performances this year, I wonder what the years ahead have in store for me. Yet, no matter what, I realise how grateful I am to the community we have, our dance family that has been together for so many years.
The year of performances began with one that I’ve written about already—at Marigold Balaji Temple in Kalyani Nagar, Pune.
Two months later, we staged a much bigger performance, and what a joy it was to work on it! I continued to take on smaller roles as a dancer because my knee hadn’t (and still hasn’t) healed entirely, but this performance was special in all kinds of ways.
The most significant, for me, was playing the nattuvangam for my teacher. I wrote an Instagram post about it shortly after the programme, on International Dance Day, and even now, as I look back at the programme, that moment stands out: the moment when I sat there on stage, watching, almost in tears because I was just so overwhelmed by the moment.
Bhakti Margam also stands out as a performance for which all of us got together to choreograph a varnam in record time. Angayarkanni, composed by Lalgudi Shri Jayaraman, is a beautiful piece that explores nine emotional states of the goddess Parvati. Each of us took one stanza and worked with it, bringing together dance and drama to create the central piece of the programme.
Especially as I did not dance much, I could step back and see how different kinds of creativity came together to create something new. Each stanza spoke of its choreographer, and as always, we worked as a team, learning, composing, tweaking, and performing.
Four months later, when my knee was significantly better, we performed again – a tiny performance this time, as part of a larger programme organised by Surabhee Cultural Academy. Small performances leave me with a mixture of emotions, always, especially as we take longer to get ready than on stage!
A few weeks later, we performed again. At this one, the response from the audience was truly heart-warming. During the abhanga, we could see audience members wiping away tears, and the applause we received was thunderous! There’s nothing more validating than praise from a discerning, art-loving audience.
This was also the only performance in the year that I could be a part of in entirety! The exhilaration!
The last milestone of the year was the publication of an interview with my teacher in a dance magazine, Nrutyavakash. As a writer and dancer, it was a pleasure and privilege to write this! However, having spent over thirty years with Guru Mythili Raghavan, this wasn’t really a formal interview that I conducted and recorded. Rather, it was the putting together of anecdotes and ideas in a way that made sense for the magazine.
Upwards and onwards! Here’s to many more memories in the years ahead.
A beautifully honest reflection—of performance, pause, resilience, and gratitude. Your journey through 2025 captures not just dance on stage, but the quiet strength, teamwork, and emotion behind it.
Thank you!