Meet Radha Subramanian | Artistic Director, Himalayan School of Traditional Dance

We had the good fortune of connecting with Radha Subramanian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Radha, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Artistic initiative gives wings to one’s power of imagination. It is an experience which is as large as life itself. Years of dedication and practice helps one to blossom as an artist. We develop stability at all levels and this in turn leads to a balanced lifestyle.

Dance apart from working on one’s physique goes a long way in building an integrated holistic lifestyle which is the need of the day. For me, I am at my most natural and composed self when I am dancing and Dance has helped me to give back to society as a teacher!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Just as Sanskrit is considered the mother of all languages, Bharatanatyam, in my opinion, can be considered the mother of all dance forms. Given to the world by Sage Bharatha, it is a complete artform with poetry, visuals, music and drama. It brings together and aligns the body, mind and spirit. Verses from Natyashastra describes how the awareness progresses into alignment and alignment dissolves the mind and evokes devotion and culminates in Rasa – The essence. This sublime and beautiful artform blends the aspect of grace, vigor, movement (Nrita) and expressions (Abhinaya) to experience life in its totality.

There are different stages that one goes through as one pursues the artform. At the beginners level one focuses on achieving stability and speed to execute the movements in total synchronisation with the solfa syllables. With constant practice increasing our physical stamina , one can move to the next level of performing longer duration portrayals. With time, several possibilities slowly open up for the artist to explore and manifest their inner creativity in myriad flavours unique to the artist. Thus dance becomes an extension of the dancer and it gracefully reflects their very being. At this stage, the artist effortlessly transcends the challenges at the physical level to experience the joy of being one with the character that they portray. It thus becomes a celebration of the “Inner self” to experience that very essence in the infinite variety.

Over the years, I have gone through all these stages of growth as an artiste and it has helped me immensely in finding myself. I am grateful for the opportunity to pass on these learnings to the future generations across the world, not just India, through the HSTD platform.

Himalayan School of Traditional dance brings to you the traditional dance forms of Bharathanatyam and Kathak in its pure form, available and accessible to one and all. It provides a platform to connect to oneself through dance, experience the joy while appreciating the nuances and aesthetics of the classical art form and progress towards inner transformation simultaneously. Art, by its very nature, transcends boundaries and allows the individual to expand gradually into cosmic consciousness. Himalayan School of Traditional Dance is the first of its kind in that its primary goal is to spread harmony, connect people to the spiritual essence of this art form and enable one to experience the joy of liberated existence. Mohanji’s message for HSTD is to “Spread harmony by uniting the aspects of Bharat – Bhaav, Raag and Taal through synchronised movements of classical dance forms of Bharat to every corner of the earth.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Being an artist ,any place in the lap of Mother nature inspires me to bring out the artistic flame in me. I would like to spend time amidst nature and connect to it with my family and friends.

I live in Bangalore and there are also a number of historical landmarks that are just a few hours drive from the city. I would explore these beautiful temples and architectural marvels that were built thousands of years ago and have a rich history with intricate carvings of the traditional arts, and are protected archeoligical sites of India. One can spend days exploring each of these monuments in Hampi, Belur, Halebidu to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Firstly, I wholeheartedly thank Mohanji, a world renowned humanitarian, for providing this platform to shape and nurture talent across the globe. The Himalayan school of Traditional dance as envisioned by him focuses on experiencing awareness, alignment and devotion through the traditional dance forms of Bharat. Dance is a very powerful medium to share the brightness with the world.

I would also like to offer my gratitude to my dance teachers Kalaimamani Smt.Jayanthi Subramaniam, Bhagavathalu Sri Seetharama Sharma and my parents Sri V.Subramanian and Smt.Lalitha Subramanian for igniting the spark they saw in me.

Last but not the least, I thank the HSTD team members for their unstinted support and my dear students for their enthusiasm and passion.

Website: https://himalayanschool.com/dance/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hstddance/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSTD.dance

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/HimalayanSchoolofTraditionalDance/

Other: https://himalayanschooloftraditionaldance.wordpress.com/

Image Credits
Tea Klincov, Mario Brainovic, Biljana Vozarević, Raja Masa