Mallika Rao Conversations with Middlebury's own Indian dancer

Author: Joyce Man

Mallika Rao '05 is passionate about classical Indian dance and growing up, she was trained in the Bharatnatyam style. While a student at Middlebury, she performed in the International Students Organization Cultural Show as well as in Riddim dance troupe and Middance performances.

The Middlebury Campus: How and when did you start dancing?

Mallika Rao: I started when I was seven years old. My aunt is a professional dancer in India of the Bharatanatyam style, the oldest style of Indian dance, and she initiated me into the art. Soon after, I began taking lessons from the only teacher in the Dallas area, where I grew up, whose school has now grown to include two other cities in Texas. After high school graduation, I gave an arangetram, a solo performance lasting several hours that's basically a dance graduation. The months spent training made me very dedicated to the art.

TC: Which specific type of dance did you practice? Is there any special significance or philosophy behind it?

MR: I am trained in Bharatanatyam. Hindu mythology describes the whole universe as Siva's cosmic dance and this dance is the basis for Bharatanatyam. It originated in ancient times and was performed in temples as a form of worship. Many sculptures and images associated with Hindu temples and art are Bharatanatyam poses, inspired by temple dancers. Fans of the college's yoga classes might be interested to know that many traditional yoga poses are Bharatanatyam poses as well.

TC: D you think classical Indian dance can or should be mixed with contemporary dance?

MR: I'm probably biased towards this question, seeing as I co-choreographed an Indian-Hip-Hop dance for Middance. While it did feel a unnerving to perform Siva's cosmic dance to the vocal stylings of Truth Hurts [popular urban vocalist], I have to say it's a good idea to be flexible in these things. It's true that much of the art's strength lies in its tradition and original intent, but who's to say how much of that ancient intent has already been naturally fused with competing influences? It has a strong enough presence in India that some fusion in the West can't hurt. Getting trained Western dancers interested in it as a viable form seems like a wonderful idea to me.

TC: What recurring theme do you explore in all your dances?

MR: There are several themes and all of them can be seen in the context of our relationship to God. This is sometimes embodied in the interaction between lovers or in the love between a mother and child. Bharatanatyam is generally a story-telling dance form [of tales] from Hindu mythology. Because of this, you can't escape the Hindu element, except maybe with the defense that Hinduism is a heavily philosophical and therefore a relatively universal religion. I'd say that, even in its most structured, non-narrative form, Bharatanatyam intends to explain the beauty of the universe through the human body. The first dance every dancer learns, "Alaripu," literally translates [as] "blossoming bud." It begins with eye movements, then hand movements, and continues by progressively engaging a new aspect of bodily movement until finally the dancer performs what should be a really breathtaking and strenuous string of steps involving the entire body. The "blossoming" structure of this dance comments on the natural world, as its title suggests, and so is inevitably religious or spiritual or whatever you want to call it.