I wanted to see art sector in India more organised: Yamini Reddy

'Natya Tarangini - Hyderabad' started by Yamini Reddy, daughter of Kuchipudi dance exponents Padmabhushans Raja Radha Reddy, Kaushalya Reddy completed 15 years of its existence.

Born to the legendary dancing couple Raja and Radha Reddy, Yamini got Kuchipudi dance in inheritance from her parents. Her performances have been highly acclaimed by the art circle and general public alike. For her dedication to the art form, she has received the, Yuva Ratna Award (Rotary Club), National FICCI young achievers award, Devadasi National Award (Orissa) and National Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. She established in the Natya Tarangini Hyderabad Centre in 2007 and under her guidance the institute has completed 15 years of its existence.

Yamini Reddy trains students of various age groups in the art of Kuchipudi dance at Natya Tarangini Hyderabad. She also has her own troupe with whom she performs regularly. The students at the centre are trained in the most professional standards set by the guidance of Gurus Raja Radha, Kaushalya Reddy and Yamini Reddy. The repertory is acclaimed for its finesse in technique, choreography and presentation in the Kuchipudi dance style. For last 15 years Natya Tarangini Hyderabad has successfully trained numerous students in the art of Kuchipudi and established itself as a premier institution in Telangana.

Gurus Padmabhushans Dr(s) Raja Radha Reddy started Natya Tarangini in 1976 in the capital city of New Delhi with aim of preserving and propagating Indian art and culture. The Hyderabad branch was started in 2007.

In an exclusive conversation with The Hans India, Yamini Reddy shares her happiness on completing fifteen years of 'Natya Tarangini - Hyderabad'. Let's have a look into it.

Speaking about how it started, Yamini says, "The Natyatarangini was an institute started by my parents in 1976 in Delhi, and now it's completing 50 years, But I started the Natyatarangini Hyderabad branch when I came to Hyderabad here in 2007. It was for me I wanted I was new here, and I wanted to I guess I just started by, wanted to keep myself busy at that time, and I started teaching. But the institute started growing, and I started taking so much interest. I wanted to pass this beautiful art form of Kuchipudi to the younger generation. And that's why I started teaching here. I started Natyatarangini Hyderabad branch, and it is now completing 15 years."

"I definitely feel wonderful now that the branches completing 15 years, sometimes I can't believe it, how time has flown and 15 years have passed. And I look at my students who came to me, some of them came to me when they were so tiny, and they're now all grown and have become beautiful dancers. And at some level I too feel very fulfilled and satisfied to see a culmination of my work and teaching in these students that I have been training and it's just certain such a wonderful journey," Yamini says.

Speaking about the challenges, Yamini said, "The main challenge was building a circle as I am new to the city. Once I set it up I decided that I am taking it very slow and even if I have 3 students I am going to start with 3 students then I see where it goes. But with God's blessings and of course with my Guru and my parents blessings Institute picked up very well within 1 year and classes picked up then subsequently it grew and grew. I think I just came on board with that."

"The recent challenge was at Covid times. Large no. of students, large no. of challenges we faced with. We went online overnight and we had to adapt to the online medium because I was not into online before Covid. But I managed to adapt take the classes online platform. I am very happy to I did so instead of discontinuing the classes," she added.

Talking about her inspirations, Yamini says, "My inspiration is definitely my parents because they not only inspired me professionally, they also inspired me personally in personal lives. They have so many qualities and they taught me so much. That's why they are my first inspiration. Other than that I'm also inspired by many Krishnamurti and Zakir Hussain. They are also all inspiring because of their sheer hard work which they have kept into their art.

Yamini feels nothing can be done alone in this life. "It is very difficult to manage the role of being a mother, a teacher and a performer. It is challenging, sometimes life gets stressful, but nothing can be done alone in this life. I think I have a very good support system in terms of my family around me who are here to support me. And when I need help, I don't hesitate to ask. And, if I'm busy, they're there to be there for everything that I need."

Speaking about her future works, Yamini said, "I have started my own newsletter for Kuchipudi dance and even certain topic about performing arts in general and every month I takeout an issue and we deal with subjects related to dance often subjects which are not academic related to dance like about copyright or even capitalism in performing arts and how we should deal with it in this current scenario. So that has been keeping me busy other than that I have been doing couple of dance sessions called "Back to Basics" on Instagram and they have been a hit. I will be continuing with those and hope to continue teaching and do more good work through NatyaTarangini." "Especially it was always my passion to see art sector in India more organised and I hope that I can dedicate rest of my life to kind of building toward this. That is my goal. If I can see it in my life time I will be really blessed," Yamini concluded.