How did you begin your journey with dance?

“I started doing formal training at 17 which felt way too late because the body learns differently and this meant that I really had to listen to my body and go with it instead of against it, which I believe guided my journey in movement.

I began with Indian dance and theatre in secondary school as a CCA and moved on to formal Bharathanatyam training, then Ashtanga yoga training and so forth.”

To the layman, can you explain what ‘experimental movement’ is?  

“I guess the fundamental philosophy of artmaking and intention of performance is quite different for me at least. To truly shamelessly experiment with the different realities and layers of awareness in/as the art itself resists the traditional ideas of pedagogy, aesthetics and ego.

For example, with experimental movement, I tend to go through the ego as authentically as possible instead of neglecting it. Personal vulnerability, sensitivity, intimacy, et cetera are not stylised and restricted to suit a set aesthetics; but are free and on display no matter what they are in experimental movement.

However, my experimental movement is not separate from my traditional training at all. It indeed is a personal extension and evolution of it, which experimental movement often is.”

Would this approach also mean that we can refer to you as a movement artist? 

“If I had a choice, I would not want to be labelled at all and not want anyone else to be labelled too. Unfortunately, it is used too often for convenience. I started with exposures and experiments in visual arts, theatre, dance, performance art and so forth respectively. Now, movement is my main medium but I am not limited to it.

I believe a lot of us local artists have experienced this diverse narrative due to the nature of our city and its exposures. This holistic nature of artistry should not be contained, but instead, embraced. I think it wouldn’t help to pigeonhole art or artists.”

Movement artists seem to have gained visibility and more mainstream acceptance in recent years. What are your thoughts on this? 

“I would agree to a small extent. Our local art scene has been increasingly involved in more interdisciplinary work over the years. But, I would argue that we can still be more open to recognising art and artists in a holistic way, especially at a socio-political level.”

You were trained in Bharathanatyam before making a pivot to experimental movement. Can you share more about this Indian classical dance form?

“My first formal training was in Bharathanatyam with Srimathi Neila Sathyalingam and my experimental movement methodologies are very much rooted in the essence of this form.

In my opinion, Bharathanatyam is a practice as opposed to a dance form. Its philosophy and intention, like most Eastern practices, extend miles further than its aesthetics and narratives; aspects that often restrict one’s experience due to conditioned segregations like race, religion, et cetera.

As such I would urge everyone to be open to understanding and unpacking our perceptions of crafts of all types without prejudice.”

Why do you think traditional folk dances like Bharathanatyam might seem often neglected in comparison with other genres of dance?

“Dance forms that are celebrated as art in Singapore are often of western styles leaving eastern forms, most often ‘local’ dance forms tend to be viewed as cultural tokens. What a dance form is, especially with its years of expansion and evolution, is nuanced.

We can try to box them up for a convenient socio-political fit but unfortunately, that creates misperceptions such as ethnic forms like Bharathanatyam is a ‘traditional folk dance’. Due to their Eastern roots as opposed to (dance forms from) the West, which is regarded as of much higher status, Bharatanatyam and other forms are often confused as a ‘folk dance’ next to ballet for instance.

There are many Indian folk dance forms but Bharatanatyam is not one of them. (This is) the plight of many local dance forms of ethnic roots which are only celebrated for their novelty and to fulfil the multi-cultural agenda of our perceived global society.”

How would you say Bharathanatyam influences your work as an artist?

“A simple example of a contemporary practice of mine, rooted in Bharathanatyam is ‘mudra meditation’. Specific hand gestures are used extensively in Bharathanatyam as a storytelling tool with great speed and precision.

The idea of slowing down and staying with the mudras, exploring their acupressure points, and psycho-somatic effects on the body interests me and is now a regular practice of mine. Practices and experiments like these inform my body and creations closely.”

Understanding that yoga is integrated into your personal practice too, can you share what are your thoughts on how yoga can perhaps assist in dance?

“Yoga has been kindly popularised and unkindly bastardised by globalisation and capitalism. If you filter through all the madness that surrounds it, yoga is a practice and way of coping and connecting.

The practice gives me an alternative sensibility in the choices of the mind, breath and body in movement. As such, I think yoga informs the body by practice, just like Bharathanatyam, for me. Inevitably it shows in the movement quality, so I don’t necessarily try to incorporate it in my work. It is more being embodied personal practice.

There are quite a few dancers practising yoga and I would urge more to explore this practice. In my experience, it provides a grounded way to learn and unlearn things within the body and mind. For example, it has helped me cope with physical injuries and mental instability.

So I wouldn’t say yoga will make you a better dancer but it may provide a more mindful and thinking body-mind.”

How much of your work as an experimental movement artist is influenced by music?

“A lot. But of course right? Movement and sound go hand in hand. I do enjoy working more with ‘sound’ as opposed to the traditional sense of ‘music’ – I jam with the sound of silence often.

I also enjoy the sound of a tambura. It’s an Indian string instrument that loops the same notes over and over again. It just moves the inside of me immediately. ”

What excites and inspires you most in your work as an artist/dancer?

“The spaces I work in, especially when in nature, and the people I collaborate with inspire me the most. The phenomenal energetic exchanges that happen really fire me up and keep me going.”

What are some of the downsides of your practice?

“(Having) many, many, many injuries! I started dancing at an age where my body wasn’t very malleable and dived right in extensively without bothering about my body or breaking it to get a move. I realised quite quickly that I won’t be able to dance for much longer if I continued that way without awareness and understanding of my body.

That’s how my journey took me to somatic and yoga practices. It is my way of understanding these injuries, which often have a lot to say.”

What would you like people to know about your field of dance and movement art?

“I would say I draw my own personal discipline from larger disciplines, whatever is truthful to me at that moment.”

How can the type of movement/dance that you specialise in improve one’s life?

“Personally, I really feel it has made me live on. It’s very hard to be truthful in the world we live in and movement is the closest expression of truth for me. The experience of art does and can do that for many I believe.”

Why is it always important to make time to dance and move, whether or not one is a good or professional dancer? 

“Because it’s natural! Dance originally began as a way for men and women to use their bodies to express themselves. It is our natural behaviour, and an authentic tool to emote and communicate.”