Ready for the stage

“It’s an honour to be a part of something like this. My exams are near but I still agreed to miss my classes because after 20-30 years,I will be able to tell my kids and my grandchildren about the experience,” says Vijayan who has been practising for the ceremony for the past month and a half.

Vijayan is performing for the ‘Trees of Knowledge’ section that will showcase the guru shishya parampara and six Indian classical dances,one of them being mohiniyattam which is being headed by mohiniyattam exponent Bharati Shivaji. Vijayan has been learning mohiniyattam for the past 13 years from Guru Radha Marar. “I know my dance form is not one of the most popular among dances like kathak,bharatnatayam and kuchipudi. But it is the most lyrical form of dance with its unique abhinaya. It is the dance of an enchantress,marked by the graceful sway of the torso. And it is this lyricality that will bring out some beautiful top shots of the opening ceremony,making it distinct from other dance forms,” says Vijayan,who will be on stage along with 79 other mohiniyattam dancers.

All the dancers are being paid Rs 400 for every rehearsal and will be given Rs 2000 for their performance on the final day. “Art does not belong to money. We are doing this because it is for the nation,” says Vijayan. The rehearsals have been stressful. Sometimes there have been problems with the sound and lighting,sometimes with the stale food packets,but Vijayan is not complaining. “The scale of the event is so big that I have decided not to complain about things,” says Vijayan.

“We don’t eat on time because of practices,but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am ready to get on with the show,” she says. And we are all set to watch the spectacle.