The ingenious Radha Varadan reimagins from Some ballets most famous variations Using Kathak, a form of classical Indian dance, earned him a serious online traction. Based in India and the United States, Varadan trained in ballet and Kathak growing up. Later, she studied postmodern (and molecular biology) dance at George Washington University, and today she dances with the Abhinava dance company in Bengaluru, India.
Varadan took a moment to talk about her viral hybrid videos, his creative process and how the Indian classical dance is perceived in the West.
What inspired you to collect the ballet and Kathak?
As a young student, I found the artistic talent on which my ballet teachers complimented me came from Kathak, and my use of shoulder in Kathak came from the ballet – they completed. But at the same time, I felt this fracture. I felt like I looked a little too different to be a white swan in a ballet body, and I had lines that were more clear than the other Kathak dancers. It was only recently that I kissed both sides and that I became comfortable with a different look.
You have reinterpreted Odile variation Since Cygne lake And Kitri variations Since Don Quixote. What attracted you to these roles?
The word “kathak” comes from the term sanskrit “kathakar“, Which means” the storyteller “. I am attracted to these characters because they have these stories which are so fantastic and so human.
How do you approach your reinterpretations?
I will internalize the variation and deconstruct it. There are times that I like to do, such as Kitri fan movements or certain bodily positions. I will trace the directions and what the body does. Once I took place the skeleton, I reconstruct it. It is not really the movements that come first, it is a question of how you use the space to transmit this story.
Are there false ideas on classical Indian dance in the West that you would like to contest?
I actually work on a project that examines how the choreographers of the 17th and 18th century extracted India for themes for ballets. The most famous is The Bayadère. The term “Bayadère” was the name given to the Devadasi, the dancers of the Temple of India. The British prohibits the classical Indian dance, but at the same time, the Devadasi were transformed into caricatures into ballets.
In the West, there is a hierarchy where the ballet is announced as the purest art form. I believe that education and exhibition will help us overcome this hierarchy.
Are there other variations in ballet that you would like to adapt?
Esmeralda is the one I want to do, and Aurora. And (I I just published a solo) Since The Bayadère– He has a complicated story, but I think there is power to recover this and to say: “That's what he should have been.”
