"THERE IS A NEED TO READ TO GROW AS A DANCER" : NEHA MUTHIYAN
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NEHA MUTHIYAN BY SAMVAAD BLOG:
NEHA MUTHIYAN
An Interior Designing graduate, Kathak dancer by profession, Editor/Publisher of Loud Applause Dance Magazine by passion, She is a person who works at her own pace, takes things slow -so they are steady, loves to hear music, read! A neat freak and a person who tries to strike a healthy balance between home and work!
An Interior Designing graduate, Kathak dancer by profession, Editor/Publisher of Loud Applause Dance Magazine by passion, She is a person who works at her own pace, takes things slow -so they are steady, loves to hear music, read! A neat freak and a person who tries to strike a healthy balance between home and work!
How did you get into this field?
I started learning Kathak at the age of 8 years, under Poonam Gandhi who used to run a branch of Maneesha Nrityalaya at Karvenagar. After her marriage, the class was taken over by Shambhavi Dandekar who has been my guru and mentor till date. My mother was the key person in choosing the class considering proximity as the main criteria. These early years of training were purely hobby based. I started to think about it as a career at the age of around 20..which was very late as compared to my friends and peers. I completed my Nrityalankar and Masters after my marriage.
What or who inspired you?
My inspiration has been my Guru Shambhavi tai and Pandita Guru Maneesha Sathe.Seeing them dance (solo/duet) has been the primary source of motivation and inspiration and still continues to be! The training years under Shambhavi tai were the best years of my life as they made me grow into a more sensitive person towards art,artists and curious enough to explore the allied fields.
How did your family support you for this?
My mother was, is and will be my pillar in this! She helped me choose between interior designing and dance as career options by listing out the pros-cons of both and helping me to see my strong points while finalizing. Mine being a love marriage, my husband was well aware of the career scene before marriage and has been a strong support from day one. His advertising firm,Juice Adcom, is the designer firm for Loud Applause.
How do you feel by following your passion?
Extremely satisfied and happy. The best thing is that I work for myself. This gives me a hold on how, what, where and when do I want things to work. I am able to manage my work and personal life without missing out on key family time! I have my set of rules, my aims and my ways to achieve them.
Tell us about your achievements?
By God's Grace, blessings of my guru-s and wishes of my family, I was awarded the Kala Vikas Yuva Puraskar by Pt.Bhimsen Joshi Music Foundation,Gadag, Karnataka and Kanak Bhushan Award by Brahmnaad Academy, Mumbai. With their energy always motivating me, I was able to start my own dance classes, Kathak Pathshala, and venture into the roles of a publisher and an editor. Have got opportunities to perform in Pune, Solapur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Cochin and Malaysia. I am grateful to be awarded the Fellowship by Baithak Foundation to teach Kathak to students who are less privileged in collaboration with iTeach schools. Their able guidance has made me eligible to be an examiner for Bharati Vidyapeeth University and Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyala. I have also been lucky to collaborate with leading dance institutes in organising significant events which have been popular and extremely useful for dance students.
About your guru/guide and whom do you want to thank?
I will always be indebted to my mother,Neelima Hardikar, for being there for me in whatever I decide to take on, She is my critic in all aspects of life.
Words fail me when I have to express gratitude towards Shambhavi tai. She has a major role in what I am today. I was extremely lucky to have had her during my formative years. The sanskaars she inculcated in me have guided me in all walks of life.
Ashish Khokhar is one person whom I have to mention.A dance critic,historian,scholar, author and editor of Attendance magazine, he has been my mentor in formative years of Loud Applause Dance Magazine.A humble personality, he has taught me many things regarding the content element in the magazine.He has been gracious enough to write articles for the magazine too without any remuneration.
On the whole, I thank God for bringing these amazing personalities in my life!
Have you ever thought of quitting it? If so, then what is that one thing which keeps motivating you to keep you on track of your passion?
I have felt demotivated several times in terms of dance and the magazine but never thought of quitting either. The one thing that keeps me going is, I don't want to fail in the eyes of my mother, guru and mentors. With experience, I have understood that with time, everything falls in place. Patience, thinking, letting go, adaptability are some things which help one sail through rough phases.
Tell us about your initiative of Loud Applause Dance Magazine?
The idea to start the magazine came from 'the need to read' for dancers. As students, we study certain topics for our theory papers but later on the focus is more on performance.On the contrary, the need to read is more at this stage, as you are on your own.Nobody is going to spoon feed you with notes.You have to broaden your thinking and that can be done only through reading. So the magazine gets to the dancers this valuable information in a magazine format. The information encompass a wide range of topics- fitness, diet, exercises, articles on traditional topics like Natyashastra, Abhinayadarpan, Nayikas, in addition to contemporary thoughts on the same ,current scenario, words of experience from stalwarts and impressive brain boggling thoughts of young dancers. The magazine aims at enriching every dancer-s journey through this information. To make this possible, it also conducts certain competitions and events to keep dancers engaged and their brains churning.
How the journey of Magazine to E magazine?
It was an early but meant-to-be transformation. Everybody likes the smell of new books and feel in the hand, so the natural thought was to go with hardcopy to start with.The magazine is majorly self funded, so the printing part was putting a hole in my pocket after 3 years. Loud Applause from 2014-2017 was a hard copy but the funds deficit made me take the decision of converting it into an e-magazine a couple of years earlier than planned. But all that happens, happens for the best! The magazine could now reach to more people across the globe and on time as opposed to delays due to courier services. A whole lot of options increased regarding designing, colour and also I could give some nominal remuneration to selected and senior writers.
What are those other projects you are organising under Loud Applause?
As the aim of the magazine is to enrich the journey of dancer-s, the magazine hosts a couple of events which try to emphasize that.
Sakshi Bhav - A workshop series which focuses on the performing aspect of dance
Dance Dialogues - An informal interactive series with dancers,and people who are making a difference in society with dance as a medium.
Poetry Festival - It is with the aim of exploring Vachik Abhinaya
Sanchari-A Festival of Films on Dance - In collaboration with Kalavardhini Charitable trust, the festival aims to look at dance from a broader and all encompassing perspective.
Nrutya Shabda - An essay competition,in collaboration with Samvaad blog run by Swarada Dhekane.
Click the Moment - A dance photography competition for people behind the lens,again in collaboration with Samvaad.
Share your greatest experiences with the LA magazine and even the challenges or problems you have faced ?
The support and encouragement from senior Gurus in Pune has been the most enriching experience. Their pat on the back has been the best reward so far! The magazine is being recognised and appreciated by young dancers.
One incident is very close to my heart which I would like to share. Guru Kumudini Lakhia ji was in Pune for an event. After the event, coincidently we were together in the lift and as any dance student, I followed the protocol of introducing myself and saying whose disciple I am. She too acknowledged it in a formal way. I then gathered up the courage to tell her that I am the one who runs Loud Applause as her institute, Kadamb. was a subscriber at that time. At that moment, the look on her face changed and she said, "achcha, so you are that girl!" She gave me some tips on how to come out of the Pune dance circle and encompass the broader horizons. She may not remember this incident or me but it really fills my heart whenever I think about it.
Loud Applause has given me a strong platform, standing on which I can have first hand experience of interacting with legendary dancers and the ability to pass that to students. I can positively say that Loud Applause has given me my identity.
The major challenge is to make dancers shell out money for subscribing. The main reason is 'no time to read'..I have been hearing this excuse for 6 years now and don't believe it at all. It is the lack of "PATIENCE" to read more than time!
I have made the magazine content crisp and avoid lengthy articles, but still the challenge is to make them understand that there is a NEED TO READ to grow as a dancer.The content in Loud Applause is not easily found on internet as we have writers who are THINKING authors and some have written exclusively for Loud Applause.
But I am hopeful that one day dancers will understand the worth of information and the written word!
How many years completed? How are you feeling with your work till now and now what is the dream project?
Loud Applause completed 6 years, Kathak Pathshala completed 10 years!
I still have a lot to do and explore new horizons.
Dream project would be where I can combine these two passions of mine and create something beautiful!
How do you manage your own Riyaz, home, classes, performances and Magazine work?
Time management and a strong support system are the key to it and am lucky to have one and able to manage the time!
What are the challenges for today's young dancers if they choose it as a career?
A career in Arts, dance in particular has become a good and viable option today. People have started appreciating and understanding the hardwork and effort behind the whole process.It is not a challenge anymore as good options of universities are offering courses in this field. Due to exposure to all major dance styles and communities in and outside India at a click of a button has made the students more aware and informed.The challenge can be where and how the student applies his gained knowledge. Luckily, the Guru-Shishya Parampara will guide him correctly!
What message do you want to give to the readers?
Read.Dance.DoGood
I started learning Kathak at the age of 8 years, under Poonam Gandhi who used to run a branch of Maneesha Nrityalaya at Karvenagar. After her marriage, the class was taken over by Shambhavi Dandekar who has been my guru and mentor till date. My mother was the key person in choosing the class considering proximity as the main criteria. These early years of training were purely hobby based. I started to think about it as a career at the age of around 20..which was very late as compared to my friends and peers. I completed my Nrityalankar and Masters after my marriage.
What or who inspired you?
My inspiration has been my Guru Shambhavi tai and Pandita Guru Maneesha Sathe.Seeing them dance (solo/duet) has been the primary source of motivation and inspiration and still continues to be! The training years under Shambhavi tai were the best years of my life as they made me grow into a more sensitive person towards art,artists and curious enough to explore the allied fields.
How did your family support you for this?
My mother was, is and will be my pillar in this! She helped me choose between interior designing and dance as career options by listing out the pros-cons of both and helping me to see my strong points while finalizing. Mine being a love marriage, my husband was well aware of the career scene before marriage and has been a strong support from day one. His advertising firm,Juice Adcom, is the designer firm for Loud Applause.
How do you feel by following your passion?
Extremely satisfied and happy. The best thing is that I work for myself. This gives me a hold on how, what, where and when do I want things to work. I am able to manage my work and personal life without missing out on key family time! I have my set of rules, my aims and my ways to achieve them.
Tell us about your achievements?
By God's Grace, blessings of my guru-s and wishes of my family, I was awarded the Kala Vikas Yuva Puraskar by Pt.Bhimsen Joshi Music Foundation,Gadag, Karnataka and Kanak Bhushan Award by Brahmnaad Academy, Mumbai. With their energy always motivating me, I was able to start my own dance classes, Kathak Pathshala, and venture into the roles of a publisher and an editor. Have got opportunities to perform in Pune, Solapur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Cochin and Malaysia. I am grateful to be awarded the Fellowship by Baithak Foundation to teach Kathak to students who are less privileged in collaboration with iTeach schools. Their able guidance has made me eligible to be an examiner for Bharati Vidyapeeth University and Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyala. I have also been lucky to collaborate with leading dance institutes in organising significant events which have been popular and extremely useful for dance students.
About your guru/guide and whom do you want to thank?
I will always be indebted to my mother,Neelima Hardikar, for being there for me in whatever I decide to take on, She is my critic in all aspects of life.
Words fail me when I have to express gratitude towards Shambhavi tai. She has a major role in what I am today. I was extremely lucky to have had her during my formative years. The sanskaars she inculcated in me have guided me in all walks of life.
Ashish Khokhar is one person whom I have to mention.A dance critic,historian,scholar, author and editor of Attendance magazine, he has been my mentor in formative years of Loud Applause Dance Magazine.A humble personality, he has taught me many things regarding the content element in the magazine.He has been gracious enough to write articles for the magazine too without any remuneration.
On the whole, I thank God for bringing these amazing personalities in my life!
Have you ever thought of quitting it? If so, then what is that one thing which keeps motivating you to keep you on track of your passion?
I have felt demotivated several times in terms of dance and the magazine but never thought of quitting either. The one thing that keeps me going is, I don't want to fail in the eyes of my mother, guru and mentors. With experience, I have understood that with time, everything falls in place. Patience, thinking, letting go, adaptability are some things which help one sail through rough phases.
The idea to start the magazine came from 'the need to read' for dancers. As students, we study certain topics for our theory papers but later on the focus is more on performance.On the contrary, the need to read is more at this stage, as you are on your own.Nobody is going to spoon feed you with notes.You have to broaden your thinking and that can be done only through reading. So the magazine gets to the dancers this valuable information in a magazine format. The information encompass a wide range of topics- fitness, diet, exercises, articles on traditional topics like Natyashastra, Abhinayadarpan, Nayikas, in addition to contemporary thoughts on the same ,current scenario, words of experience from stalwarts and impressive brain boggling thoughts of young dancers. The magazine aims at enriching every dancer-s journey through this information. To make this possible, it also conducts certain competitions and events to keep dancers engaged and their brains churning.
How the journey of Magazine to E magazine?
It was an early but meant-to-be transformation. Everybody likes the smell of new books and feel in the hand, so the natural thought was to go with hardcopy to start with.The magazine is majorly self funded, so the printing part was putting a hole in my pocket after 3 years. Loud Applause from 2014-2017 was a hard copy but the funds deficit made me take the decision of converting it into an e-magazine a couple of years earlier than planned. But all that happens, happens for the best! The magazine could now reach to more people across the globe and on time as opposed to delays due to courier services. A whole lot of options increased regarding designing, colour and also I could give some nominal remuneration to selected and senior writers.
What are those other projects you are organising under Loud Applause?
As the aim of the magazine is to enrich the journey of dancer-s, the magazine hosts a couple of events which try to emphasize that.
Sakshi Bhav - A workshop series which focuses on the performing aspect of dance
Dance Dialogues - An informal interactive series with dancers,and people who are making a difference in society with dance as a medium.
Poetry Festival - It is with the aim of exploring Vachik Abhinaya
Sanchari-A Festival of Films on Dance - In collaboration with Kalavardhini Charitable trust, the festival aims to look at dance from a broader and all encompassing perspective.
Nrutya Shabda - An essay competition,in collaboration with Samvaad blog run by Swarada Dhekane.
Click the Moment - A dance photography competition for people behind the lens,again in collaboration with Samvaad.
The support and encouragement from senior Gurus in Pune has been the most enriching experience. Their pat on the back has been the best reward so far! The magazine is being recognised and appreciated by young dancers.
One incident is very close to my heart which I would like to share. Guru Kumudini Lakhia ji was in Pune for an event. After the event, coincidently we were together in the lift and as any dance student, I followed the protocol of introducing myself and saying whose disciple I am. She too acknowledged it in a formal way. I then gathered up the courage to tell her that I am the one who runs Loud Applause as her institute, Kadamb. was a subscriber at that time. At that moment, the look on her face changed and she said, "achcha, so you are that girl!" She gave me some tips on how to come out of the Pune dance circle and encompass the broader horizons. She may not remember this incident or me but it really fills my heart whenever I think about it.
Loud Applause has given me a strong platform, standing on which I can have first hand experience of interacting with legendary dancers and the ability to pass that to students. I can positively say that Loud Applause has given me my identity.
The major challenge is to make dancers shell out money for subscribing. The main reason is 'no time to read'..I have been hearing this excuse for 6 years now and don't believe it at all. It is the lack of "PATIENCE" to read more than time!
I have made the magazine content crisp and avoid lengthy articles, but still the challenge is to make them understand that there is a NEED TO READ to grow as a dancer.The content in Loud Applause is not easily found on internet as we have writers who are THINKING authors and some have written exclusively for Loud Applause.
But I am hopeful that one day dancers will understand the worth of information and the written word!
How many years completed? How are you feeling with your work till now and now what is the dream project?
Loud Applause completed 6 years, Kathak Pathshala completed 10 years!
I still have a lot to do and explore new horizons.
Dream project would be where I can combine these two passions of mine and create something beautiful!
How do you manage your own Riyaz, home, classes, performances and Magazine work?
Time management and a strong support system are the key to it and am lucky to have one and able to manage the time!
What are the challenges for today's young dancers if they choose it as a career?
A career in Arts, dance in particular has become a good and viable option today. People have started appreciating and understanding the hardwork and effort behind the whole process.It is not a challenge anymore as good options of universities are offering courses in this field. Due to exposure to all major dance styles and communities in and outside India at a click of a button has made the students more aware and informed.The challenge can be where and how the student applies his gained knowledge. Luckily, the Guru-Shishya Parampara will guide him correctly!
What message do you want to give to the readers?
Read.Dance.DoGood
Bravo! Neha!
ReplyDeleteProud and blessed to be your brother.
Best Wishes!
Thank you Dada!
DeleteAwesome! What a humble submission, Neha Tai!! You have given due credit to everyone, except your own hard work and dedication. Glad to have read this. Wishing you many more achievements in the years to come...
ReplyDeleteThank you Abha!
DeleteSimple & nice interview..Happy to be a reader of Loud Applause...😊
ReplyDelete