Passion that stood the test of time

KOCHI: Classical dancer Gayathri Vijayalekshmi took to the art form in her childhood. Having practised the dance form of bharatanatyam from the age of 14 under PG Janardhanan, a renowned dance teacher from Vadanappally (Thrissur), Gayathri’s dream was to become a professional bharatanatyam performer. 
Although she won many prizes in various district-level competitions and youth festivals during her college days, certain family circumstances forced her to abandon her passion and take up a more secure job of teaching at an engineering college in Kollam. 

But, after a hiatus of more than 26 years, Gayathri is realising her dream of becoming a professional dancer under the guidance of Guru Mydhili V. “I have been learning bharatanatyam under my teacher (Guru) Mydhili for the past six years. Post my retirement in 2018, I have done solo dance shows too,” said the 58-year-old. She gave credit to her two children for encouraging her to revive her dream.  

A resident of Thiruvananthapuram, she has 50 stage performances to her credit so far. One of her recent performances was on May 15 when she participated in the ongoing ‘Kalanjali Online dance festival’. “Since I put a lot of effort into my performance, it came out good and many people appreciated me for it,” says Gayathri . As the recording of her dance programme was done indoors, Gayathri had to make certain arrangements to create a makeshift stage inside her house. 

“My son and daughter-in-law helped with all the preparations. I would not have been able to participate in the competition without their effort,” she said. Satisfied with her first experience of an online dance show, Gayathri also expressed her willingness to take part in more online dance competitions if the lockdown period is extended further. 

Apart from classical dance, Gayathri is also fond of music. A member of Thiruvananthapuram-based Dhwani Music Club since2019, Gayathri finds time to participate in their monthly programmes. “The programmes are normally held on Sundays from morning till evening. Around 30 songs which are recorded by every member on their mobile phones are played in the WhatsApp group of the club,” she said.