My dad was the best….
I’ve seen him cry on less than 5 occasions my whole life. This was one of them.
Strong, kind, supportive, and someone who I could count on for anything … absolutely anything… he was a special kind of father…. Watched all my dance performances… videos… talks… posts .
But I know that he made me strong ….and his quiet hand that held me all my life will always be there…
Happy birthday appa
#appa #love #birthday #fathersanddayghters
Getting ready for a shoot 😊😊😊
Behind the scenes ….
Can’t believe I remembered to do this today
Shooting with
@vivianambrose @raghuramvocals @vishak_rp @khanjiraboy @thavilraja
For @teamworkarts … a fundraiser
#bharatanatyam #bts #dancer #indiandancer #dance #classicaldance #makeup #hair
#bts
Behind the scenes “Namami yoga vidye” . The full version is on YouTube.
It’s a lot of work dancing in unsavoury conditions, repeating phrases of movement again and again.
I remember the skin on my feet had come off completely because the floor was so rough.
The smoke from the lamps had made everyone’s face go black….
But there is a magic to creating on film
Will share a few more behind the scenes
Video @vivianambrose
Music Dr Rajkumar Bharathi @saishravanam
@indicayoga @indicasoftpower
Sometimes I realise friendship is not about the time you spend talking, but also the time you remain in each other’s company without saying a single word …..
My snorkel buddy, dive buddy and silently watching stars buddy….
@poojasampath
Thanks for the photos @anupjkat
#friendship #silence #quiet #company #beach #stars #sunset #maldives #divers #ocean
The colour of your skin is like the dark clouds,
But the smile on your face shines like a thousand suns,
My friend, my lover, my place of refuge, my home,
I surrender to your beauty,
Present in every grain of sand
“Happy Krishna Janmashtami” to all!
Photo : @vivianambrose
#clouds #dark #krishna #love #radha #jamashtami #indian #culture #tradition #festival
You all wanted to know whether I brushed my hair… and how it would be if I did… 😁😁😁
Watch to find out !
#hair #curlyhair #brush #conditioned #shampoo #wash #hairstyle #afro #retro #curls
The ocean is healing in many ways. Nature at large is… but the ocean has a special place in my heart….
We’ve been working on a film about the ocean and all the secrets it holds within…
Hope to share it with you all soon!
@anupjkat
#ocean #sun #wind #sunkissed #beach #water #browngirl #indiangirl #indiangirlstravel
Wish you all a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
I love the movements of an elephant… it has taken a while for me to be unabashed about emulating the movements of a majestic elephant…I used to be very shy as a child.
Ganesha, is depicted in many different ways by painters, artists, sculptors. And I’ve seen Ganesha playing crickets, wearing glassing, swinging, eating, sleeping in shorts, and even driving a car.
these images celebrate our cuddly warm elephant god 😊… and it makes me smile every time I see a new interpretation.
Full video on YouTube
https://youtu.be/TM-Pr93sQ8A
Video @vivianambrose
Music: Kalakriya series by Priyadarshini Govind
#ganesha #ganapati #dance #indianculture #kautuvam #bharatanatyam #bamboo #yellow #saree #templejewellery
“Unspoken”
It is hard to come to terms with losing a loved one. There are so many things that are left unsaid and we are robbed of their company, their laughter, their warmth. The first response is always guilt. What could I have said? What could I have done differently, to show how much I cherish their presence? Until the weight of the words that are left Unspoken is lifted, the joy that that permeates the memories of a loved one is never enjoyed.
Full version on YouTube :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0qXknsN00Y
VIDEO CREDITS
@vivianambrose
MUSIC CREDITS:
Roberto Cacciapaglia
Album: Alphabet
#unspoken #dance #classical #contemporarydance #bharatanatyam #loss #love #wordsunsaid #grief
Having fun with some silhouettes… dancing to my internal rhythm
Between shots with @vivianambrose for a film with @teamworkarts
#karanas #bharatanatyam #dancer #silhouette #antique #house #shoot #filming #halo #goddess #devi #indianculture #indianfilm #artmatters #ibelieve
This is the real me even now… don’t be fooled by the make up and costumes … 🤪
Photo credit: Dad
#realitycheck #dancer #indiandancer #personal #innerchild #childhoodmemories #freedom
…. Nothing to say
#besties @romenon
Thank you for the photo @fredjonathan
#husband #love #beach #summerdays
Varamahalakshmi was just celebrated last week….. I don’t celebrate many festivals. I barely visit a temple….
But that being said, I have no problem celebrating a festival or going to a temple. It isn’t about belief for me.
…Believing in a god or goddess that grants blessings.
I find that the festivals are a celebration of life itself. Lakshmi herself is an embodiment of wealth. All wealth… wealth of mind, body and material.
when I am able to revere and respect the existence of this wealth in my life… I celebrate Lakshmi.
There is a day to remind us to be thankful for all the wealth that each one of us has… “Varamahalakshmi “
And I happened to not really consider this privilege on that day…. But I’m doing it today…
Photo @vivianambrose
#lakshmi #varamahalakshmi #devi #goddess #faith #belief #temple #religion #dancer #bharatanatyam #indianclassical
The next BTS video of “Namami yoga vidye”
There’s a lot of conversation that happens just before a shot. It’s not like a stage performance where one has time to slowly build up a character and then burst out of it. In film we might start seconds before the crucial emotional peak and one has to get to it every time….
I’ve made a couple mistakes in this take… but thought I’d share anyway…. By the time I got to Kali it was there…
It’s a strange thing for me, the moment where the tongue comes out of the mouth…. It can never happen unless it absolutely has to… as a release of rage…
If I do it because it’s a part of the choreography without the emotion overwhelming, it feels tacky to me.
Sometimes in performance, I don’t do it…. If im not in the zone…
Video @vivianambrose
Music Dr Rajkumar Bharathi & @saishravanam
@indicayoga
#yoga #devi #parvati #goddess #Durga #surrender #devotee #bhakta #bts #dancefilm
For a moment , Radha forgets that krishna is not there… in her imagination she envisions him in the sound of her imaginary flute and is filled with joy…. Then suddenly she realises that Krishna is not there … longing and sorrow overwhelm her as she looks around to see that there is nobody there…
Full version on Raadha Kalpa’s YouTube channel …
Video: @vivianambrose
Music: the dark lord , a @raadhakalpa production
Dr Rajkumar Bharathi, @saishravanam
Vocals: @keerthanavaidyanathan
#ashtapadi #krishna #radha #love #longing #jayadeva #sanskrit #bharatanatyam #abhinaya #sakhi
Dancing randomly between shots…
I’ve been working on a dance film that will be a part of a fundraiser for artists….
@teamworks
Looking forward to sharing it with you all soon!
With @vivianambrose
#bharatanatyamdancer #dance #mallari #adavus #antiquehouse #bharatanatyam #indianclassicaldance
Repetition of a phrase or particular movement is something I began doing in choreography. When I was younger, it was important to me to make every part of a choreography different, varied, and unique. I thought the audience would get bored if I repeated something. But with time I have learned that when there is too much movement information it’s difficult to assimilate for someone watching. There has to be something familiar to the eye to be drawn in…. It’s like developing a friendship… slowly.
The Palani Tillana is now on Raadha kalpa’s YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/t-ROGR1K0XI
Composed by : @madurai.r.muralidaran
Vocals : @osarunofficial
Video : @vivianambrose
#tillana #raga #palani #carnatic #choreography #movement #phrasing #creativity #dancer #dance #indianclassical #classicalindiandance
Last in my series of BTS for “Namami yoga vidye”
The entire concept of destruction of ego through Kali’s trident piercing the heart came from a revelation I had while performing a piece on Devi on stage last year during Shivaratri.
I improvise quite a lot on stage and let the emotion lead me while I am in character. This moment happened in an instant …. During performance.
I’ve actually written about it in detail… in a book that @anupjkat @vivianambrose and I are working on…
But it’s to say that choreography doesn’t happen in an instant… it is not just putting together cool looking movements… but it’s a culmination of thought and process into a physical vocabulary….
Music Dr Rajkumar Bharathi @saishravanam
Video @vivianambrose
@indicayoga @indicaorg
#devi #durga #kali #trinayana #ego #dissolve #oneness #yoga #yogi #yogini #mahayogi #shiva #indianmythology
I started a new set of talks under the conversation series on Raadha Kalpa’s YouTube channel that talks about the various aspects of being an artists.
There will be videos uploaded every two weeks. Subscribe to the Raadha kalpa channel to find out more
https://youtube.com/user/dancinruks
#beingalone #lonely #success #thought #contemplation #dancer #indiandancer #soloist #comfort
Just improvising to some music in the garden 😊
Dance is like my breath… if I can’t move for a few days I feel suffocated in a way I can’t explain.
Many of us have something like dance in our lives. It maybe reading for some, playing sports, singing, cooking, writing, …. Without these things that allow us to be ourselves, we feel incomplete. Those of us who have been able to identify that one thing that allows us to be absolutely free, we are fortunate….
Thankful to have dance!
I’m wearing a RUKS design saree . Those of you who kept asking about this drape…. It isn’t really a drape 😊.
@ruks_by_dancerukmini
Video @vivianambrose
Music @jayanthiveena
#bharatanatyam #tillana #improvise #garden #mohanakalyani #indiandancer #ruksdesign
“RUKS” , my new brand will be launching on the 29th of August.
@ruks_by_dancerukmini
The first collection of designs will have single piece handloom, Chanderi silk, RUKS design sarees. This design is something I created because I wanted to be able to dance easily in a saree.
The 5 fragrances carefully crafted by years of meticulous work by my father, K Vijayakumar will also be available on the 29th to order on the website.
www.ruks.co.in
Follow @ruks_by_dancerukmini for more details!
#ruks #sarees #rukminivijayakumar #dancer #indianoutfits #wedding #indianwedding #fragrances #indianperfumes #perfume #fragrance
Grief comes in waves… some days the external world pushes us through the day, taking us through moments of joy. But when the memories come …they often engulf us entirely….
“Unspoken”
Memories of a warm embrace, wishing I had said more… done more…
It’s my fathers birthday tomorrow…. We miss him.
I’m better at dancing than at speaking.
VIDEO CREDITS
@vivianambrose
MUSIC CREDITS:
Roberto Cacciapaglia
Album: Alphabet
#love #loss #fathersanddaughters #hope #unspoken #appa #dancer #contemporarydance
I’m doing two sessions of “movement flow” this weekend.
90 mins each session.
Online: on zoom
You can register by clicking on the link in my bio.
You will have access to a recording for one week after the session.
I do something similar to what you see in the video on some days…. For myself. It’s a combination of stretch and strength combined with movement. It might look like there is some yoga in it, and there certainly is, but it’s not a yoga class 😊
I’ll teach yoga sometime… just not yet. I’m not ready.
But this movement flow class incorporates a number of stretches that I feel comfortable teaching as well as some stability/ strength …. Everything is connected and will flow like a dance.
A perfect way to start your weekend… 😊
Get your blood flowing and open up your body before you set out for the day!
Last day to register!
https://rzp.io/l/movementflowsept
#online #workshop #movementflow #rukminivijayakumer #weekend #morningstretch #health #wellness #dancer
“The sandal wood paste and the cool breeze sting her skin like snakes… please have mercy on her oh krishna….” Says the Sakhi to krishna, speaking of Radha.
The Ashtapadis, by Jayadeva immortalised the character of Radha in indian literature and culture.
Meera and the Bhakti movement built on what Jayadeva had written and now Radha and Krishna have become a symbol of everlasting love, union of the Purusha and Paramatma.
Radha Jayanti was celebrated yesterday, and this is my little offering. The full version is available on Raadha Kalpa’s YouTube channel
https://youtu.be/PStESkzXoAA
Video @vivianambrose
#radha #krishna #jayadeva #ashtapadi #nindati #sandal #snakes #abhinaya #actor #bharatanatyam #indianclassicaldance #classicalindiandance
