Exclusive! Tejasswi Prakash: I learnt Bharatnatyam for seven years

Tejasswi Prakash winner of Bigg Boss 15 and lead on Naagin 6 caught up with middaycom to celebrate World Dance Day The actress speaks about being a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and why she recommends that others should train in Indian classical dance formsWhat are your earliest memories of learning danceI always loved dancing and singing My mum and dad were of the opinion that if one has a strong classical base we can do anything So thatrsquos why my parents enrolled me in classical dancing and singing classes I learnt Bharatnatyam for seven years and gave four exams Irsquom yet to complete my arangetram first stage performance but I will do that once I get a break from work I plan to complete my three pending exams and have an arangetram functionI started learning dance at 56 years and would wear my salwar suit with dupatta and head to class I still remember a few mudras I had a sir who was amazing but at times also scary if we didnrsquot maintain the correct posture Whenever I couldnrsquot catch the beats sir would fling his stick at me bahut maar padi hai laughs It was the most amazing timeMy mum made it a point to ensure I was a busy child along with dance I was also learning singing swimming gymnastics karate drawing and attending sanskar varg classes I lived close to a temple so we would go there to learn stotras mantras and listen to the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata being readDo you feel the training in dance helps you with acting as wellI am also a vlogger and a lot of times people comment on the posture of my hands and fingers That is because of Bharatnatyam I always sit up straight because that is the posture we had to maintain as dancers I have big expressive eyes the entire dance form is about emoting with your eyes and with mudras You recite a story through your dance Whatever my mum made me learn as a child is helping me with my profession now and I didnrsquot understand it back thenClassical singing training has helped with voice modulation during my scenes depending on whether I want it to be intense or high pitched I pick up the lsquosurrsquo of the scene well At the same time Irsquom bad at impromptu dancing because Irsquom shyWhy would you recommend Indian dance forms to othersTherersquos so much storytelling in Indian dance forms so expressive yet soft Irsquom a Maharashtrian but I canrsquot do Lavani Irsquove learnt a South Indian dance form Therersquos Bhangra Garba Bihu so many dance forms in our country Learning an Indian dance form is something you have to start as a kid because it teaches you much more than just dance moves Itrsquos not physical itrsquos emotional and educates you about our culture I was probably born a good dancer and picked up Bharatnatyam quickly someonelse may be good at hiphop or balletBharatnatyam connects me to my Indian roots and I take pride in it Irsquove been dancing with ghungroos since I was a kid We start with Bharatnatyam namaskar which is thanking the land we are about to dance on Every time we would wear or take off ghungroos we would perform its pooja we worship our ghungroos It taught me so much about life and valuing everything that you do be it respecting teachers or even every element on this earth