Telangana's folk dance on a global stage

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development was observed on May 21 at the British Parliament. Among the people who showcased their talents at the event was dancer Ragasudha Vinjamuri. She managed to turn the British and Asian diplomats in attendance into fans of Telangana’s Mathuri folk dance.

A native of Hyderabad, the Bharatanatyam exponent currently resides in London. She has performed traditional Indian dances on a variety of occasions and has been a recipient of the coveted Asian Media Honorary Award for her contribution to the fields of culture and language.

Talking about the event where she had her most recent performance, she says, “The event was organised at the House of Lords by the London-based Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, and hosted by Baroness Sandip Verma.

Diplomats from the High Commissions and Embassies of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were invited to speak on various aspects of cultural diversity.

Members of British Parliament Lord Jitesh Gadhia and Seema Malhotra, entrepreneur Umesh Perera, and senior Indian philanthropist and politician Vijay Jolly highlighted the importance of cultural diversity for socio-economic development.”

The programme included presentations of indigenous dance forms from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. “On this occasion, the Mathuri dance of Telangana state was performed for the very first time in the United Kingdom. It was presented by Suvarchala Madireddy, Prasanthi Aripirala, Rashmi Lakhapate and Sinjini Chakrabarty.

The other Indian dances presented were Natti from Himachal Pradesh and Kathputli from Rajasthan. The entire programme was conceived and choreographed by me to celebrate unity in diversity,” Ragasudha says.

The dancer did not want to miss the opportunity to familiarise global audiences with a dance form that they had never seen before. “I learned about the Mathuri dance form when I was studying folk dance in Hyderabad. All folk dances are very dear to me and I never miss an opportunity to showcase them and highlight the rich cultural heritage of our country. This time was no different. I chose the Mathuri dance as I come from Telangana and I thought it would be appropriate to present the state’s dance forms on an international platform,” she says.

Ragasudha, as well as the four women who performed the dance, are part of the Sur Bharti Women’s Collective which aims to empower women through the arts. The organisation currently has about 2,800 members.

“The Mathuri dance was performed by two Kuchipudi dancers, a Kathak dancer and a Bharatanatyam dancer. All of them expressed an interest in learning and performing the dance form. Two of them are Telugu-speakers, one is a Bengali, and one is a Maharashtrian, but they are equally passionate about all the folk art forms of India — be it Mathuri or Lambadi.

We held our rehearsals on weekends as two of the dancers are IT professionals who live outside London and have young children," she says. The dancer is happy to have been able to contribute to Telangana’s global image. “The occasion has been a milestone for us Indians, and Telugu people in particular,” Ragasudha concludes.