CTYA’s Blog Team has started a new Feature on Fridays, Thulirkal. Thulirkal meaning “bud” reflects the young Tamil youth we will be featuring. These youth are the buds of our community, and are growing into to strong, achieving young men and women! Each week we will feature a Tamil youth of the week. For more information or to suggest a youth to feature, please feel free to email us at blogs@ctya.org! This week we’ve featured Top Talent 2012 Classical Dance Award Recipient, Yalini Rajakulasingam!
The winner for the Top Talents 2012 Classical Dance Award demonstrates a strong passion and commitment to performing and practising Classical Dance. They demonstrate how participating in classical dance has contributed to their personal growth and how they have worked towards enhancing our community through their artistic talents.
Yalini, this year’s recipient of CTYA’s 2012 Classical Dance Award is a committed and talented youth who completed her dance arangetram in 2006. She started dance class at young age, and until arangetram was training under Nirainjana Chandru. She further spent an year in India receiving advanced training in classical dance under guru Narthaki Nataraj. She has since went back to Chennai on several occasions to further learn, perfect, and challenge herself to improve her dancing. She has performed at various festivals such as the Natya Arangam festival, Mylapore Fine Arts, Brahma Gana Sabha, and Mamallapuram Dance Festival. Her performances have also been given reviews in newspapers such as the Hindu, the Chennai Express, Dhinamalar, and Kumudam. She has also placed 2nd in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival competition in the United States which is a milestone for the Tamil community as she was the first Eela Thamilar to place in her category.
Let’s hear from this talented young recipient of the Top Talents 2012 Classical Dance Award, Yalini Rajakulasingam!
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CTYA Blog Team: Thank you Yalini for sitting down with us today. So, let’s get warmed up. Ok, now don’t think, just say what first comes to mind. 1, 2, 3…
Where would you go if you were invisible?
Yalini: Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!
Favourite Superhero?
Yalini: Wolverine
Favourite Cartoon?
Yalini: Sailor Moon or Spider-man (1994 Series)
Blackberry? Iphone? Android?
Yalini: Iphone
Sarees or Jeans?
Yalini: Sarees
Photo Credits: DEV (Design Engineered Visuals)
CTYA Blog Team: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Yalini: I am a fouth year student, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Religion and Theatre and Performance Studies, at the University of Toronto. I love Harry Potter, Superhero movies and food. I am also overly obsessed with my dog Padfoot. My Amma, Manimekalai, was also a dancer but after losing my Ammama at a young age, she was unable to go on to India for more training. Once I was old enough, she put me in Bharathnatyam lessons and also trained me at home. What started off as her dream, turned into my passion and I have never looked back since.
CTYA Blog Team: You’ve travelled a lot and spent time traveling and pursuing your dance, tell us a little about your most profound experience from one of your travels.
Yalini: That’s a tough one. I started travelling for dance back in 2008, but I would have to say my most profound experience came a few years later in 2011. In 2010, I participated in the Cleveland Thygaraja Festival’s dance competition and placed second. The following year in 2011, I was invited back to take part in a dance production to be held in Cleveland. I was given the role of Sita and Lakshmanan. I remember when I initially started to learn the choreography, I experienced some difficulty with getting into the character of Lakshmanan. Apart from performing a male character, I had to also show that I had a lot of anger inside and maintain a powerful presence on stage. A week before opening night, we had our first run through and this was my first opportunity to showcase my abilities to highly talented and experienced dancers and choreographers from India, who were also participating in the production. After completing our rehearsal, I felt pretty good about myself. However, my satisfaction did not last long as our choreographer, Anita Guha, came up to me and told me that the other artists felt that I was not strong or powerful enough to play the role of Lakshmanan. Up until this point, I had received a lot of criticism but this was the first time in my dance career that I had been told that I was not good enough at all. However, I worked that much more hard. After our daily rehearsals when others went off to eat or take a nap, I would stay back and do the routine over and over again. In the evenings the practice space was no longer available to us in the hotel, so I would go out into the hotel hallway outside of my room and practice. I still remember the day of the performance so well. When my solo part came, I remember giving it my all and telling myself that unless my legs fall off, that I wouldn’t stop stamping away. It was the best feeling and I still remember how empowered and confident I felt. It was never about proving someone else wrong; it was always about proving to myself that I could succeed in anything if I put my heart and soul into it.
CTYA Blog Team: You’ve danced to many songs over the years, what performance/song has been your most favourite? Why?
Yalini: I am extremely thankful for any opportunity I get to perform, whether it is for a Maveerar Naal performance at UTSC or at the FeTNA convention in the States. One of the most memorable performances would have to be my first program in Chennai, which took place in 2009. I was extremely nervous because my chief guest was the great dancing legend Padma Subramaniam. As a child, Amma always spoke about her to me. She was someone who we read about or watched on TV. She was someone who we both looked up to and we never even imagined of being in the same room as her. Till now, I still remembering dancing on stage and then glancing down and seeing her in the front row, it all seems so surreal. Dancing in Chennai was a dream come true and to also have a role model like Padma Subramaniam present, definitely a precious moment which I will forever cherish.
Yalini at Chidamparam Nataraja Temple
CTYA Blog Team: If you could say a few words to your younger self, what would you say?
Yalini: Absolutely nothing. I have made wise and silly decisions but these are all experiences which we learn from. I’ve gained strength and confidence from good choices while I learn more about myself through the bad ones. Where’s the challenge if you already have all the right answers?
CTYA Blog Team: Finish the sentence. “To me, Tamil youth are..”
Yalini: …my inspiration and motivation. Many of us were born into families who came to this country as refugees in the late 80s and 90s. We fled a country that denied us our basic rights in our own homeland. Making Canada our second home, the Tamil youth made use of the countless opportunities that we were denied back home. All the protests which took place in 2009, it was our youth who were out on the streets raising awareness. In the past few years, our conflict and the struggles of our people have reached other communities. People are starting to associate Sri Lanka with the words “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”. All this was possible because the Tamil youth used their knowledge and education to bring these issues to the forefront. Apart from raising social awareness, they continue to excel in all other sectors as well, whether it is in the arts, academics or business. They are innovative and always looking at what can be done next. They inspire and motivate me to do something worthwhile with my life, since we do only have one shot at it.
CTYA Blog Team: Anything else you’d like to add?
Yalini: At a time when I was not feeling confident about myself, I read a Thirukural, which gave me hope and encouragement. It was verse 971 and it said
Kural 971: Life’s light is the aspiration for glorious achievement. And disgrace is the dark thought that says, “I shall live without it.”
ஒளிஒருவற்கு உள்ள வெறுக்கை இளிஒருவற்கு
அஃதிறந்து வாழ்தும் எனல்.
We all have our own interpretations and meanings; I hope this Thirukural helps anyone who is looking for “life’s light”.
Thanks Yalini for sharing your thoughts today. We hope other youth use your story as motivation to continue to pursue their passions and use their skills for the betterment of our community!
Catch up with us next Friday where we’ll be bringing you another Talented Tamil youth story! For more information or to suggest a youth to feature, please feel free to email us at blogs@ctya.org!
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