Born in Madras, India, brought up in Paris, Shantala Shivalingappa is the child of East and West. She was initiated to Indian classical dance at a tender age by her mother, dancer Savitry Nair. Deeply moved and inspired by Master Vempati Chinna Satyam’s pure and graceful style, Shantala dedicated herself to Kuchipudi, and received an intense and rigorous training from her master. Acclaimed as a rare dancer by artists and connoisseurs in India and Europe, Shantala combines a perfect technique with flowing grace and a very fine sensitivity. Dancer magazine notes, “Her jumps have the aesthetic code of classical Indian while projecting an energy derived from her Western influence.” Beginning at the age of 13, she has worked with some of the greatest artists of our time: Maurice Béjart, Peter Brook, Bartabas and Amagatsu. She counts Pina Bausch as a major influence and continues to collaborate with Tanztheater Wuppertal founded by Baush. Such experiences make her artistic journey a truly unique one. Today, Shantala shares her time between touring, expanding her choreographic work in the Kuchipudi style, and collaborating with various artists in the exploration of dance, music and theatre.
“With her graceful leaps, Shantala Shivalingappa carries you to enlightened heights” – Midi-Pyrenees, France.
Personally Speaking..
How would you describe your philosophy or approach in art making?
I would say that my intention in dance, is to be in touch with something ‘else’, to experience ‘that’ which is of the highest, purest level of energy, and to express it in the most eloquent and refined possible way, so as to make it visible, or perceivable in some way, to all those present. To find a state of openness, sensitivity, and inspiration, which enables the possibility of such an experience. To use the ‘tools’ that I have (and possibly find new ways), to try and combine all the different elements (movement, rhythm, music, use of space and dynamics, etc) into a ‘whole’, so as to form an appropriate ‘vehicle’ in which that ‘something else’ can manifest, in a perceivable manner.
Who or what was the biggest influence on your decision to become an artist?
The vivid and overwhelming thrill of the experience of dance is the strongest motivating factor. My mother, Savitry Nair, who brought me to it, and my Master, Vempati Chinna Satyam, whose powerful and refined style had the greatest impact on me, are definitely the key persons. In later years, Pina Bausch, and most recently Ushio Amagatsu, are also very strong influences.
What inspires or motivates you in your creative pursuits?
Nature.
Music, and the musicality of movement.
Watching other dancers/artists.
Nature.
What do you love most about creating art?
The moment of dancing itself.
What is your favourite quote that reflects your views on life? By Aldous Huxley,
“Never give children a chance of imagining that anything exists in isolation. Make it plain from the very beginning that all living is relationship. Show them relationships in the woods, in the fields, in the ponds and streams, in the village and in the country around it. Rub it in.” “There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” “Now experience is…a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing and hearing the significant things, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
By Shakespeare, “To thine own self be true”
“The readiness is all”
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