When Priyadarsini Govind was interviewed by Sukanya Sankar of Sruti in June in Singapore during ‘Dance India Asian Pacific,’ the last question posed to her was “Do you think artistes, or in your case dancers, could make good art administrators?”

And she replied: “I think we would make fantastic administrators if we did not dance. If I am performing at the pace that I am doing today, I cannot really teach. If I teach, I should not be regular professional performer. Similarly, if I want to be an administrator, then I should not do anything else. I should be true to what I am doing. You can always prove that you can do this and that, but whether you are doing justice to either of them is a moot point, and I couldn’t do it.”

The questions and answers proved prophetic when a month later news came of her appointment as Director, Kalakshetra. Priyadarsini is believed to have sent in her application for the position on 3rd June, the last day for the applications. She then left to participate in the Singapore festival. V. Ramnarayan adds:

Never before had Priyadarsini really given a thought to playing a role at Kalakshetra, but she has for the last couple of years been contemplating cutting down on her performance career, and “giving something back to this art, which has given me so much.” Among other things, choreography and training her students for dance productions, and the gainful use of the audiovisual media – given the film industry connections of her family – were distinct areas of interest.

Priyadarsini started learning from Kalanidhi Narayanan even as a young child, thanks to the intervention of family friend V.G. Duraiswamy, who was also a neighbour of Kalanidhi’s. While she owes her strength in abhinaya to Kalanidhi, Priyadarsini has the fondest memories of her dance classes with guru S.K. Rajarathnam, “a dreamer,” whose classes and an otherwordliness about them quite unrelated to the workaday realities of professional dance. He was a musician before a dancer, with the resultant aesthetics a special amalgam.

The 1990s saw Priyadarsini’s emergence as a leading Bharata Natyam dancer perhaps wedded to her career as never before. She was already married and had two children by then. Her initial successes abroad came in Europe before she made the U.S.A. a regular destination as well.

Priyadarsini is aware of the prevalent view that suggests that her lack of administrative experience and her Bharata Natyam background – so different from the Kalakshetra bani – could be stumbling blocks to her effectiveness in her role as director. “To me the spirit of Kalakshetra is of paramount importance,” she says, and adds “the vision of its founder and her values so assiduously nurtured by her successors. I will do my best to maintain that spirit and uphold those values.” She has no intention of interfering with the work of the faculty brought up and trained in the Kalakshetra tradition. “The spirit, not the ritual, is important,” she reiterates.

According to her, these are early days yet for her to spell out her plans for Kalakshetra. “My first objective is to integrate.” She will respect those “who love Kalakshetra, have given their lives to Kalakshetra.” And take them with her in Kalakshetra’s journey forward. While her own gurus have shaped her entire approach to dance and her understanding of it, she is keenly aware that everywhere in the world, Rukmini Devi Arundale’s name is synonymous with Bharata Natyam.

Priyadarsini’s quiet confidence in her ability to reach out to all constituencies integral to Kalakshetra is evident in the measured tones of her voice in articulating her views on the subject. At 48, she is, after Rukmini Devi Arundale, Kalakshetra’s youngest director. She has the opportunity to play a long and constructive innings. It will indeed be a happy conclusion to the ongoing developments at Kalakshetra if Priyadarsini dispels doubts about her suitability for the position, by dint of sheer application, sincere effort and sagacious utilisation of the resources at her command. – Coutesy: Sruti