Cultural movement: Junior Sri Nattam shares tradition of classical Indian dancing

If someone were to ask junior Sri Nattam’s friends what the most interesting thing about her was, they might be quick to point out her adorable puppy. Maybe it would be her eclectic sense of fashion or her impressive Snapchat streak of over a year with her best friend. However, her peers don’t know about one particular talent of hers. It’s not that she’s keeping it a secret, it’s just that she’s never mentioned it: Nattam has eight years of Telugu Indian classical dance hidden under her belt.

Starting when she was in first grade, Nattam took her first lessons, fascinated by the classes that her sister, Anu, had been attending for four years prior. “I would go with my mom to her classes and I was interested in them -- especially since I wanted to copy her because she was my older sister,” Nattam explained. It didn’t take long for her mother to take notice of her budding interest in the art: “When my mom’s childhood neighbor was offering classes, she signed us up,” said Nattam. She never felt forced to take them, but there was a certain pressure from her parents to succeed in her new interest. Nattam’s mother had previously inspired her sister to take lessons in the first place because their mother had always wanted to take them when she was a child. “[My mom and dad] did introduce us to the classes and they personally enjoyed them,” she said. “They always came to our performances and recorded our classes.”

Nattam attended dance lessons for eight year. Reflecting back on it now, she said she misses the experience, while still acknowledging the challenges. “When you first join your place with a group of girls, you stay with them for years, and I formed a connection and a really strong bond with all of them,” she said. “However, I didn’t enjoy all of my Fridays being taken away because of having to take the classes, as well as waiting around for my sister to teach her classes. Toward the end of my time there, the teacher was kind of difficult.” She also described the dances as “super traditional,” despite her family not being overtly religious. She said that she performed the dances because she felt that it was important to her family, as well as to her.

In the end of her time there, though, there was too much going on in Nattam’s life to maintain a healthy balance of work and life. “The dance classes were an hour away and my sister and I just didn’t have the time for it anymore. It was the beginning of her senior year, and my eighth grade year, so there was a lot going on,” she explained. However, Nattam admitted  that she was open to returning to dance in the future. “I’d like to explore a different type of Indian dancing,” she said. “I’d want to choose a more relaxing and fun one.” Nattam still dances at home or at parties, but she simply never told anyone about her ethnic dancing. Since it has been years since Nattam has actually attended an Indian dance class, she was pretty sure that the moves would not come as easily now as they did then. “It doesn’t matter though,” she said. “It’s more about the people than the dancing.”

Story by Lana Wooley