நன்றி nandRi // thank you
Aaya/Grandmother -- whose beautiful spirit continues to flow through me, and whose love for dance is passed down through family
Atha/mom -- who always wanted to be a dancer, and through which I Began Dancing from age 2
My sister, Meena V. Held, who continues to guide and challenge me to be better
Meena Baskaran -- my first dance teacher in the late 80s in Milwaukee
Hema Rajagopalan -- whose dance classes provided me with a classical dance foundation, and whose classes were so valued by my parents who drove me to them two hours away, every weekend for over 10 years
Dr. Ananya Chatterjea -- my foundation in contemporary dance and social justice based movements (physical and emotional) -- 15 years of working together and it’s still a source of pride to say I came up as an artist in the Twin Cities through our labor in creating a space for women artists of color in contemporary Indian-based dance since 2005
Pramila Vasudevan -- whose experimental work and thinking inspired me to think outside of the theater as a performance artist, through many years in collaboration and friendship with Aniccha Arts. Pramila continues to inspire me
Maia Maiden who curated me as a solo artist in “Sistah Solo” in 2013, first solo piece in my own contemporary expression
Chamindika Wandarugala -- whose Monkeybear’s Harmolodic Workshop in 2017 opened up the work of visual and puppetry work in my practice, and even before that she and her partner in creative-crime Pradeepa Jeevamanoharan who inspired me as two brown women with beautiful artistic practices in Diaspora Flow
All the womxn of color artists that have gravitated towards my workshops and classes over the past years
To my dearest mentors, friends, teachers and all the lessons along the way that continue to create humbling curiosity and compassion in my life.
Thank you. நன்றி
I carry all the medicine I need to soar.
உயரப்பறப்பதற்கு மருந்துகளை நான் சுமந்து செல்கிறேன். (Thamizh/Tamil translation)
Uyarapparappatharku marundhukalai naan sumandhu selkiren. (Thamizh/Tamil transliteration)
i will never have this version of me again
let me slow down
and be with her
--always evolving
(Rupi Kaur, Home Body, pg. 181)
என்னுடைய இந்தப் பதிப்பில்
(மீண்டும் ) ஒருபோதும் வரமாட்டேன்;
எனது வேகம் இனிக்குறைந்து அவளுடன் இருப்பேன்;
--என்றுமே (மாற்றங்களுடன்) உருவாகிக்கொண்டு
(ரூபி கோர், Home Body, பக்கம் 181)
