MALAYALEES PRIDE IN EUROPE

Through this page we hope to share with our Malayalee community the talents that lay hidden among us. We also hope that through our site many of our organisations, associations, faith centres would identify these European Malayalee talents and give them an opportunity to perform during their events.

My mother says that even as a toddler, instead of walking , I danced my first  steps!  I just enjoyed rhythm, beats and music and loved dancing to catchy tunes.  For me dancing was always a passion.

I am 17, Hima Davis, hailing from Kerala, a state in South India, where dance and  music add colour to the life of each and every one.

At the age of four I started learning Bharathanatyam, one of the oldest and most beautiful clasical dance- forms of India.  While learning Bharathanatyam I wanted to increase my repertoire of Indian dances and pleaded with my mother to enrol me for other dance lessons. Soon  I started learning folk-dances, which was of a totally different style.  It did not take long before I won the first prize at a district-level folk-dance competition.

At the age of eleven I turned my attention to Mohini Attam.  Although this “dance of the temptress”, as it is popularly known,  interested me a great deal, I could not learn much of this great dance form as I had to leave Kerala to live with my father in Austria.

In Austria chances to learn dance were rare; however I did not give up my passion. The dance-scene in Vienna was for me a challenge: I had to be myself  teacher of dances and I was often called upon  to perform..  Along with business school, I also taught and continue to teach dance, earlier at South Indian Schools of Indian Dance in Vienna including the well known “Balakairli”. Just now I am teaching at a Viennese centre for adult education.  My students are mostly Austrians of  different age groups,  all fascinated by Bollywood!.

Vienna witnessed a new dimension in my dancing ambitions: I performed often solo and occasionally together with my sister and friends dances in the semi-classical style. In fact I contributed to the revival of semi-classics in Vienna. Our efforts were once internationally recognised and awarded.

Although only for five minutes, I did take centre stage in a Bollywood dance sequel, which I choreographed and performed live on ORF (Austrian National Channel) in a programme called “Willkommen Österreich”.  This  has been truly the highlight of my “dancing career” so far.

My desire is to understand the finer aspects of dance and make my way to the higher realms of Indian Dancing Arts.

If you or you know a talent whose details you think should be here please contact  us:

 info@kairalieurope.com