Souraja Tagore on embracing Bharatnatyam, lineage, and reclaiming heritage spaces through dance
Bharatanatyam exponent Souraja Tagore is an inspiration to staying close to one's culture and roots. She opens up about her lineage, embracing classical arts and reclaiming heritage spaces through dance via Thakurbarir Sarodotsav, in this candid conversation with Indulge.
What drew you to Bharatanatyam?
I was barely three years old when I was introduced to my guru, Sri Abhoy Pal. It was my mother who envisioned an artistic education for me. She guided me through various forms, including music and painting. Over time, she noticed that Bharatanatyam resonated with me.
How do you balance honouring your lineage and shaping your own identity?
I was born into the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family, a lineage that has long been intertwined with art, literature, and music. Carving out my own artistic identity took shape gradually through my engagement with literature, travels, and encounters with cultures and ideas beyond the familiar. Looking back, I realise that my identity was not something I had deliberately set out to construct. The process remains fluid, spontaneous, and ongoing.
Do you think classical dance is understood by a niche audience, or young generation deeply values their cultural roots?
Classical dance and music have always been art forms that speak to a prepared audience. They are not meant to function as mass entertainment. It is important to recognise that this is not a limitation but a defining quality. As practitioners and custodians of classical forms, we also carry the responsibility of cultivating our audience, of educating, guiding, and inviting them into these traditions with patience and clarity. If we wish today’s younger generation to value their cultural roots, those values must be consciously nurtured.
Do you feel heritage spaces act as silent collaborators in your performances?
I was born into a nearly 140-years-old house built by Maharaja Sir Jotindra Mohon Tagore. It is a space rich with history, memory, and aesthetic sensibility. Naturally, this gives me a particular bias, one I embrace wholeheartedly. I have lived, moved, and worked within such spaces, pillars, corridors, and walls. These environments shape my sensibility, inform my movement, and resonate with my inner rhythm, becoming inseparable from my artistic consciousness.
Why is it important to reclaim heritage spaces today?
I have seen how heritage sites come alive when they are used for education, performance, dialogue, and community gatherings; when people inhabit them rather than merely observe them. Activating heritage spaces allows communities, including me, to reconnect with history, question inherited narratives, and find relevance in the past for the present. These spaces then act as bridges between tradition and innovation, grounding cultural identity while allowing it to evolve. In reclaiming them, we resist neglect and commercial exploitation and ensure that history is not just remembered but actively lived and reimagined.
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