Despite being a popular face in cinema, television and social media, actress Devlina Kumar has always been a dancer first. Probably, not many would know that she has already submitted her PhD thesis on Sociology of Tagore School of Dance. The relevance of Tagore and Tagore’s work mainly forms the crux of her thesis. “So many cultural events in the state take place on the occasion of Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday. So, even today he’s providing employment opportunities to many artistes,” says Devlina while talking about her research.
Devlina started dancing when she was three years old. She started with mimicking and dancing to the tunes she heard on television. Her parents thought that her mudras (hand movements) were good and that she needed professional training to groom her skills. After her initial training in Bharatanatyam and a bit of Kathak abhinaya, Devlina took her training in Manipuri Nartanalaya, learning the dance form under the aegis of Guru Bipin Singh, Guru Kalavati Devi and Bimbavati Devi.
After graduating, she even learnt Odissi for five years and completed her masters in Manipuri from Rabindra Bharati University. Apart from acting and teaching dance to her students in her dance institute Lai Haraoba, Devlina is a guest lecturer at Rabindra Bharati University where she teaches Manipuri,
Folk, Rabindranritya and Aesthetics. We catch up with her to learn more about her upcoming shows, how she balances acting and dancing, debuting as a choreographer and more. Excerpts:
When did you start teaching?
I started teaching when I was still in school, in class XII. I love to teach dance. Initially, there were just 5-6 students, who paid a fee of just Rs 100. I earned my first remuneration, too, at a dance programme.
I was paid Rs 2,000. I try to plan, arrange and choreograph for Lai Haraoba’s annual show, along with
a few others throughout the year. Before the pandemic, we had about 110 students, which came down to almost 50-55, but now again it's 80-83 students at the moment.
How do you balance being a dancer-teacher and an actor?
I keep the classes on Saturdays, which I try to keep relatively free, but in case I get engaged, there’s another teacher — my former student — for them. I take classes at college twice a week. Since there’s a lot on my plate, I never signed up for a lead role in a television serial.
But why only negative characters?
Because, I think, negative characters have a lot of shades to emote and I would say that in the case of television serials, the negative lead, especially if she is a female, has a lot to explore. Also, I am a calm person in real life, so, I enjoy playing such volatile and edgy characters on television.
What are the plans for 2024?
This year, I presented Tagore’s dance drama Shyama for our annual show. For the first time, we performed with live music. It was a surreal experience. It resonated so much with the audience, that one of them wanted to sponsor it. We usually don’t repeat our annual show productions, but this was a one-of- a-kind experience. Also, this year, I worked as a choreographer for the very first time for the song Nakku Nakur in Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s Raktabeej.
Fusion dance is trending a lot on stage or social media. What’s your take on it?
Do you know what the saddest part is? There is a huge gap between a dancer and a ‘reel-dancer’. But at a time when everything is about social media reach, I have noticed that a well-choreographed dance that I have shot nicely doesn’t have that reach as compared to a trending track that you probably can’t even
consider as a ‘dance’. Yet the latter will have more than a million views. Since most of our work revolves around social media and its reach, I am no one to negate these. I have to go with the flow to stay relevant. I try not to succumb to these, but at times, even I have to give in.
How has dance groomed you as a person?
Dance has made me tolerant of situations. Not everything will always be in my favour, right? But I have learnt to handle the situations. I’m a dancer first, and we face all sorts of situations during shows. Second, I can handle and teach a big group of people, which I did during Nakku Nakur. Also, dance has helped me to stay grounded.
Any dance form that you would love to learn?
I would love to learn Latin dance forms, but not here in India. I would like to learn the authentic forms from where the dance forms originated.
Shyama will be presented at GD Birla Sabhaghar on January 4.