It’s a mesmerising sight. Nadhirah’s gestures are deft, her motions strong. Her bracelets jangle as she moves to the music with an irrepressible energy. When the song ends, she bursts into giggles, before heading to the camera.
“How was that? Can I check it first? I have to make sure it looks good!”
Nadhirah is experienced in many styles of dance, including contemporary, ballet, modern, and hip-hop. Very soon, she will add another feather to her cap: Indian classical dance.
After studying it for about seven years, the 27-year-old will present her Bharatanatyam arangetram at the Temple of Fine Arts in Brickfields here tomorrow night.
An arangetram – which comes from the Tamil words for “stage” and “ascent” – is the debut onstage performance of a student of Indian classical dance and music. A sign of mastery, it is conducted for many classical dance styles, including Kathak and Kathakali, and often denotes that a student is ready to perform on their own and teach others.
It is not very common for non-Indian performers to pursue Bharatanatyam training to the highest levels of undertaking the arangetram, but the spirited Nadhirah looks up to the task. Nevertheless, “I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. Excited, nervous, everything!”
Dance has been part of Nadhirah’s life for as long as she can remember. The Melaka-born performer began to dance at age seven, drawn to the irresistible rhythms of zapin, a traditional Malay art form.
She credits her father, Rahmat Mohd Noh, a director at the Johor National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) and a former performer himself, for guiding her down this path.
Nadhirah danced all through her school years, eventually earning a Bachelor of Dance (Honours) with a major in performance from the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara) in 2020.
It was also at Aswara where she discovered Indian classic dance, one of the many art forms on her syllabus, and fell in love with it.
“I like the uniqueness of its movements, the lines you make. It’s like Malay traditional dance in some ways, there’s also a lot of using the hands, but it’s more complex. I also like the makeup and the costumes.”
Nadhirah comes across as shy but curious, often breaking into laughter randomly. She smiles as she recounts some of the highlights of her dance career, including roles in Aswara productions such as “Jamu”, “Gelombang Baru”, and “Main Zapin”, as well as winning the Best Female Dancer award at the Short and Sweet Malaysia Dance Festival in 2016.
“One of my favourite memories has to be the ‘Roots Of Dance’ project in Poland,” she shares. “I got to meet many dancers from so many countries around the world. All of us were brought together for this event, and learning from one another was wonderful.”
Nadhirah, who is now a member of ASK Dance Company, hopes her experiences will prove helpful for her arangetram. She reveals she is most concerned about the “varnam”, the central and most elaborate number of any Bharatanatyam performance.
“That part requires a lot of stamina and consistency of movement, and I really hope I’m up to the task,” she adds brightly.
The Bharatanatyam may be from a culture different from hers, but Nadhirah views it with the highest respect. She also stresses that she is firmly grounded in her own culture and religion, saying: “I’m only practising an art form. This does not change who I am.”
Asked about her future plans, Nadhirah says she will go with the flow. She looks forward to new opportunities, and potentially learning and mastering even more styles of dance.
Her advice to new dancers is to build up their mental and physical strength; to never give up, even when challenges arise… and of course, to always keep dancing.
‘Nadhirah Rahmat – Arangetram: a solo Bharatanatyam debut’
When:
Tomorrow (June 24), 8pm
Where:
Shantanand Auditorium,
Temple of Fine Arts,
116, Jalan Berhala,
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur
Admission is free. For more information, visit the Temple of Fine Arts website.