the language of dance is universal it goes beyond countries and continents to make its presence felt the harbinger of bharatnatyam in a foreign land is verushkha pather a fourthgeneration indian in south africa who learned the classical art in chennai recently in collaboration with the indian council for cultural relations verushkha and her group performed a dance drama titled sri krishna leela in delhi in an exclusive interview with the times of india she discusses her love of arts q what attracted you to dance a l loved the expression of dance i realized by the time i was 15 that dance was an important and special part of my life i came to india through the iccr scholarship and later decided to make it a full time career i committed myself to bharatnatyam q who was your teacher a my gurus are the dhananjayans from chennai vp dhananjayan and shanta dhananjayan taught me this art form they are not only great artists but also exceptional human beings q how was your experience of indian classical arts as a south african a i have very strong indian roots as my grandfather was an indian i am a fourthgeneration indian in south africa we live in a very western country but i chose the classical form to bridge the two countries as an ambassador of the classical arts i think i have been able to do so q what is your idea of spirituality a for me praying and offering can only be accomplished through dance i have been able to see the presence of divinity onstage my art has brought me to india and my love for it has introduced me to my gurus and many great people art is a medium to bring hearts together q what is the idea behind sri krishna leela by verusha and the group a i created the concept of sri krishna leela which was influenced by my association with iskon it happened because of the interaction with people of the younger generation like me who believed in dance being a medium of storytelling the bhagwad gita is one of the most wonderful scriptures of india and it is a privilege to narrate it through art i chose the verses from the scriptures that i think are essential and the message of the gita is enhanced through our performance through our dance fused with the beautiful poetry it depicts the essence of what is written in our holy scriptures it is a performance of classical bharatnatyam in a very contemporary style of storytelling what captivates the audience is the brilliant drama and the melodious poetry that has been enhanced with a harmonic orchestra q what are your expectations from the performance tour in india a it is a great opportunity for us south africans to showcase the art that weve learnt from india we are grateful to the iccrs vision of social cohesion among countries through arts and culture it is phenomenal