It is my absolute pleasure to introduce my graceful and elegant dancer friend Nidhi Swamy as Mayurika.
Nidhi Swamy began her Bharatanatyam training as a young girl under the guidance of Guru Indumathy Ganesh in Fremont, CA. During this time, she performed in numerous temples and dance productions around the Bay Area and completed her Arangetram in 2012. While in college, she was a dancer on UC Berkeley’s premier Indian classical dance team, Natya at Berkeley, and participated in competitions around the nation. Professionally, she works as a software engineer at Rivian and enjoys spending time around the beauty of California’s scenic nature.
It has been my humble attempt to bring out Mayurika’s dance through the Odissi dance form. The form itself is exquisite in its grace. I am thankful to Niharika Mohanty Didi for giving me an insight into the Odissi dance form in her workshop. Nidhi tirelessly worked with me for months to adapt some nuances of the dance form and brought to life Mayurika with her graceful dance. I cannot thank her enough for believing in this and being part of the team. Mayaangi’s story is about exploring beauty, courage, and peace as virtues and a journey to embrace the fearless in you. Mayurika is the personification of beauty and grace. But what does beauty mean to her? Is beauty in perfection? Does the idea of perfect beauty weigh heavy on a lot of us? How does Mayurika see beauty?
Listen to what Nidhi has to say about her experience in Mayaangi here