SIVAGAMI SELVARAJAN began her journey as a dancer at age four, and since then, she has performed around the world and even dabbled in acting.
Sivagami is also somewhat of a social activist, as she is a firm believer in gender equality.
“When we speak about gender equality, it is about men and women enjoying equal opportunities in life, without discrimination.
“What I do within my capacity is to always educate myself and the people around me about topics pertaining to gender inequality. It has taken me years to unlearn the things I was conditioned to believe about gender roles, gender stereotypes, and gender norms, and the learning never stops.
“There are men who get criticised for not adhering to masculine gender stereotypes, and women who face moral policing for their clothing choices or for not conforming to the standards of an ideal woman,” said the 29-year-old freelance dancer.
“I think it is crucial for us to be critical about socially-defined gender norms and to not accept everything as it is. Ask questions, and start a conversation with family members with the intention of educating them. We all have that power. It always starts at home by educating our family,” she added.
Loving the art of dance
Trained in bharatanatyam and Odissi dance by Malaysian dance legend Ramli Ibrahim, the lovely Sivagami also learned ballet at the age of 12.
To date, she has performed in India, the United States, Russia, the Middle East and Europe, before embarking on her own artistic journey.
Despite already having been blessed with an abundance of experience, Sivagami continues to seek out more opportunities, stepping out to explore new fields such as acting.
“Although I have danced for 25 years, learning just never stops, instead, it is the catalyst for my passion for dancing. It takes years of consistent practice to master a classical art form,” said Sivagami.
“I enjoy dancing to music by independent bands that infuse Indian classical music with Western music. I find it incredibly liberating to just move to these tunes using all the ‘dance vocabulary’ my body is used to,” said Sivagami.
Dancing came naturally to Sivagami as a child, and she claimed to have danced as soon as she could walk. Realising this, her mother (a dancer herself) enrolled her in Sutra Dance Theatre and drove five hours each way between Sitiawan, Perak to Kuala Lumpur, every weekend for several years, to allow the young girl to learn Indian classical dance.
“My mother was definitely my inspiration and the catalyst who ignited the spark in me,” said Sivagami.
Bitten by the acting bug
An LLB graduate from the United Kingdom, Sivagami wears many hats as a full-time performer, a part-time digital marketing strategist and a content writer for start-ups.
She has also ventured into acting.
“I don’t think I can call myself an actor or claim that I am into acting, yet. I am barely even a beginner compared to those who have been a part of many films. I have worked in short films, music videos and advertisements, but that’s about it. Definitely, it is a field of art I am looking forward to exploring,” she said.
Currently, Sivagami is working on a radio play by Huzir Sulaiman, under the direction of Stephen Megam, an initiative by Observer’s Playground.
It is a stage play adapted into a radio drama due to Covid-19 restrictions. Rehearsals for the play have been conducted via the Zoom app.
Sivagami finds it challenging, as the actors involved are more experienced than her.
“As a dancer, I am used to moving my physical body to narrate a story but now, I am depending solely on my voice, which is making me feel very vulnerable,” she said.
“I am learning about voiceover acting, and grateful that I get to work on something I am passionate about with a team, who are encouraging.
Dreams do come true
Sivagami recalled how as a toddler, she wore a bedsheet as a saree and danced to Illayarajaa’s Adi Rakkama Kaiya Thatu from the 1991 Indian film Thalapathi. Little did she know that one day, she would be sharing the screen with the film’s star, Rajinikanth.
When asked about her most memorable moment as an actress, Sivagami revealed: “Definitely, it has to be my two seconds of screen time next to Rajinikanth ‘Sir’ for the movie Kabali. The first movie I ever watched at the cinema was [his film] Muthu (1995) when I was four years old, and I have been a fan of Superstar Rajinikanth ever since,” said Sivagami.
“So, you can imagine what it was like for me to watch myself onscreen (even though it was only for two seconds) standing right next to a legend. It felt like a lifetime dream got fulfilled! I got the opportunity to spend seven days on the set, and to watch him and Radhika Apte act was definitely magical.”
Sivagami also had the opportunity to learn all about what goes on behind the scenes from actors as well as crew, and about the hard work and patience which goes into creating a film.
Inspired by the saree movement in other countries, in 2016 Sivagami initiated a passion project, Saree Movement, with the hashtag #keepcalmandsareeon as well as an Instagram page, encouraging women around the world to freely express their individuality through sarees.
Women took the call by posting pictures in sarees. Although, she described it as a “journey of self-discovery”, but she does not want to be known as the ‘saree girl’ forever. “I don’t want to be confined to a box or stereotyped. I am just happy that I have had a platform to share more saree love,” she explained.
Sivagami often poses in a saree on her Instagram page, which has 75,200 followers. At the moment, she is working with a friend to come up with a social media challenge to raise awareness for a fundraiser focusing on helping underprivileged women in Asia.
