Muskan Bhatia, Dec. 4 -- In a world that spins ever faster, she moves in slow, meditative circles. Each gesture is deliberate, each glance softened by centuries of tradition, and by the personal battles she has weathered. For this legendary Mohiniyattam artist, the dance is not just an art form. It is a refuge, a compass, and, in her words, "the medium that allowed me to be me.""I felt its power very early," Vijayalakshmi, world-renowned Indian classical dancer, said as she recalled her first encounters with the dance at the tender age of 11.
As a teenager, navigating turmoil at home, she sensed that Mohiniyattam held something extraordinary. "Its slow, meditative movements calmed me. They aligned perfectly with who I was, a peace-loving, ...