Today we’d like to introduce you to Swapna Ragaleena Gudemella.
Swapna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Before I start my story, I would like to tell about Indian classical dance which is my identity today. Indian Classical dance has its roots in spirituality, devotion, and storytelling from Puranas (epics like Ramayana that teaches how to lead the a life choosing good over bad) through entertainment. I was introduced to the south Indian classical dance form – Kuchipudi at the early age of 3 by my mother. I was a fast learner and fortunate to have the blessings of the almighty and my teacher that I started performing by the age of 5. Coming from an average Indian middle-class family where education was always the first priority. Every kid was expected to have a goal of becoming an engineer or doctor😄 My mother was very determined to have my dance training continues in spite of challenges. She use to take me to class which took us 1 hour of travel in public transport (bus) to attend an hour class., I was awarded “Pride of school “in my high school for two consecutive years for winning in first place in every competition representing our school. Also was a government channel graded Artist in Kuchpudi. If I have to give credit to what I am today then it would be my mother (Anuradha), My guru /teacher Dr. Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry for teaching me this art form, and the Principal of St. Dominic’s high school P.S.Reddy Sir for giving the encouragement and exposure which built a lot of confidence in me as an artist. I completed Post Graduation – Master’s in computer science. I got an opportunity to work for regional television channels in India as an Anchor and an artist while I was doing my Master’s program. Dance was a part of my life all along. Though I had Master’s degree in computer science, my heart was always into arts. Instead of taking a job for my degree, I preferred to establish a dance school. Every story has twists and turns. After marriage, my husband’s work and projects were always abroad (travel to US and Canada every 3 to 6 months). To keep our family together in one place we had to make a decision to move to the United States. I had to leave what I built and was a very hard decision to make. We moved to New Jersey, Wayne city. From leading an active and successful television Artist and an entrepreneur life in India, I became a homemaker looking after my two kids here. I felt like I lost my identity. I started teaching neighborhood kids for their school talent shows to engage in doing what I like. Later we moved to Dallas in 2011 where life took a major turn. Dallas is a happening place for arts and culture. I started volunteering teaching Kuchipudi at a Hindu temple in Plano through a program called “Vidya Vihar “. In 2013 I established “Ragaleena Dance Academy “- dance with passion as my slogan.
I also successfully fulfilled my dream of accomplishing a Master’s degree in performing arts – Kuchipudi in 2020 from Siliconandhra University, California.
As quoted by Paulo Coelho, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. Being an immigrant with no family or friends to support I decided to follow my passion.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it wasn’t a smooth road. There were challenges throughout my journey. I had so many challenges to overcome. My husband was traveling every week and I had to take care of my 8-year-old boy and 2-year-old daughter while running a dance studio single-handed. I was always on my toes being a mom, dropping and picking up my kid’s classes and running my classes. You know, it is not easy to find a staff for the dance form I teach because of the art form is basically a “guru shishya parampara” meaning “an uninterrupted succession “where the student acquire the unique style of learning from his/her teacher. Though the dance form is same throughout but there is a uniqueness in every lineage passing knowledge to the succession of guru(teacher) to the students. So, it was an everyday challenge for me to run my dance school and handle my kids all alone on weekdays. If I am successful today in continuing my passion to run a dance school, I must credit my husband for his moral support. There were days when My kids doing their homework and they even slept in dance studio right next to me when I was teaching students. On weekends my husband use to takeover on kids doing everything for me as I was teaching class. When I moved to the United States, I chose my family over my passion and later my family became my strength to build my passion.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Kuchipudi Dance Practitioner, teacher, and founder of Raagaleena Dance Academy with a Master’s degree in performing arts – Kuchipudi dance from Siliconandhra University, California, USA. Kuchipudi is an Indian Classical dance form originated from a village named Kuchipudi, Krishna district, State of Andhra Pradesh in South India. It has a history prevailing from 14th century. I am very proud and honored to carry the legacy of the Indian traditional dance form, Kuchipudi, and imparting my learning to the future generations. It requires a lot of discipline and dedication to learn structured arts. As a teacher, we need lot of patience when students are learning an age-old art form with so much of cultural gap. It is the responsibility of the teacher to fill in those gaps and engage the students in all means possible to motivate them and encourage them to learn their best in a positive way without compromising on the nuisances of the art form.
If given an opportunity, I would be honored to present this art form to a wider audience.
Having my roots in classical dance, I was also a versatile artist from my childhood. I teach Classical, classical fusion, Semi-Classical, Indian folk dance and Bollywood dance too.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is the one when I realized how appreciative were people when I did my first lead role in a dance drama on our school annual day. I started learning dance very young but never realized how good I was. My mom says it was very hard to make me go to class but once I started to dance, I was the best in class… when I was 11-year-old, there were auditions held for a lead role and I got selected in the audition for the lead role of a dance drama. The chief guest to that event was the State’s Education Minister. After the performance, the education minister appreciated my performance in particular which made me an overnight star of my School.
Pricing:
- Weekly twice classes – $90 per month
Contact Info:
- Email: Raagaleenada@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.raagaleena.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raagaleenadanceacademy/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raagaleena.danceacademy
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/RaagaleenaDanceAcademy
