Today we’d like to introduce you to Thulasiram Govinda Chettiyar.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
For the quiet and timid boy that I was all through school and college, getting a word out was distressful, let alone dancing or getting up on a stage. My introverted, 9 to 5 IT engineer life seldom had any surprises until that one fine evening when I saw our office dance team perform. Something about the audience cheer, and the dancers’ zest on stage, held me captivated at that moment. Little did I know that, that one moment of awe was going to become my life.
Soon after, I started looking for dance classes and I was fortunate to find someone who teaches weekly hip-hop classes in and around my workplace and that was my first ever dance class and I was 21 at the time. It was during this experimental phase that I stumbled upon an opportunity to take part in one of the most prestigious dance reality shows on live TV in India. For a boy still fresh off college with minimal life and dance experience, this break was electrifying just as it was terrifying. But I was not ready to let go of a life-defining experience in the name of being a neophyte in the field. It did catch up to me sooner than later however, as I could only make it to the top 30 contestants ultimately. Nonetheless, the struggle, the training, the chance to meet fellow dancers, and most of all, the reality of what dance is as a profession was a far greater endowment than a winning trophy could ever have been.
As I continued to build my dance skillset, another piece of my life close to my heart, yoga, had long been at a standstill. The unsettling feeling of not being able to pursue my passion, the intoxication of doing what you love for a daily job, the dire need to do what I cherish the most for I would have to work no more, gave me many sleepless nights. I started training to be a certified teacher in Hatha, Ashtanga and Shivananda schools of yoga, alongside my soon to be over IT career, to bring about a change and set my life on a different path. In such a predicament, came my move to Vietnam, where I was invited to teach yoga classes for an acclaimed franchise. As fancy as the move sounded, just as hard was the job. I was laboriously teaching six classes a day, often three at a stretch, all with complete demonstrations as I could not instruct in Vietnamese. The exhaustion of long days, added to the lack of communication, made survival difficult. But as the saying goes, nothing good comes easy and my solace lied in the satisfaction of knowing that I was doing what I loved.
Fast-forward to a year later, I find myself in the land of opportunities, the United States of America, the place where many of the young boy’s cherished dreams finally come true. Although I had a few family friends in the country, this was a new beginning, a clean slate so to speak. In the initial part of my struggling days, attending workshops organized by my dance idols, like Kinjas and Bdash, was as far as I could penetrate into the dance circle. Gradually though, my network expanded, and soon I became a guest instructor for ABCD school of Bollywood Dance, Phoenix. In collaboration with fellow dancers in Dallas, I started Team Ground Zero (TGZ). We became a renowned name in the Dallas Metroplex after having made it to the finals of the popular Zee TV dance reality show, Dance USA Dance, held in New York’s Playstation Theatre.
The past few years in the United States have been an exponential growth journey for me professionally. It has redefined my own definition of me, carved me as an individual and created more room for self-improvement. The journey I am set on is not an easy or a traditional one. As much the excitement, just as many obstacles. The goal, nevertheless, is to keep moving ahead, not looking back to regret, but only to reflect. After all, all one can do is hope because no matter how many lemons life throws at you, hope is the only constant that gives you the strength to make lemonades out of them.
Great, 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 dream-achieving path lacks obstacles, and I am no exception. To begin with, choosing to take dance and yoga as my career in itself was a challenging choice. This meant quitting a financially stable, secure full-time job for the sole love of one’s passion with the mere support of nothing but hope. Moreover, being the sole income earner of the household, my career choices invited a lot of unwelcome criticisms from both society and even immediate family. But undeterred by all societal pressures, my wife (then girlfriend) stood by me and encouraged me to do what I love, no matter how big the risk. To this day, I believe that, if not for that nudge in the right direction, I would have regretted not making one of my life’s best decisions.
But just passion does not make a career, does it? Holding dance/yoga workshops or classes requires an affordable studio space, a sponsor and most of all determined students/attendees who are willing to be there. Now all of this happens, only once you can establish yourself as a dancer in the area. With dance becoming more and more eminent these days, there is a huge talent pool of dancers out there and gathering that loyal bunch of students for yourself is a gradual ladder to climb. And doing all of this in a brand-new place, away from your hometown, only adds more to the plate. In the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to obtain a few opportunities to have established myself as an artist in both Dallas and Phoenix, gather that set of students with time. There is yet a long way to go and many more hurdles to surpass. But, at the end of the day, it’s a question of how willing you are to fight for what you want and I, am not ready to quit just yet.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I had been trying out a variety of dance styles before I found my calling in hip-hop and urban about a decade ago. Something about the style and the music got me so infatuated that there was no turning back. However, I had been dancing and choreographing Bollywood and Indian folk for so many years by then that I was not ready to shift gears completely yet. I knew I could not control or change what I already know, but I could change what I was going to do with what I knew. And such is the history behind my unique blend of choreographies using urban, hip-hop and Bollywood.
Today, in addition to being a guest instructor for ABCD School of Dance, Phoenix and Dallas, I am also the primary choreographer for my team, Team Ground Zero (TGZ). TGZ is a small group of passionate dancers who came together simply because they wanted to dance, despite their traditional, hectic work and family lives. The birth of our team is still a mystery to me, for we met one crisp evening and decided to participate in the Zee TV dance reality show, Dance USA Dance. Given, it was a lot easier said than done. In good times, we made headway to the semi-finals in New Jersey after winning the regional competition in the Dallas Metroplex area. Our semi-final performance on anti-bullying and drug abuse blessedly won us the hearts of various acclaimed dance celebrities like Matt Steffanina, a popular name in the hip-hop dance circuit and Lauren Gottlieb of the 2013 Indian dance film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance fame, who was there to judge the show. We were fortunate to have been among the top six finalists and the crowd-favorite team in this competition that covered every major city in the U.S and Canada.
My team and I are particularly proud to have been the only dance team to have represented Bollywood pride at the Dallas Hip Hop DanceFest 2019. We have come a long way but chasing the horizon isn’t quite a short journey. Not being limited to dance and yoga alone, in the recent past, I have been honing my repertoire to include creative video making and sound engineering techniques. For a performing artist, these skills serve as a bonus as what you got does not mean much if not presented in the most adequate manner.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
As someone who started from the roots, when learning any new art form, I think it is vital to be patient with your body. It is important to take the time to get it used to the movement, the flow. Once that is assimilated into your body, it is then simply a matter of practice. In the initial stages, I recall practicing hours together in front of a mirror, fixing every move, every posture. When it came to yoga, bringing that stillness needed years of discipline. I am not a big multitasker per se. In today’s fast-paced society, where youngsters hustle and ironically strive to burn the candles at both ends, I am one for antiquated beliefs. I still trust in picking that one thing and giving it all you got. Whether that leads to success or not, at least you know you tried your very best.
Given any career, in addition to building one’s own skillset, I also consider it important for people to be able to appreciate their peers’ talent and creativity. This creates more room for growth for the art rather than just the artist. Especially in a field like dance, where the concept is redefined in itself by the day, adapting to its dynamic nature is fundamental for a dancer. Doing this as a community with artists bolstering each other makes the ride just a tad smoother. Last but certainly not the least, the constant habit of practicing and growing built over years, better prepares each one of us for that one time when an opportunity might just knock the door, so you can simply knock the ball off the park.
Contact Info:
- Phone: (424)392-9573
- Email: thulasiram.g87@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thulasi.ram/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TulsiAlive
Image Credit:
Vasanth Vaseegaran
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