On Embodied Practice

In the season finale, Ameya and Kiran ponder over what embodied practice looks like for Indian dancers with special guest Dr. Yashoda Thakore. Dr. Thakore discusses how to define embodied practice, bridge academia and performance, and find meaningful ways to connect dance to the world around us. Ameya and Kiran reflect on what they have from Dr. Thakore’s brilliant conversation and throughout&nbsp;all six episodes to bring Season 1 to a close.&nbsp;&nbsp;Call to Action:&nbsp; Dance in service to your life, your community, and the world around you.&nbsp;Dive deeper:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jaya Senapati:&nbsp;&nbsp;Nrtta&nbsp;Ratnavali&nbsp;(2013) - translated by Drs. Pappu Venugopala Rao &amp; Yashoda Thakore&nbsp;Yashoda Thakore:&nbsp;&nbsp;Kaivalya:&nbsp;Joy in Yoga and Dance&nbsp;(2014)&nbsp;Yashoda Thakore:&nbsp;&nbsp;Pārśvadeva&nbsp;- The Dancer’s Friend -Swarbharti&nbsp;2020 (digest/souvenir)&nbsp;Yashoda Thakore:&nbsp;&nbsp;Her Story of Dance Podcast&nbsp;(2021)&nbsp;About Dr. Yashoda Thakore:&nbsp;Award-winning dancer, educator, researcher, and writer, Dr. Yashoda Thakore deftly balances artistry with scholarship as a Kuchipudi and Devadasi&nbsp;Nrityam&nbsp;artiste. She initially trained in Kuchipudi for 14 years under Padmasri Shoba Naidu and&nbsp;Padmabhushan&nbsp;Vempati&nbsp;Chinna&nbsp;Satyam. Her quest to explore deeper potentialities in dance led her to train with&nbsp;Padmabhushan&nbsp;Swapnasundari for some time. Quite recently, she discovered that she is part of the&nbsp;Kalavantulu&nbsp;community of hereditary women dancers who performed in the temples, courts, and salons in and around the&nbsp;Godaveri&nbsp;Delta in Andhra Pradesh. She then began learning directly from the families themselves in this region.&nbsp;&nbsp;Dr. Thakore has successfully bridged her love for dance practice with academic research by first pursuing a Masters in Dance and then a PhD in Yoga and Dance. In 2013, Dr. Thakore, in association with Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, published a critically-acclaimed English translation of the 13th-century text, Nritta&nbsp;Ratnavalli. Other publications include&nbsp;Kaivalya - Joy in Yoga &amp; Dance. In 2017, she was conferred the&nbsp;Ugadi&nbsp;Puraskar&nbsp;by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for her incredible devotion and contribution to art.&nbsp;She has travelled widely as both a performer and lecturer&nbsp;at many prestigious venues including:&nbsp;The Music Academy in Chennai, Khajuraho and Konark Festivals, The Nehru Center in London, Volos International Festival in Greece, the Center for South Asian Studies in Paris, and many others.&nbsp;Instagram:&nbsp; @yashodathakore&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yashoda.thakore&nbsp;Website:&nbsp;&nbsp;http://yashodathakore.comToday’s episode would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of our amazing listeners as well as:&nbsp;&nbsp;Dr. Yashoda Thakore&nbsp;&nbsp;We Edit Podcasts for audio engineering&nbsp;&nbsp;Sangeetha Kowsik for graphic design of our logo&nbsp;&nbsp;<li...