Orthodontist Niveditha Shetty Hegde and her six-year-old daughter, Ishanvi, have been making waves on social media with their dance videos.
The Kodagu duo, settled in UAE, have a Youtube channel (Laasya) with over 205 million collective views. The videos are shared on Instagram (@nivedithashetty) as well. Metrolife spoke to Niveditha to find out more.
When did you both start dancing?
For me, dancing has been a passion since childhood. My mother encouraged me and choreographed for me from the time I was in kindergarten. I learnt Bharatanatyam for about a year or two but couldn’t pursue it.
Ishanvi was fascinated by dance from a very young age. She used to make her own steps and dance for every song that we played. I once saw her from her daycare CCTV camera on how she was dancing to the nursery rhymes with perfect rhythm. When I saw that, I knew I had found the perfect partner. I started teaching her simple dances at home and enrolled her for Kathak and Bharatanatyam classes when she turned four.
How long does it take for you to choreograph?
It takes two or three days for me to choreograph a dance. The song plays in my head continuously and I form the steps. Then I show it to Ishanvi and as she learns, she makes some modifications. Together, we come up with a dance in about a week.
Your videos are very well-produced, from costumes to filming. What’s the process like?
All our videos are completely homemade. I do the choreography with Ishanvi, we practice together, we think of costumes, design them and get them stitched. My husband records the videos and then I edit them. It takes up all our free time but we love doing every bit of it.
What have the biggest challenges been?
For me, as a full-time working woman, the biggest challenge has been time. I have a one-day weekend and during weekdays, my shifts vary. Sometimes I don’t get a lot of hours with Ishanvi for teaching and practice. There have been times when we have shot a video but I haven’t released it because I couldn’t take out time for editing.
What plans for the future?
We would love to continue this. We are happy that we are in some way touching people with our performances. I get dance covers of our choreographies from several moms who are rediscovering their passion for dance with their kids. I see grown-up girls encouraging their moms to dance with them, daughter-in-laws dancing with their mothers-in-laws, and little kids trying their best to pick up our steps. The fact that we inspired all these people is our biggest achievement and we want to keep doing this. As for Ishanvi, I want her to keep learning and get better each day. I want her to respect dance and grow as an artiste.