Did You Know American Rapper Doja Cat Is A Trained Bharatnatyam Dancer?

The popular and sensational American rapper, singer, and songwriter Doja Cat is also a fine and trained Bharatnatyam dancer as she was living in an ashram based in California during her childhood days.

As she grew up, the rapper-singer practiced Hinduism in an ashram that was run by the American Jazz artist, Alice Coltrane. She first spent her five years in New York before moving to California, where she then started taking dance lessons.

Doja Cat was trained under the swami ship of Alice Coltrane where she wore headscarves and sang bhajans in the temple. However, later on, the singer took a step back from this life as she was restricted from many things under the Hinduism norms.

 

 

 

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The 'streets' singer moved away from California and started taking breakdancing classes, where she then became a part of a professional pop-locking troupe and also performed around Los Angeles. Developing an interest in pop locking she later took singing lessons from her aunt, who was a singer by profession.

During this tenure, Doja Cat got into performing arts high school and once said that the dance form Bharatnatyam is a highly emotive classical dance form which requires more angles and forming of shapes with one's body, where once Doja Cat performed donned up in a full classical avatar.

Talking about the dance form, Bharatnatyam is a Tamil Nadu-based Indian classical dance style. As eight Indian classical genres are widely recognized across the globe, Bharatnatyam is considered among them. It is also one of the strongest dance forms with a flexible body.

 

 

 

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The dance form reflects the values and culture of Southern India, instilled with their religious and spiritual themes and ideas, which has followings of Hinduism and Shaivism, which are expressed while performing.