Rajunika Rajunika

I was born in a beautiful mountain town called Velingrad and I’m reared with the Bulgarian national music and dances, but my biggest passion became the culture of India. From my early age I became to express my self by dancing and my best teacher was the mirror. I realized that I bring the spirit of the dance style Kathak – one of the eight classic styles of India.

When I was 16 I made my first stage appearance. This happened at the Festival of Art Activities, organized in my school. I took my first individual award there and that’s how it started. I began sewing my costumes by my self, I made my choreographies, I assembled my music.

I took part in a lot activities called “Evenings of India” – events organized by the students from India, who were in the Bulgarian universities. They made the greatest present for me – an old, Hindi school book in Russian. That is how I learned the language and a lot of the culture of India, all by my self. In all this years I was fully supported by my friends from the embassy of India. The destiny met me with my husband Randjinder Kumar, in 1995.

 

My passion became my job first at the Bulgarian seaside. Ten years (1999-2008), I was dancing in the biggest Bulgarian resorts – Golden Sands, Bourgas, Varna, Albena, Sunny beach. Together with my oldest daughter Juna, we were dancing as a duet “Radjunika”.

In 2005 we were invited to take a part with my choreography in the video “Giliai” of two famous Bulgarian singers – Rumaneca and Enchev. This was the moment when from the duet “Radjunika” we became a dancing formation. The singers went to MTV and we became really famous among the Bulgarian people – everybody wanted to dance with us.

I opened my dancing centers for the Indian style – “Kathak - Bollywood” in Sofia and Varna. After that came a lot of TV visits, invitations from famous shows and interviews, which gave me high media popularity. Really big challenge for me was the invitation for me to be a choreograph in the dancing competition “Dance with me” 1 and 2, which was a part of the most famous Bulgarian TV show – “Slavi’s Show”. I managed to do all choreographs for a very short time.

Together with my two little daughters – Kavita and Rakeshi – we made the “Radjunika junior formation”. We took a part in a lot of dancing festivals, celebrations, charity events and so on.

In March, 2009, I managed to realize one of my dreams – I made for the first time in Bulgaria a Bollywood performance – “ Holly – the colors of life”. I also made my second Christmas performance “Divalli” in November.

Another challenge for me as choreograph was the invitation for two very big TV shows – “Dance academy” and “Dancing stars” in October and November 2009.

That is how the magic of India approached more people, who are coming in my dancing centers in Sofia: “Dance academy”, “Pretty dance center”, “Dance club A-style”, “R5 center” and the National stadium “Vasil Levski”.

 

 

 

There are several types of Indian dance. Тhey are: “Bharatnatyam”, “Kathak”, “Kathakali”, “Kuchipudi”, “Manipuri”, “Mohiniatam”, “Rajastani” and “Gujarati”.

I dance style „Kathak - Bollywood’’, such as mixing "Bharatnatyam" and the folk style “Bhangra” with a modern ballet - receive with one word Bollywood.

As a matter a fact Indian dance is expression in gestures and mime of the story of myths and legends of the epic: „Mahabharata'', "Ramayana", "Bhagvadgita.'' Through body language and with the help of mudras(shape of the fingers), and rhythm to recreate stories and pictures of different myths. In these dances is taking part all the body, taking care for the center of gravity in order to take the correct vision and precise movements performed.

Kathak is close to Flamenco as a temperament.

The nature of Indian dance is a celebration of Love and God. God created the word with so much love, by cosmic dance (Dancing Shiva-Natradzha). Love is a driving force of life! Through those dancing, man is loaded with positive energy and relieves the stress.            

Barefoot dancing give us contact with mother Earth, being massaged all points of the body which are located on the feet. That's why my style of dancing is kind of yoga or dance rather dance for relaxation and pleasure, without age limits. Each time we start with “Namaskar” - Indian greeting, a respectful greeting to all around us, the mother land, teachers and ordinary people.

“NAMASKAR”!!