Artist and Dancer Ramya S Kapadia: I Am Living Proof Of The American Dream

An Interview With Jake Frankel

Keep learning/honing your skill. The one thing I’ve learned from teaching is that there is always a lot more to learn and that you’re never DONE learning. Everyday, I discover a new layer of myself, my awareness or sensitivity thanks to the arts I get to practice. I am grateful to have mentors even today, who spend several hours even today guiding my study and my practice.

Is the American Dream still alive? If you speak to many of the immigrants we spoke to, who came to this country with nothing but grit, resilience, and a dream, they will tell you that it certainly is still alive.

As a part of our series about immigrant success stories, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ramya Kapadia.

Ramya S. Kapadia is a Knoxville-based multi-disciplinary artist specializing in Bharatanatyam dance, Carnatic music (South Indian dance & music), visual art (Warli tribal art) and writing (children’s fiction). She is known for her solo & group works, and for music scores for Indian dancers globally. Ramya has Master’s degrees in Medical Physics and Neuroscience, now she pursues the arts full time. Through Natyarpana School of Dance & Music she shares the rich traditions of India across the USA. Awarded grants by the Durham and North Carolina Arts Councils and the North Carolina Dance Alliance. She is a Teaching Artist with the United Arts Council and Tennessee Arts Commission. She integrates the principles of her 2000-year old form with the STEAM curriculum in schools, emphasizing accessibility to children with special needs. Ramya believes that art can and should tell stories that move audiences to becoming better and more compassionate human beings.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was born in Chennai, India, but lived in Muscat, Oman with my parents and younger brother until I was seven. We moved back to India in 1986 and lived in Chennai, Kolkata, a little self-contained colony — Awarpur and Mumbai. We lived a simple, orthodox, Tamilian middle-class life.

My mother, a singer, writer, scholar and stay-at-home mom was my first music teacher. My earliest memories are of either reading with her, trying my hand at sewing or painting like her or of singing — everyday. My little brother would be doing somersaults or cartwheels around us and singing along. My brother and I grew up listening to some of the greatest Carnatic and Hindustani musicians in live concerts and our favorite “activity” was to sing everything we heard in solpha syllables. Dance came to me much later. I was not a very active child — I was ill very often that didn’t leave me with much energy to move, but I would imagine myself dancing, gliding across the dance floor. I owe all my dancing to my dance teachers in India and in Madison, WI. I knew I loved performing very early in life. Even as a child, I loved the hours spent practicing and I absolutely loved every aspect of a stage performance from creation to the final performance.

However, growing up, I was also very aware of the financial struggles that artists faced so I never thought I’d do this full time. I loved to study and always dreamt of being able to become a researcher, which was just as well, because education was very important to my family. I studied biomedical engineering in Mumbai, worked as a service engineer for ultrasound and CT at Siemens Ltd, a sales engineer for Sandor Medicaid (I sold injections for rheumatoid arthritis) and Shruti Medi-science (I sold Pulse Oximeters) before getting my master’s degrees in Medical Physics and Neuroscience.

By nature I’ve loved to learn — languages, painting, sewing, science and history. I’ve always wanted to be useful to the world. My motto — Make a difference NOW, for I have but one life to live. I feel like it has been a pretty good day if I have made a positive impact on even one person and I think all the experiences I have had in my life have shaped me to be like that.

All along, I have had incredible teachers, friends and mentors, who taught me to keep learning, stay inspired and humble, to step up for what you believe in and always show up!

Was there a particular trigger point that made you emigrate to the US? Can you tell us the story?

Like many engineers, I too had applied to pursue a master’s in biomedical engineering in the USA. That brought me to UW-Madison. I suppose I felt all the things that someone that leaves home for the first time goes through — nervous anticipation, a lot of excitement at being on my own. The things that were most challenging for me were to use the computer for all forms of homework — we were used to writing out our assignments back in India -, the casual manner with which teachers and students communicated with each other and oh of course, the weather! The first three weeks in the country were spent actively applying for research assistantships and learning to use the bus around town. I didn’t have a cellphone at the time either, so I got really good at learning directions and memorizing bus schedules.

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped make the move more manageable? Can you share a story?

I moved to UW-Madison with another classmate from Mumbai. She was also my roommate and in the same program (different lab, though), so I had company. We explored the campus and the town together. But I do have an interesting story about some of the first friends I made on campus. About two weeks after I moved to Madison, I received an email from a girl asking if I was the same Ramya who had sung in a blockbuster Bollywood movie. When I replied in the affirmative, she asked if we could meet up. She had a few other friends who were huge fans of the song as well and for the time that I was in Madison, they were really my family in every sense of the word!

So how are things going today?

Being an artist has helped me form connections across age groups and across communities. Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music as art forms immediately create an experience within both the performer as well as the viewer, that is beyond the mundane. No matter what the storyline is, both the performer and the viewer come out of the performance feeling cleansed and renewed. It has been especially gratifying performing for senior citizens or veterans or teaching children with special needs alternate ways of communicating through gestures. They feel seen and heard.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

As an instructor/educator, I am constantly meeting students, their families and siblings. They see firsthand that it is possible to pursue a dream if you are first fully convinced of it, second, are willing to do whatever it takes while still maintaining your integrity and work ethic, and third, are willing to fall down and make mistakes but still get up and keep going on. This is especially important for young girls who are often told that they cannot do something. I don’t paint rosy pictures. It is very very hard work and often, heartbreakingly lonely work, but when we go back to why we love doing this work, or for that matter anything else, the heartbreak fades away and we come out the other side, re-energized and inspired.

You have first-hand experience with the US immigration system. If you had the power, which three things would you suggest to improve the system?

• Work visas or permanent residence should be given to those who consider the USA their home and are actively contributing to it.
• So much can be learnt from cultural exchange between countries. It would be great if artists were able to travel freely to the US
• The USA graduate education is one of the best in the world. It would be wonderful for students to be able come and study.

Can you share “5 keys to achieving the American dream” that others can learn from you?

• Anything is possible as long as you are 100% involved in everything you do. I practiced music, dance, painting and creating all through my life with the same zeal as I did my academic training. I never expected to become a full-time artist — I was gearing towards being either a medical physicist or a neuroscientist , but when the opportunity presented itself, I was fully equipped to make a complete 180 degree shift in career and pursue the arts.
• Ask for help. Starting out as an artist, there was no preset, chartered path to follow. I asked for help or advice whenever I hit a stumbling block and I always helped in return.
• Be involved in community not just a performer or a star, but if you see a need, don’t wait to be asked to help. Just do it. Without falling into the trap of fame or accumulating performance credits, I made sure anything I did art related was beneficial to the community first. I reached out to Arts councils, local presenting organizations, theaters and individual artists to see how I could help them further THEIR goals first. Especially, since I was introducing a non-Indian, culturally specific form in WI and then in NC, where these forms were not visible at the time, I had to create a willing community that would accept these forms, by first making myself part of the existing community. I see that I have to do the same once again in Knoxville, TN.
• Adapt — life throws curveballs pretty much all the time. More grants and applications to festivals have been rejected than accepted, so I often feel like I’m hustling all the time. This was fine when I was single and even when I was married, but the minute my kids were born, my whole identity and more importantly, concept of time or organization changed. I had to learn the hard way, that with kids, plans change constantly and that I would have to trust myself to draw upon some hidden, magical store of of inspiration to keep going.
• Keep learning/honing your skill. The one thing I’ve learned from teaching is that there is always a lot more to learn and that you’re never DONE learning. Everyday, I discover a new layer of myself, my awareness or sensitivity thanks to the arts I get to practice. I am grateful to have mentors even today, who spend several hours even today guiding my study and my practice.

We know that the US needs improvement. But are there 3 things that make you optimistic about the US’s future?

The ability to have a conversation about what is right with America or what is not!

The US offers you the opportunity and the ability to be a truly global citizen.

One can sense a wave of change coming in the mindset of people when it comes to recognizing race, gender and the contribution of various culturally specific communities. There is a long way to go before we can all truly call ourselves tolerant and accepting, but I think we’re on the right track. When we bring more art and therefore, beauty into our lives, we automatically become more sensitive!

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Bill and Melinda Gates

What is the best way our readers can further follow your work online?

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ramya.kapadia

https://www.facebook.com/NatyarpanaDurham

Instagram: @ramyakapadia

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ramyakapadia8168

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!