Dance is child’s play for Payal!

chandigarh: kuchipudi dancer payal ramchandani will give her first solo dance recital in the city at the tagore theatre on december 22. a disciple of 'padma bhushan' raja and radha reddy, the13-year-old payal was in the city on saturday under the auspices of pracheen kala kendra in association with air hostess academy, to announce her dance programme. payal's interest in music began when she was still a baby. noticing her passion for dance, her parents took her to various gurus when she was just four years old before they met raja and radha reddy. they asked me to perform what i already knew and accepted me as a disciple, and my training began under them, recalls payal. now, she practices for about two-three hours at home. payal gave her first solo performance at the age of eight at the - natya vaibhavam - held at delhi's kamani auditorium, and has since been giving four-five such performances annually. talking about her attraction to the classical dance form, she says, it just comes from within, from my heart; whenever i see anyone dancing a classical form of dance i just want to go and join him or her. she's also attracted to bharatnatyam and enjoys a bit of non-classical dance too. studying in convent of jesus & mary in new delhi, payal's other interests are debating and oratory. geetika_bhandari@indiatimes.com