(background and personality)

[bayadere]

background;
Nirmala, her mother likes to say, Nirmala danced her way out of the womb and although it is an exaggeration, of course, although Nirmala was born the usual way, there is truth to her mother's tale. She has always been dancing, as long as she can remember, before she discovered ballet at age eleven, it was Odissi, but dance she did. Still.

At Williams Ballet School in the upperclass districts of Bhubaneswar, Nirmala was soon chosen by Rachel Williams herself, former soloist with the major American Ballet Theatre who moved to India out of love, for private classes and as Nirmala grew from girl to woman, from bunhead to dancer, Rachel also became her coach and her mentor. Finally she managed to secure Nirmala try-outs for the prestigious Prix de Lausanne where she was accepted as a contestant, then continued on to the finals and in the end won first prize, a one-year apprenticeship with the Royal Danish Ballet.

In Denmark she met Josef Schou, at that time a teacher at the RDB school and he took an immediate interest in her, so much that when her contract with the RDB wasn't renewed, he took her with him to the company he himself had recently taken over leadership of, the Danish National Ballet.

At the DNB, Nirmala was given big opportunities from the start, dancing many solo roles even as a corps dancer. Eventually, as she conquered the entire repertory, she rose through the ranks, promoted first to soloist and then to principal dancer.

Although she has danced almost every main role in the DNB's repertory, there is a role that she's still dreaming of - Nikiya from La Bayadère, a ballet that the DNB has never previously performed. One day, she hopes, Josef will acquire the rights for it and give the grand premiere to her.

personality;
Moderato assai is the notation for Nikiya's first solo in La Bayadère, meaning "very moderate" and it describes Nirmala's personality perfectly. She is soft-spoken and of a gentle disposition, hard-working and patient. Only on the stage does she make a great show of herself, she is a gifted actress with beautiful musicality when she dances. Especially her eyes have by many been noted as dramatic, a true force.