Dancing for a cause

PETALING JAYA: Dancer Suneetra Karam Singh has a less-than-typical resolution this new year – she wants to use her art to break the stigma experienced by rape victims.

From next month, the 27-year-old from Petaling Jaya will tour major cities in North America for a year performing the bharatanatyam, a traditional Indian dance form, before pursuing her post-graduate degree in medicine.

A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Suneetra said she was raped on three different occasions since she was 13.

Suneetra realised that she should share her story to change the lives of others after experiencing what it is like for a woman (and her family) to bear the shame of being raped, and after several other rape survivors reached out to her for help.

“I felt that I needed to make this something bigger. The story needed to be told, and the best medium was through dance,” said Suneetra, who has been trained in the bharata­natyam for two decades.

Titled “Sacrilege of the Goddess”, the series of performances employ traditional Indian dance movements to express the emotions a woman goes through on her journey after being sexually abused.

Suneetra plans to perform independently in North America, working with theatres in each city.

“I want rape survivors to know that it’s okay to feel shame, disgust and anger, but it’s important to let go. I dance to break the chains of judgment and prejudice that hold down rape survivors like myself. I dance for freedom,” she said.

Suneetra said the biggest challenge was putting her story out for the world to see and opening herself up to the “shame and scorn”, but her friends and family had been very supportive of her efforts.

“When you do things from the heart, you will find that the universe bends over backwards to help you,” she noted.

“Sacrilege of the Goddess” will premiere on Jan 14 at the Neptune Theatre in Nova Scotia, Canada.