Keeping Indian culture
DANCING and singing diva Kumari Ambigay lives by her motto “if you don’t move it, you will lose it”.
At 71, Ambigay looks amazing and can keep up her dance moves with ladies 50 years her junior. She will stage her latest song and dance show – Mother of
Indian Culture”on June 8 at Sibaya Casino’s izulu Theatre.
Ambigay, who lives in Glenwood, Durban, has been in the entertainment industry for 50 years. She started dancing when she was four years-old. Her father, Mathiemugan Pillay, a show promoter, introduced her to the stage. Her first performance was at the Durban City Hall, where she danced and acted. She started dancing professionally in 1970, after she returned from her dance studies in India.
“Even at the age of four I was not nervous when I got on to the stage – I took to it like a fish to water,” she said. “Decades later I still feel the same way. I do one show every year and this year is going to be spectacular. I will be supported by music maestro Tansen Nepaul, as well as the legendary comedian Jugga Pillay, Sagren Naidoo, singer Umitha Kalayan and the Krish Swamivel Dance Group.”
Ambigay will sing her original love songs, which she had written and plans to surprise her audience with one of her latest compositions from her new CD, which will be launched at the end of June.
Ambigay is married to
Phil Nepal, who was also her manager, and they have two children Prabhu, a Bollywood and Hollywood film director and actor and Anu Nepal Margadie, a human rights lawyer.
“My respect for arts and culture got me to where
I am today,” she said. “I believe Indian culture is the best in the world. I am passionate about keeping my culture alive. Unlike other professions, artists don’t retire, we just get better with age. I would encourage young people to pursue professional careers in dancing, even though there is an assumption that dancing doesn’t pay as well as corporate work. I beg to differ, I earned a decent living by teaching dance, supported my family, as well as educated my children.
Aside from money, it’s a job that gives you peace of mind.”
Over the years Ambigay has raised more than R2 million for charity organisations through her shows. She was also the first Indian classical dancer to perform for former president, Nelson Mandela, in 1993, during an ANC event at Rydalvale grounds in Phoenix.
She said Mother of Indian Culture is a show that will appeal to women. It is very soothing and the audience will not just be entertained but will be educated as well.
Tickets cost R120 and
R150 and are available at Computicket, Shoprite/ Checkers or Sibaya Box
Office.