Dance Prodigy Krithika Rajkumar on Leveraging Her Law Background to Empower the South Asian Arts Community and Planning an Indian Wedding During Covid
“CAREspaces gave me the opportunity to combine my profession, as an attorney, with my passion, as a Bharatanatyam dancer.” Today’s woman dreamer, Krithika Rajkumar, is quite the multi-faceted woman. A Boston-based lawyer at Global 100 Law Firm Nixon Peabody LLP, Krithika is also a dance prodigy, former Miss Malayalee North America, and the Head of Legal of CARE Spaces, an organization creating safe spaces for the Indian Arts Community. Also a newlywed, we had to ask what her key takeaway was from planning her Indian wedding during Covid. Krithika shares her top learnings from her career, how she combines her passions for arts & law, and how she finds the perfect balance in life.
1) Tell us your story. You are quite the multi-faceted woman - a lawyer, dancer, and singer! Where did you grow up, and how did you build your career?
I was born in Chennai, India and moved to the United States at the age of four. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit called Auburn Hills. My mom’s side of the family is full of artists and most of her aunts and uncles sang, danced, or both, so it was very natural for her to put me in dance classes as soon as I could walk! My mom told me that she always sensed that I had an innate sense of rhythm. In our home in Chennai, we had a ceiling fan that made noises to a very distinct beat, and she would catch me as a baby tapping to that rhythm. Learning Carnatic Music was also a natural add-on to my dancing, because it helped me with my understanding of the art and the rhythm behind it.
My passion for law did not have any familial influences. While my great grandfather was a top criminal lawyer in India, he passed away when I was just a baby, so he did not have any influence on me. My parents always told me he wanted one of his grandchildren to become a lawyer, and they were pleasantly surprised when I came home after a mock trial in my 7th grade civics class proclaiming that I wanted to be lawyer. I think my passion for the performing the arts and the joy of being in front of a crowd is what pushed me to ultimately pursue litigation.
2) Tell us about your role as Head of Legal for CARE Spaces, an organization aiming to create safer spaces for the Indian Arts community? What inspired you to get involved with this organization and this cause in particular?
From the CAREspaces website: "Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music have had an impact on basically every part of my life in some shape or form. I have been fortunate to have had teachers who passed on their knowledge and gave me opportunities and experiences with my personal safety and well-being always at the forefront. When the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the Carnatic music space several years ago, I wanted to do SOMETHING to improve the situation. CAREspaces gave me the opportunity to combine my profession, as an attorney, with my passion, as a Bharatnatyam dancer. It has been a pleasure for me to guide CAREspaces with all the legal aspects, from securing our non-profit status to compliance measures for our initiatives. Most importantly, though, CAREspaces has been an avenue for me to assist the Indian arts space to ensure that our culture and art forms are passed on in the most ethical and safe way to future generations."
3) You recently had your wedding, after two years of planning. What was it like putting together your wedding during Covid? What were some of the challenges you faced? And what were some of the best moments you would like to share with us?
Planning a wedding during Covid definitely had its ups and downs! For us, our biggest challenge was the uncertainty on the guest list. We had to come up with a lot of contingency plans in case we were only allowed to have 50% of our guest count, or 25%, etc.
One of the biggest pluses is that we were able to pay more attention to the finer details given we had more time to plan to optimize the experience for us and our guests.
4) As the platform for women dreamers, what is your next big dream?
My dream is to continue maintaining a healthy balance in my life between my personal, professional, and extracurricular goals. I hope to continue to be the best lawyer I can be, while also performing and creating art, and also giving back to the community. I am hoping to be able to create more content on my YouTube channel and Instagram on all of these fronts to help other women who are pursuing similar paths to me.
Thank you Krithika for sharing your inspiring story with us! We are excited to have you in our empowered women’s network!
Bio: Krithika Rajkumar is a Bharatanatyam artiste originally from Auburn Hills, Michigan, and has been pursuing the art form for over 25 years. She performed her “Arangetram” in May 2004 at the age of 12 and has since blossomed into an accomplished performer. Krithika has been cast in many dance productions including Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana's 'Ramayana" and “Mahabharata”, NaMaargam Dance Company’s “NaMaargam,” and Spilling Ink Dance Project’s “Alekhya” among others. Krithika has captured much media coverage for her excellence in dance. She was featured in the February 2008 issue of the Dance Magazine under “Wunder Kids, Child Prodigies in Dance”. She has won numerous awards for her performances, both in the U.S. and India, which include the Michigan India Talent of the Year 2004, Festival of India’s Classical Dance Competition winner in the year 2005, and the Cleveland Thyagraja Aradhana’s dance competition in 2010 . She is a former Miss Malayalee North America and Miss India USA first runner- up. Krithika’s passion for the performing arts and social justice lead her to become a lawyer and she is currently a trial attorney in Boston, Massachusetts for Nixon Peabody LLP, a Global 100 firm, in their Complex Commercial Disputes Practice Group. She is currently the Head of Legal & Compliance at CAREspaces, a non profit aiming to provide tangible measures for more conscientious and ethical workspaces in the Indian creative arts communities.
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