Gargi’s love for Bharatnatyam was triggered by her mother when she was a little girl. She took young Gargi to innumerable concerts throughout her childhood, where the sounds and ambience of performances seeped into her subconscious and she internalized it. Her father too was a lover of art and gave a great push in this direction. With such immense encouragement to learn and absorb as much as possible, she has had a unique and eclectic work experience in Bharatnatyam, Biotechnology, Hindustani vocal, Theatre and Cinema.
Gargi was fortunate to have most sought after and senior teacher as her first guru, Late Smt.Guru. Narmada. She further continued her learning with Gurus Dr.Shridhar and Smt.Anuradha Shridhar, whom she cites as her biggest influences. They helped her understand the essence of the art, encouraged her to go deep, work hard, practice rigorously, while all the time yearning for excellence, not accolades.
Gargi’s first dance performance was at the age of four in front of the Indian Ambassador in Indonesia. Later, in the tenth standard she was offered a pivotal role in the National Award winning Hindi film Cheluvi directed by Girish Karnad and written by A.K.Ramanujan. A sensitively made film with a strong environmental message, Cheluvi has stayed in her heart. While the film won accolades as did Gargi’s performance, she quietly added another feather in her cap by securing the 22nd rank in the state in her board exams. Gargi then went to act in many popular kannada tele-serials (Kathegaara, Mallika -Parinaya, College Taranaga etc) as leading lady.
At her Rangapravesha in 1997, Gargi was blessed by eminent chief guests, Late.Smt.Krishnaveni Lakshmanan (principal of Kalakshetra-chennai), Late.prof. U.S.Krishna Rao and senior Guru smt.Lalitha Srinivasan, who all spoke glowingly about her talent and immense potential.
Soon after graduation and marriage that followed, Gargi moved to the United States. There, she obtained a Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics (with a 4.0/4.0 GPA) from the San Jose State University, California. Following this, she worked in Molecular research at Stanford University, and later moved to the Biotech industry to understand the impact of research on the real world.
After work, she would head straight to the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, where she taught Bharatnatyam. Incidentally, there was no community center dedicated to art back then (year 2000). She was invited to start the classes, for which she designed a comprehensive semester-style curriculum from scratch and became the first Bharatnatyam teacher at the center.
In 2000, Gargi started the Samarpana School of Bharatnatyam and Music in Bay Area, California. Her first big event was choreographing the Ramayana for five hundred children for Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in 2001. It took four months of preparation and the show was wonderfully received. Over 10,000 people from All over the US had gathered for this mega event.
During the next twelve years, she choreographed and performed many more events organized by various institutions in California...here are a few of them – Purandara Darshana -dance drama (2003) and Gokula Nirgamana -dance drama (2005) written by the great poet Shri.Pu.Thi.Narsimhachar for California Kannada Koota (KKNC) , Repeat performance of Gokula Nirgamana- dance drama for South India Fine Arts (2010). Performed pivotal role of Sita in dance drama- Harinabhisarana (Apr-2011). Dance Tribute to Lt.Pt.Bhimsen Joshi(2011)- was a unique dance feature she choreographed and performed for Hindustani Classical music that went on to be a sold out show. Gargi has successfully conducted Ranga Pravesha(Arangetrams) of three students in the US who are professionals in their own right now.
“What are my students learning? Why are they learning it?” These are the fundamental questions that are always on top of Gargi’s mind as a teacher. As a guru, she strives to understand what Bharatnatyam means to each student and try to help them understand it. I hope to ignite a spark in my students, to instill the love for art, because it all begins with love and once there is love for learning, there is understanding of the vastness and richness of this timeless art form of Bharatanatyam.
In 2012, Gargi moved to Bengaluru. The hardest part of this move was closing her school in California. However, she continued teaching and performing in Bangalore. in 2014, Gargi received a prestigious invitation from AKKA (Association of Kannada Kootas in America) to present her acclaimed ‘ Gokula Nirgamana’ at the Sammelana in San Jose, California. Gargi was honoured with a prime slot and most satisfying of all was the standing ovation that her performance received.
In 2016, she was invited by the Asian Art Museum, USA to present the dance drama Sitascharitamahat. It was a unique experience on many counts – originally a Sanskrit play by Valmiki, it was an English translation that was performed, and Gargi played the roles of both Sita and Shoorpanakha. With less than two minutes to transform from one character to the other. She performed two shows back-to-back to packed audiences. Both shows were sold out!
In Bengaluru, Gargi has performed to large audiences for organizations such as Ananya,Samskrita Bharati, Indian Institute of World Culture, Shakuntala Arts International, Sankara Eye Foundation, Ragigudda Cultural Association, including charity performances for Awake Foundation for the Blind, Mahila Seva Samaja and numerous others.
She continues to learn and enhance her skill and abhinaya by attending senior workshops by gurus like Bragha Bessel, senior Natyacharya Shankar Kandasamy and others. Gargi also studies the scholarly aspects of Bharanatyam and vast intricacies of Natyashastra through the guidance of highly respected dance historian and her dear cousin, Dr Karuna Vijayendra.
From performance to scholarship, Gargi’s quest for excellence encompasses every facet of this timeless art.
Gargi is also an accomplished Hindustani classical and semi-classical vocalist and was the last student of the late Padmabhushan Pt Basavraj Rajguru, She later trained under Pt. Madhav Gudi. She has performed for DD national television, and is a B High graded artiste of AIR. She has performed extensively in India and the US. She continues to teach light classical vocal music to enthusiastic students in Bengaluru.
Gargi also trained extensively under her brother, Vid.Nachiketa Yakkundi, accomplished Hindustani vocalist in the Bay Area, USA.