By Team Yo! Vizag
Her green saree found our eyes before she did. As she stepped out of the car with a welcoming, bright smile, the entire mood seemed to shift. The gloomy weather itself seemed to take a backseat as her infectiously sunny presence brought life into the space. Bharatnatyam dancer, yoga instructor, wellness speaker, Sadhguru鈥檚 daughter鈥 she goes by many titles, but she answers to one call from strangers and friends alike: 鈥淩adhe akka!鈥
Radhe Jaggi has taken her art to different corners of the world 鈥 from New York to Seoul 鈥 but to Vizag, she brought stories. Addressing the women of the city at an event by FICCI FLO Vijayawada on 2 July 2025, Radhe stitched the bits and pieces of her life together into a fabric of conversation that blanketed the room, lulled the world outside, and left listeners transfixed for two hours straight. Team Yo Vizag, thankfully, was not spared the honour and we had the opportunity to exchange words with her in the lead-up to the event.
Radhe Jaggi: I spent my early years spent between the ashram and Rishi Valley School. And I owe most of her growth as a child to the environments that were as open as the school and ashram. The thing I remember about Rishi Valley is the place 鈥 the open campus was a huge influence for me. I still have my favourite rock and my favourite tree and all the trees I used to climb and hang upside down on or sit under with a fat book in my hands. I just never felt any pressure to excel or live up to anyone鈥檚 expectations. I was always participating in class and always arguing with my teachers, and they encouraged it and they liked it and they enjoyed it.
Credit also goes to Sadhguru. Whenever he would come for parent teacher meetings, he was very clear. Does she eat well? Is she active? Does she play? Does she, you know, she involved in sports? Is she jumping around? Is she okay? Is she happy?
Radhe Jaggi: I started learning dance at nine as an extracurricular activity in Rishi Valley. At that age, I didn鈥檛 truly understand or value it. I just enjoyed moving and being active. It wasn鈥檛 a passion yet. But when I visited Kalakshetra later, I met Leela Samson, and the way she spoke about dance with such clarity and passion completely shifted something in me. I knew then that I wanted to pursue whatever gave her that spark.
Kalakshetra was rigorous and very different from Rishi Valley. The discipline was intense, and it took time for me to adjust. But over time, I understood its value. It gave me strong technical grounding. Looking back, I now understand the value of that rigor. We didn鈥檛 just learn dance. We studied temple architecture, literature, poetry鈥 all of which build a strong foundation. After graduation, I continued learning under Leela Samson and later another teacher, which helped me grow as an artist.
Now, when I teach at Sanskriti, I often over-explain because I want students to understand the depth of the journey. It鈥檚 hard, but if they stick with it, it鈥檚 transformative.
Radhe Jaggi: For me, the spiritual aspect of dance lies in the totality of presence. When I step onto a stage, I have to give it everything 鈥 physically, emotionally, mentally. If I鈥檓 not completely present, the performance falls flat. Especially if I鈥檓 trying to convey something unfamiliar or deeply layered, I must first be completely convinced by it myself.
You can鈥檛 afford to be self-conscious on stage. The moment you are, the connection with the audience is lost. When you perform, everything about you is visible鈥攜our thoughts, your emotions, your vulnerabilities. And that kind of raw openness is what makes dance spiritual for me. It鈥檚 about being in the moment, completely and unapologetically, and taking the audience on that journey with me.
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