18 | Dance, Healing, Justice | Shilpa Darivemula

Social Medicine On Air

Shilpa Darivemula discusses the connection between traditional dance, medicine, trauma, and healing. She explains the way that traditional dance allows renarration of identity, how classical Indian dance can tell non-traditional stories, how pairing medicine and dance addresses inequities, the danger of instrumentalizing art, and how medical environments can be seen as places of art.

Shilpa Darivemula is a resident physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Creative Director of the Aseemkala Initiative. Shilpa began training in Kuchipudi at the age of 8 at the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance and performed her solo debut recital—her Rangapravesham—in 2011 at the Kalanidhi Dance school. She continues to perform medical narratives, conduct research and address racial and social inequity in healthcare through her work with the Aseemkala Initiative.

Her recommended resources:

• Aseemkala Initiative, "Mahavidyas in Medicine," bit.ly/2OWeOCU

• Shilpa Darivemula and Roshni Prakash, "Performing My First Caesarean: A Reflection on the Intersection of Dance and Surgery," The Intima, bit.ly/3dFiEuz

• Shilpa Darivemula (2020). "Addressing OB/GYN Care Access for Refugee Women Using Traditional Dance Exchanges," BMJ Medical Humanities Blog, bit.ly/2NwC2iI

• Mallika Sarabhai (2009). "Dance to Change the World," TEDIndia, bit.ly/3uk3cKl

• Kavita Ramdas (2009). "Radical Women, Embracing Tradition," TEDIndia, bit.ly/2Nv78Hm

• Krieger, N (2005). "Embodiment: a conceptual glossary for epidemiology," J Epidemiol Community Health, bit.ly/37HZjoJ

• Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Saludarte, bit.ly/2NPT0Zk

• Alice Proujansky (2019). "The Black Midwives Changing Care for Women of Color (Photo Essay)," The Guardian, bit.ly/3dMIIDU

• "Spirit of Birth (film)," Working It Out Together: A Magazine for Contemporary, bit.ly/3dG9fTE