Her dance video racked up 11m views on YouTube – now she’s representing Singapore at Osaka World Expo

Seven years ago, Shruthi Nair and a friend performed a three-minute dance outside the Indian Heritage Centre on Campbell Lane.

It had all the makings of a viral video. Music was blasting from the speaker. A crowd gathered. And the two young women danced barefoot on grey stone slabs.

Their performance combined classical Indian, hip-hop and contemporary dance to Carnatic (South Indian classical music) adaptations of hit pop songs. An unexpected pairing.

Unbeknownst to them, someone took a video and uploaded it on YouTube.

It exploded: 11 million views in total. People from South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom messaged Shruthi to say how much they loved it.

“It was the first time I knew that so many people appreciate this,” Shruthi mused.

Fast forward seven years. The 28-year-old freelance dancer and choreographer will be performing on a much bigger stage. She will be dancing at the Singapore Pavillion at the World Expo 2025, in Osaka, Japan, on May 31 and Jun 1, 2025.

Featuring local artists, creatives and talents, the ongoing World Expo 2025 runs until Oct 13 this year, and is expected to welcome at least one million visitors.

TELLING HER SINGAPORE STORY THROUGH DANCE

Shruthi has performed at the National Gallery, Esplanade Theatre, Stamford Art Centre and Gardens by the Bay for River Hongbao. You may also find her grooving to modern hits and raps in front of Singapore’s old HDB flats and futurist tunnels.

Her feet beat out a mesmerising rhythm, her hands string together mudras, hand gestures that tell a story. Often referred to as Indo Contemporary, this dance style blends elements of Bharatanatyam – a form of Indian classical dance – with contemporary dance techniques.

This is Shruthi’s Singapore story. “I feel like my movement vocabulary, a blending of something traditional and modern, sort of mirrors our nation, where the traditional and old, and the modern and new can all exist at the same time, and they all have a place,” she said.

As a young Indian woman growing up in a small, globalised metropolis, she initially struggled to navigate her cultural experiences. One reason she cited was the lack of representation of Indian women on television, social media and other mainstream platforms.

“You question your place in the world and your place in the country,” she told CNA Women.

Over time, Shruthi learned to embrace her differences and uniqueness, and this translated into this fusion of classical Indian and contemporary dance.

“Talking about your feelings and emotions can be really difficult. I find it so much easier to just dance it out. It just has so much more power to me,” she said.

Through her dance, she also hopes to bridge the gap for audiences and immerse them in the rich beauty of her heritage.

The hand gestures, facial expression and footwork of classical Indian dance may not be understood by all, she noted. “But behind the technical language, I think the human connection and emotions are something that everybody can identify with and resonate with.”

A 23-YEAR DANCE JOURNEY

Dance has been nothing short of a lifetime obsession for Shruthi.

At the age of five, her mother took her to a Deepavali show at a community club where she watched a Bharatanatyam dance for the first time. Something about the colour, facial expressions, footwork and music ignited a spark in her young mind.

“In between, even before the show ended, I dragged my mother to the office and said, put me in the class now. I was in the class the following weekend,” she laughed.

She continued her training at Bhaskar's Arts Academy, an Indian performing arts school, and then at the School of the Arts, Singapore for her International Baccalaureate (a pre-university curriculum), taking dance as one of her higher-level subjects.

Even though she went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at the National University of Singapore, and began a career in marketing, it just felt natural to give it all up.

In 2023, a little over a year after she started her corporate job, she left to become a freelance dance artiste and choreographer.

Some of her gigs as a freelancer have included Light to Night Festival at the National Gallery in January this year, ASEAN Festival of Arts 2024 in Malacca, F8 Festival Makassar 2024 and the Best of ASEAN Performing Arts 2023 in Jakarta.

But passion does not pay the bills. As a freelancer, some months are packed with weekly gigs, others are unsettlingly quiet.

“The worst months are those without any gigs so there’s no income at all, and I still have rehearsals or classes,” she said, adding that those days can start at 9am and not end until midnight.

“It seems very futile – as if I’m doing everything but not doing anything at the same time,” she said. 

Even when work is steady, as a freelancer, she struggles when payment is sometimes delayed.

“The lack of financial stability and unpredictability can be scary, especially if there’s something that I really need to pay off, such as student loans and bills, or there’s some immediate need that I need to get settled, such as groceries and transport costs,” said Shruthi, who is single and trying her best to support her parents.

DANCING TOWARDS TOMORROW

It was during a quiet month – and low point – when she was selected to represent Singapore at the World Expo.

“I had just come out of a few projects and didn’t have any new freelance gigs lined up for maybe, one to two months. Financially, things were tight as well, with a few delayed payments,” she said.

“When I got the e-mail, initially, I was like, did they send this to the right person? It felt incredibly surreal,” she said.

“Being able to go on a global platform like the World Expo to represent my country as an independent artiste restored a lot of faith and hope for what my future can look like,” she reflected.

With six performances over two days at the World Expo, Shruthi is looking to blend Bharatanatyam dance and contemporary movement with Japanese cultural elements through costume, music and storytelling.

The dance narrative is inspired by a Japanese myth, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’s Daughter – Princess Kaguya.

In this story, a bamboo cutter finds a glowing infant inside a bamboo stalk. She grows into a free-spirited young woman whose beauty attracts many admirers, including the emperor. She challenges her noble suitors with impossible tasks before finally revealing she is a princess from the moon and departing with celestial envoys.

The opportunity to dance at the World Expo has been a huge turning point for the young dancer.

“Singapore is a melting pot. Being able to share a piece of Singapore’s vibrant, multicultural identity through my art feels incredibly personal and profound,” Shruthi said.

Reflecting on her journey, she said: “I love dancing with all my heart but some days, you feel like it doesn’t love you back.”

“But when I dance, those feelings dissipate,” she beamed. “I am at my best self when I’m dancing – I’m confident, I’m sure of myself, I know what I’m doing. It’s as if an alter-ego sort of takes over.

“The second I take off my shoes and feel the floor, I feel super connected to the ground beneath me, the space around me. That feeling is unparalleled.

“When words don’t suffice and I cannot communicate something, dance helps me express myself and embody my feelings.

“I’m still trying to navigate this career path day by day – I think nobody has it all figured out. But over the past year, I realised that it’s really up to you to carve your own path,” she said.