If UshaJey’s name doesn’t ring a bell, her performances certainly will. It’s impossible to have missed her now-viral Instagram video dancing to Lil Wayne’s 'Uproar' dressed in a chequered bottle-green Kalakshetra sari — bringing together hip-hop and Bharatanatyam in her unique interpretation — that has millions of views. Such is its popularity that she is now performing an extended version of this choreography at the 10-day sporting event for the world to see.

Decoding her inimitable #HybridBharatham choreography that made her the Internet’s darling dancing queen, Jey came up with the choreography in 2019 as an experiment for herself, who has also worked with fashion brands like Off-White and Rami Kadi on movement direction and show choreographies.

“People say I mix the two dances, but I don’t. Bharatanatyam adavus each have a specific mood. I am not mixing this with hip-hop moves. I consciously switch from one dance to another, honouring each in its entirety,” Jey explains.

As a first-generation French-Tamilian, the dancer grew up straddling two cultures, and the choreography is simply a collision of her worlds, both of which she identifies with whole-heartedly. 

Jey started learning hip-hop dance over a decade ago to keep a friend company. She did not quite expect to find her groove in the process. The opportunity to study Bharatanatyam in the French capital, though, took some hunting.

The backstage ritual of getting ready, it becomes clear, is as precious as the dancer’s time on-stage. It inspires the feeling of belonging, community. Jey and her troupe start with the make-up, do each other’s hair, get into the dress and finish with flowers. They do it all together, helping each other along every step.

Jey was really keen to shoot her hybrid videos in saris and not to Western wear. “It was really important to wear it as a symbol of Tamil culture. I wanted to be as traditional as I could be. It goes well with our storytelling,” she says. She did not want to introduce anything occidental just for the sake of it.

Jey’s expression of her identity using the medium of dance is authentic, and her endeavours earnest. And her dance is the flawless blending of her Tamil lineage and her western lifestyle.