DYK: Popstar Doja Cat Is A Trained Bharatnatyam Dancer, Has Sung Bhajans At Temples

Doja Cat has been in the news off late for all the wrong reasons. Time and again the Kiss Me More singer has butted heads with her fans publicly - something which has visibly impacted the strength of her online following. However, not many people know that the Grammy awardee has spent a formative part of her childhood immersed in some key pillars of Indian culture.

Doja Cat is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer

Born as Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, Doja Cat's interesting upbringing has been the result of her eccentric family who had quite the impact on how Doja processed visual vibrancy and multiple art forms. In an interview with Billboard back in 2021, Doja Cat revealed how she was a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, having taken dance lessons since the tender age of 5.

She said, "I feel like it taught me to be emotive and control my body in a special way." Doja's family, who was initially based in New York, moved to California to live in an Ashram where they served their Swamini late jazz great Alice Coltrane. Between the ages of 5 and 10, Doja not only trained in Bharatnatyam but also practiced Hinduism, also singing Bhajans at various temples across California. Doja Cat still remembers her years training in Bharatnatyam rather fondly. Speaking about the dance form the singer shared, "Indian classical dance Bharatnatyam...its very emotional, and it's a lot about angles like creating shapes with your body".

Doja Cat has attributed her unique take on fashion to the maternal figures in her life

Post the California stint, Doja Cat moved back to New York where she took up break dance, something which eventually led to her present-day career trajectory.  Speaking about her unique sartorial picks and her wildly experimental looks, Doja Cat shared how her mother and grandmother being painters is what has informed her quirky take on fashion.

In the Billboard interview she shared, "A lot of that inspired me to take up fashion and visual experimental things".