SpotLife 1 on 1: Tahirih Vejdani

Singer, Composer, Dancer and Actress Tahirih Vejdani recently appeared in a Bollywood adaptation of William Shakespeare’s acclaimed work Much Ado About Nothing.   

The play, directed by Richard Rose with assistance from consulting director Ravi Jain, will serve as an introduction to Bollywood for some, an introduction to Shakespeare for others and a mix of two disparate, but beloved art forms for those already familiar with both.

The modernized play fuses Bharatanatyam and Bangara dance, dialogue and original songs in Hindi and English with the classic play, using Brampton as its setting.  Tahirih who has performed theater in English and has performed Bangara and Bharatanatyam dance before admits the adaptation of the bard’s work is like nothing she’s done before.

Vejdani had to rely on many of her varied areas of expertise for the role. She studied music at the University of Regina and has performed with such groups as the Nathaniel Dett Chorale and the Toronto World Unity Choir, serving as the conductor and music director for the latter.

I’ve performed at Stratford, but not Shakespeare,” – said Vejdani. “Singing in Hindi’s also challenging. English is my first language, though my mother’s South Indian, so she speaks Hindi, Tamil, English and learned Persian when she married my father.”

We sat down with Vejdani for a 1 on 1 chat about her career and whats to come ahead.

SA: You a person of many talents, from singing to dancing to acting.  Is there any one which interests you the most?
TV: I would say they all interest me pretty equally. I grew up taking a variety of dancing, acting, and singing classes. My earliest form of voice lessons was classical Indian voice lessons. I then began studying classical Western European music and further pursued a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Production and Music History.  All through-out my upbringing I was performing in dance recitals, musicals, choir performances, and revues.

SA: Being South Asian, how has that affected your work… good and bad?
TV: It has been a double-edged sword. I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan before moving out to Toronto 6 years ago. Regina at the time was not as diverse as it is now. In most of my classes or performances I was usually the only person of colour and more specifically the only half-South Asian half-Persian individual. In some ways my diversity gave me an upper-hand when it came to working on certain projects or being cast in certain roles. One of my favourite experiences was working as a stand-in on the set of Little Mosque on the Prairie. The pilot for the CBC show was first shot in Regina, Saskatchewan before it got picked up and moved to in-studio sets in Toronto. Every summer though, the production would come home to Saskatchewan to shoot their exterior shots. I was pretty much handed the stand-in gig being one of the few visible minority female ACTRA members in Regina at the time and subsequently worked the gig for many summers after that. I was a fly on the wall back then, learning as much as I could about working on sets and acting for film and TV from observing the other actors do their thing on set. After moving to Toronto, I noticed many more opportunities geared towards performers of colour in comparison to Regina. There are so many wonderfully talented performers here yet I find the industry to be even harder to crack when it comes to stepping outside the type-casting box. I am thankful that there are some companies that work towards creating a diverse family of performers on stage as was the case when I worked at Stratford back in 2012 in the productions of The Pirates of Penzance and Elektra. That being said, I still feel like representation of our diverse cultures in Toronto still has miles to go to be properly presented in authentic ways rather than being “represented”.

SA: Who is your inspiration?
TV: My mother is my biggest inspiration. Her perseverance through life and motivation to establish and support our family in Canada has been my greatest inspiration. She sacrificed a lot to raise my brother and I and for that I am forever grateful. It’s through her constant love and support for my work as an artist that motivates me to continue performing and being creative.

SA: Whats next for Tahirih, any new projects we can expect to see you in?
TV: Nothing as of yet, but things tend to make their way down the pipeline in due time!

SA:  Any words of advise you can give to someone who is just starting off?
TV: Never be dissuaded by anyone who gives up on you. You may get fired from a job because you’re not a good enough dancer, or you’re told you have a lazy-eye, or your agent drops you because you’re not on their A-list at the moment, but never allow their negativity to sway you from the thing that brings you joy. Their opinions are fleeting. Do what you love because you love doing it, not because someone else has whispered “You’re a shoe-in kid!”.

SA: Whats your “Dream Gig”?
TV: My dream gig would be to perform on Broadway! Pretty cheesy hey? But a girl’s got to dream!

SA: Tell us a bit about who you are, the things not everyone may know.
TV: A couple interesting tidbits about myself: I have a crazy good whistle to the point that I secretly want to enter a whistling competition and take home gold! I have had random hiccups since I was in grade 10. And I have an adorably funny cat named Aroos. I’ve even started an Instagram account for her. (Yes I may become one of those crazy cat ladies). I love soccer and used to be a goalie back in the day! One of my favourite authors is Rohinton Mistry – I was a giddy little school-girl when on my second day ever working as a server at this Persian restaurant in Toronto I got to serve Rohinton Mistry himself!

SA: If there is a charity or organization your connected with and would like to share?
TV: One organization that I am proud to teach and work for here in Toronto is the Regent Park School of Music, a not-for-profit music school that offers highly subsidized quality music education to youth-in-need. I’ve taught at the school since 2011 working with 3 of their choirs and teaching group piano lessons. http://rpmusic.org/

Visit Tahirih Vejdani’s website at www.tahirihvejdani.com