10_jacksonian_faculty + staff focus JSU English instructor Noel Didla encourages her students to learn about the world’s cultures.
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Secr et Life of Noel Didla: English instructor moved to dance by Jean Gordon Cook
s a child in India, Noel Didla would often recruit her grandparents to sit in her play classroom, where the 3-year-old taught school with the help of her blackboard and the family Bible. “It was kind of natural for me,” the Jackson State University English instructor says. “My grandmother and mother were teachers, and my father was an academic.” A third-generation educator, Didla says it’s no surprise that she grew up to be a teacher. But when she’s not grading English composition papers or helping her students learn about American history through literature, Didla devotes her time to another passion – dancing. “If I had my way, I would have become a professional dancer,” Didla, 37, says. “I had a calling in
dance and I knew that.” Since age 4, Didla has been practicing the classical South Indian dance form kuchipudi. The centuries-old dance is known for its graceful movements and dramatic narratives that tell stories in praise of Hindu gods. Throughout her school years, Didla trained daily and performed in frequent competitions and at holiday celebrations. In college, she danced at civic events. Didla says her parents encouraged her to take up the Hindu-inspired dance, because as Christians in a Hindu-majority country, they wanted their daughter to be exposed to the fullness of Indian culture. “My dad thought it would make me a well-rounded Indian,” she says. “The tradition gave us a sense of discipline and tolerance and understanding.”