Archives Sancharika Spring 2000 Quick Notes Calling all alumni! A "mini-reunion" luncheon is scheduled for mid-April (date TBA). We need help locating your fellow dance classmates. Please forward all contact information to Rekha Rao at (773) 525-9022 or rekharao88@hotmail.com. Stay tuned for more reunion news. v 1999 Performance Highlights Last season, Natyakalalayam presented 121 total programs, in nine states, for nearly 49,000 people across the United States! Between choreographing new works, presenting world-renown artists, and touring around the country, NDC had its busiest season yet. Here are some of the highlights from the 1999 season: Around the Nation… In September, NDC performed Shakti Chakra at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC during the Open House Festival. It was a great honor for NDC’s dancers to perform in such a prestigious venue alongside so many well-known performing artists. NDC dancers also graced stages at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville, KY; performed in the open air in Rochester, NY; danced at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, GA, and in West Hartford, CT, Madison, WI and South Bend, IN. Around the Region… Regionally, NDC participated in an adaptation of the Ramayana with Thai and Indonesian dance companies at the Chicago Cultural Center last February. This performance will be repeated on April 29 at the North Shore Center for the Arts in Skokie. It is well worth a second viewing. NDC appeared alongside other Asian performing artists in New World New Art: The Asian Artist in America on the Skyline Stage at Navy Pier. For the third year, NDC appeared in the annual Day of Music at Symphony Center; NDC also took part in the World Festival of Sacred Music at Old St. Patrick’s Church, organized in five US cities by the Cultural Centre of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Finally, NDC premiered two new works including Ahimsa and In Myth and Dance. Performances took place at Harold Washington Library Center, Triton College, the University of Illinois Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University. Visiting artists… In September 1999, NDC presented two prominent and established artists from India. The traveling dance troupe Bharata Kalanjali from Madras performed the full-length dance drama Mahabharatam, the great Indian epic that tells the story of a war amongst two families. Additionally, the great Indian violinist, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman performed a carnatic music concert. Ganapathi Gopalakrishnan Ramaswamy of Naperville Awarded 1999 Illinois Arts Council Apprentice Grant in Dance Ganapathi Gopalakrishnan Ramaswamy, a freshman at Naperville North High School, was awarded a 1999 Apprentice Grant from the Illinois Arts Council to study Bharata Natyam under Hema Rajagopalan. Ganapathi, who has been dancing since the age of three, concentrated on mastering specific aspects of "pure" dance technique. Over the course of the year, he worked on movements and technique specific to male dancers, as well as added several new dances to his repertoire. Ganapathi was also able to assist in teaching younger students. According to Hema, "It is extremely rare to find young men interested in dance, and Ganapathi is an especially accomplished dancer. He is an asset to the community, and a role model to young men interested in dance." Natyakalalayam Dance Company students have been honored several times by the IAC. Congratulations, Ganapathi! Happy 25th Anniversary Natyakalalayam! 25 years ago, Hema Rajagopalan founded Natyakalalayam Dance Company as a nonprofit to promote and preserve the ancient art of Bharatanatyam, in Chicago, across the United States and around the world. Over this quarter century, hundreds of students have grown up dancing with NDC. We are lucky and privileged to have this organization in our community. Aside from planning, budgeting and reporting, the largest role the board of directors plays focuses on maintaining Natyakalalayam’s vision. We feel that Bharatanatyam belongs not just to India but also to all humanity. Our goal is to see Bharatanatyam take its rightful place as a world-class art. Through NDC’s school, performing company, outreach program and presenting series, NDC delivers its mission to preserve and propagate Bharatanatyam. Moreover, it is an organization that has the experience, integrity and professionalism to perform in prestigious venues in the United States and abroad. As a board, we work together to accomplish our challenging goals: to create a foundation that supports both NDC’s performing company and its dance school. In the long run, this means establishing a home of our own, a dance school in the Chicago area that provides both studio space and a performance venue, and a year-round orchestra. We continue to develop our dance company so that it meets the standards of more established professional dance groups. This means providing a sufficient travel budget, improved production, a larger and more flexible repertoire, comprehensive wardrobe and props, sophisticated marketing, and establishing a strong identity for the dance school. In order to accomplish our goals, NDC will require a significant amount of funds. Like other dance companies that have achieved independence from their dance schools, our task is to raise enough funds so that NDC can survive on its own as a performing arts company. Natyakalalayam Dance Company needs the support of parents and volunteers to help in a variety of ways all year long, from selling tickets, to helping with event logistics, making and distributing flyers, and many other activities. With your support, Natyakalalayam Dance Company will continue to thrive as both a dance school and company, but also as a community of people who share a love for Bharatanatyam. Please call the NDC office at (773) 296-1061 if you would like to help. NDC Board of Directors Arangetrams 2000 Priya Pai Munster, Indiana Sunday, July 23 TBA Mansi Upadhyaya Norris Cultural Arts Center 1040 Durham Rd., St. Charles, IL Sunday, July 30 3:00 pm Durga Sundaram Norris Cultural Arts Center 1040 Durham Rd., St. Charles, IL Saturday, August 5 3:00 pm Shaili Shah Norris Cultural Arts Center 1040 Durham Rd., St. Charles, IL Saturday, August 12 3:00 pm Shuba Sadagopan Norris Cultural Arts Center 1040 Durham Rd., St. Charles, IL Sunday, August 27 TBA Amishi Mehta TBA TBA TBA Last season’s new work Ahimsa proves to be a great success Last season’s new full-length production by Hema and Krithika Rajagopalan focused on humankind’s ongoing struggle with violence, and our ongoing search for peace. The title of the work, Ahimsa, comes from the Sanskrit word for non-injury. According to Chicago Reader dance critic Laura Molzahn, Natyakalalayam created "the slow, sensuous embodiment of timeless beliefs and feelings," and called the work "a real triumph." Each scene described various forms of violenceæviolence against children, violence against women, violence against the downtroddenæincorporating exciting new movements blended with dazzling rhythms. In Ahimsa, the Rajagopalan choreography team strove to break boundariesæusing innovative movements, music, sound effects and technologyæcombining traditional Bharata Natyam with contemporary ideas. Perhaps, the most innovative and unusual scene depicted the Mahabharataæthe war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The scene began using the traditional Indian martial art form Kalaripayatta and yoga postures, and lead to a stunning and dramatic multi-media presentation that incorporated projected images, iridescent costumes and black lighting. This scene represented a choreographic departure for NDC, and demonstrated the power and poignancy of the art form. In Ahimsa’s grand finale, described by the Chicago Tribune as "riveting", dancers portray Asha or their hope to live in a world free from all conflict. Natyakalalayam dancers filled the stage with their precise and powerful movements and rhythms, danced with beauty and elegance. In all, Ahimsa was a truly remarkable achievement for this 25 year-old Chicago dance company, demonstrating the company’s longevity, quality and dedication to fostering our appreciation for Bharata Natyam. Music was composed by maestro T.S. Sankaran, lyrics and percussion by G. Vijayaraghavan, with vocalist J. Ramesh. Ahimsa was premiered on August 21, 1999 at Triton College; two other performances were held on September 10 & 11 at Harold Washington Library Center. Sancharika, November 2003 Natya Dance Theatre Wins Prestigious Chicago Dance Award. Indian dance took a major step toward recognition by the mainstream dance community on September 29 when NDT received the prestigious Chicago Dance Award from the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance. With this award, NDT establishes itself in the eyes of the Chicago dance public as one of the city’s most important and innovative dance companies. This is the first time in the 17-year history of the awards that one has gone to an Indian company. NDT received the Dance Achievement Award forAhimsa.Choreographed by NDT artistic director Hema Rajagopalan and NDT assistant artistic director Krithika Rajagopalan, Ahimsa is an evening-length dance theater work that focuses on humankind’s struggle against violence. NDT gave its winning performance in September 2002, in commemoration of the September 11 tragedy. The performance took place at the Harold Washington Library, in downtown Chicago. Dance Achievement Awards were also presented to Breakbone Dance Company and to individual dancers from Hedwig Dances, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Why Bharata Natyam? Reflections on 30 Years of Teaching By Hema Rajagopalan With William Jordan Anyone who has experience with Bharata Natyam knows that it is an extremely demanding art form. To do it well requires years of physical, emotional, and spiritual training. Why should a young Indian-American today commit herself to learning Bharata Natyam? Given the pressure on her to get ahead in our hectic world, would not her time be better spent earning good grades at school or, if she has completed her education, putting in extra hours on the job? Perhaps not. I believe that as life becomes busier than ever for our young people, the reasons for learning Bharata Natyam become all the more compelling. My 40 years of experience as a dancer and 25 as a teacher have made it clear to me what Bharata Natyam can contribute to the development of a young body, mind, and spirit. In its fullness, Bharata Natyam is not merely an art form; it is a way of life. It connects us deeply with our surroundings and with other human beings. As she disciplines her body, trains her ear, and performs the great stories, the Bharata Natyam dancer learns humility. This informs her relationship with her art, with other people, with the material world and, finally, with the divine. I am acutely aware of the difficulties that confront even the most committed students of Bharata Natyam today. There are many good teachers, but it can be difficult to identify them. Before sending a child for instruction, parents must do their research to make sure they are getting a high-quality teacher. They must avoid any teacher whose intent is to prepare the student for her arangetram as quickly as possible. I have found that many parents and teachers in the United States are fixated on this debut performance. The concern is more with seeing the child “make a splash” than with seeing her develop solid skills as a dancer. Experience has taught me the importance of a sustained and disciplined teaching methodology. There can be no “shortcuts,” however much parents may wish to hasten the arangetram. My integrity as a teacher rests on ensuring that my students are properly prepared for this important occasion—or, indeed, for any public appearance. I must resist pressure from both students and parents to teach new material before the old has been mastered. A student benefits far more from doing a simple step well than a complex one badly Over the years it has become more and more necessary for me to see myself as a nurturer as well as a teacher. I strive to give my students a place to grow not only as dancers but also as human beings. Equally, I do what I can to educate parents, reminding them that faster is not always better, and that the most important things in life are not only worth waiting for (as the saying goes), but must be waited for. An artist is not made in a day. Today it is more difficult than ever for young people to find the time and support needed to learn Bharata Natyam—to learn it thoroughly, to learn it well, to take its deep lessons to heart. If she is to know any measure of success, however, a dancer must make a consistent commitment to her art. I realize that interruptions and setbacks are inevitable. I have watched my students take time off to have babies or finish school. Some returned to dancing as soon as circumstances would allow, and continued to make progress. Others lost the commitment, lost the discipline, and finally lost most of what I had spent years teaching them. They key is to get back to dancing as soon as one can, so that the momentum is not lost. I have students who are in demanding professional careers but who are also dancing at a very high level of accomplishment. As artistic director of NDT I am very proud of the consistent financial support NDT continues to give its dancers after their arangetrams. NDT arranges many performances for advanced students at no cost to the students. By absorbing the often considerable cost of these productions (including the cost of a live orchestra and all administration and promotion), NDT enables students to continue their artistic development in the public eye NDT gives scholarships to select students on an ongoing basis. We present performances by internationally renowned artists like Padma Vibhushan Sonal Mansingh. By absorbing the cost of presenting these artists, NDT makes world-class Indian performances available to NDT students and families for little more than the cost of a movie. Finally, NDT offers workshops by maestros like C.V. Chandrasekhar and Kalanidhi Narayanan. The cost of these workshops to NDT students is negligible. For almost 30 years, NDT has brought the finest in Bharata Natyam performance and training to the Chicago area. Your support is a vital part of our ongoing success. COMPANY PRODUCTIONS Sita Ram: Ramayana as Rock Opera Anyone who thought the gods could not play cards was proven wrong on May 17 when NDT premiered Sita Ram, a rock opera version of the Ramayana. The performance took place at Ravinia, in Highland Park, IL. Created in collaboration with Lookingglass Theatre and the Chicago Children’s Choir, Sita Ram combined Bharata Natyam, Broadway-style musical theater, and choral music, demonstrating that the “classical” and the “contemporary” can combine to spectacular effect Working with members of the NDT company, NDT artistic director Krithika Rajagopalan choreographed Sita Ram. It was written and directed by David Kersnar, an original founding ensemble member of Chicago’s critically acclaimed Lookingglass Theatre. Chicago Children’s Choir artistic director Josephine Lee served as music director. Grammy-nominated recording artist Jai Uttal wrote the original musical score. Sita Ram combined contemporary Western music and theatrical styles with the elements of classical Indian dance and stories of ancient Indian mythology. Krithika’s choreography skillfully avoided the “fusion commotion” that often characterizes productions that draw on multiple artistic sources. While they sang, the children in the choir made basic Bharata Natyam movements and gestures. Remaining true to their rigorous classical training, NDT dancers used elements of nritta (pure dance) in imaginative ways, and showed moments of strong abhinaya. Kersnar’s script uses language that is hip, witty, and humorously irreverent at times. From their celestial vantage point, Bramha, Shiva, and Vishnu exchange street-wise quips about their plans for a troubled world. They also play cards. Looking a bit like Elvis in his early years, Ravana appears in a leather jacket. This contemporary treatment brought out all the arrogance, egotism, and meanness that Ravana would exhibit in a traditional performance. Pancha Bhootam: The Five Great Elements This summer, Bharata Natyam master CV Chandrasekhar directed the NDT company dancers in a production of Pancha Bhootam. This full-length work explored the connection between nature and divinity. Pancha Bhootam drew on ancient Hindu sources, including the Upanishads. The god Shiva embodied the natural elements, each of which also corresponded to a minor god. One of the two September performances was a benefit for the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, and for NDT. NDT Presents On October 4, as part of NDT’s ongoing Presenting Series, Odissi exponent Padma Vibhushan Sonal Mansingh performed at Triton College in River Grove. This performance was part of Sonalji’s US/Canada tour, which NDT organized. NDT’s 2003 Presenting Series also featured ,Dominique Delormes, who performed at Triton College on March 28. CV Chandrasekhar, gave a special performance for NDT students and families on July 20, in conjunction with a lecture. NDT Dancers in the News 2003 Krithika Rajagopalan received a Woman Warrior Award for reinventing traditions in the performance and preservation of Bharata Natyam. The award is given by the Asian Arts Center at Columbia College Chicago. Anjal Chande received a Platinum Award from the National Arts Recognition and Talent Search. Kavita Ramakrishna received the Gold Award. The Illinois Arts Council selected Surisha Koduri and Priya Nelson to participate in the Ethnic and Folk Arts Master/Apprentice Program. Surisha and Priya worked, respectively, with master teachers Krithika and Hema Rajagopalan. 2002 Krithika Rajagopalan premiered a new work called Dhrashta (The Seer) at the Mulberry Street Theater in New York City. Support for the work came from the Jerome Foundation. The Chicago premiere received a “Critic’s Choice” award from the Chicago Reader. Krithika Rajagopalan and Shuba Sadagopan performed as soloists at the Chennai International Dance Festival in India.