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Symposium and photo exhibit :
Featuring Pandit Chitresh Das, Ramya Harishankar, Mythili
Kumar, Katherine & K.P. Kunhiraman and Viji
Prakash.
Panel discussion moderation : Project
Director Ms. Nirupama Vaidhyanathan followed by Q & A
session.
Photo exhibit : Vijay Kaushik and Raj
Lathigara.
The symposium was held on February 22nd 2004,
Sunday, at the India Community Center, Milpitas,
CA.
The passion and the
commitment shown by dancers and community members in
preserving centuries-old Indian dance traditions, after
immigrating to the United States, is what the project,
"Living Heritage:
the Indian-American dance community of California"
set out to capture. This project featured master gurus
gathering together for the first time, talking about the
vibrant present state of ancient Indian dance forms here in
California, and their visions for the future. A photo exhibit
of the dance gurus, displayed with captions, helped showcase
the work of Vijay Kaushik and Raj Lathigara at the
symposium.
Project Director
Nirupama Vaidyanathan says, "Full auditoriums, sold-out shows
greet performances held in India's classical dance styles in
California - be it Bharatanatyam, Kathak or Odissi. The
children of first generation immigrants dedicate years
imbibing these ancient Indian dance forms, getting a glimpse
into the culture that is so familiar to their parents and
grandparents. This cultural transmission is fuelled by the
work of master gurus who immigrated here 25 or more years ago,
and who worked hard to establish dance institutions in
California."
 Raj Lathigara and Vijay Kaushik, art and
photography enthusiasts, combined forces to capture the
artistes in their workspaces - teaching, performing and
working. Vijay says, "There was an inherent challenge in
trying to capture the dedication of these artistes as they
worked in their classrooms", while Raj feels that what
made this project challenging was to get the right 'moment'
that captured good technique in dance and photography.
How are these dancing
traditions passed on to the next generation? What is the
cultural and social context in which teaching takes place in
California? The adherence to traditional choreography, the
emphasis on technique and the handling of mythological themes
in the performance context, follow current practice In India.
The integrity of these art forms has been maintained even
through the period of assimilation in a different
culture.
The gurus featured in
the symposium had close to 30 years each, working and
performing in the field of Indian classical dance. These are
great artistes who faced questions like, "Do you mean dancing
that brings rain?" indicating that their dancing was the dance
of native Indians. They answered by saying, "No, what we are
about to show you is a refined classical art form handed down
the ages in ancient India." And, convert they did. Through the
beauty and refined technique of Indian classical dance, their
work has earned them countless admirers, and many
second-generation Indians begin an exploration into India
through its dance.
 Attending the dance
studios of these artists and watching classes in progress, it
was hard to imagine that the classes were being conducted in
San Francisco, Saratoga, Irvine or Lafayette, California and
not in one of India's cities - Madras or Bombay. There was a
purity of movement and expression that made you want to linger
and stay.
The Sankalpa Dance
Foundation is a non-profit institution working to preserve and
promote Bharatanatyam through performances, workshops and
lecture-demonstrations. Nirupama Vaidhyanathan, the Artistic
Director has extensive experience performing and teaching
Bharatanatyam. She says, "We need to have an approach that
gives importance to research as well. This research could be
directed at creating new works but we also need to look at non
performance-based research as being important to the field as
well. Looking critically at the creative, artistic process is
important for the present and also important for the future.
This project was a dream come true for me, as audience members
had an opportunity to meet artistes in a non-performance based
setting allowing for more interaction between the artists and
their audience."
World Arts West is a
leader in the field of Ethnic Dance in the Bay Area and they
are currently celebrating more than 25 years of hosting the
Annual Ethnic Dance Festival in San Francisco. The mission of
World Arts West is to present and promote ethnic diversity
through the performance and teaching of world dance
traditions. For more
information on World Arts West, go to www.worldartswest.org.
This project was made possible, in part, by a grant
from the "California Council for the Humanities" as
part of the Council's statewide California Stories Initiative.
For more information visit www.californiastories.org. | 
