Sankalpa Dance Foundation of Fremont, California announces the presentation of "Parampara' a classical Bharatanatyam dance performance.  The primary performers will be Guru Nirupama Vaidhyanathan of the Sankalpa Dance Foundation of Fremont and Guru Ramya Harishankar of the Arpana Dance Company of Irvine California.  They will be accompanied by their students and by a cast of musicians from India.  'Parampara' celebrates the legacy of one of India's most celebrated dance gurus - Swamimalai S.K. Rajarathnam and the popular Vazhuvoor style that he helped establish.  Ten years after his demise, two of his disciples who now head dance companies in Southern and Northern California pay tribute to his choreography and musical skills through two performances. This will be a rare opportunity to see two dance companies making a joint presentation with their students.  

Vaidhyanathan says, "The title 'Parampara' literally means 'continuing legacy' in many of India's languages.  And, the continuity maintained through centuries of Indian artistic traditions, has, at its core, a reliance on the guru-sishya (master-student) relationship.  In the United States, many institutions try to keep alive ancient classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam by maintaining classicism in technique and ways of presentation, true to the vision of their masters".

Ramya Harishankar

In this age where it is easy for artists to move from one fad to the next with unerring regularity, maintaining classicism in technique becomes a more pressing struggle within the confines of an immigrant community.  First generation immigrant parents are anxious to inculcate their children into learning Indian classical dance to serve as a window into the culture of their ancestors.  They rely on immigrant gurus to teach their children a technique that is true to classical roots.  And, classicism in technique is the hallmark of the philosophy of the Sankalpa Dance Foundation.  Vaidhyanathan who heads the four year old dance company Sankalpa in Fremont says that they have welcomed this opportunity to work with the established Arpana Dance Company which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2002. Harishankar adds, 'It is a great opportunity for students of the two dance companies to come together in this joint presentation.  It is also an opportunity for the audience members to watch two dance companies perform at the same time.  Part of the proceeds will help establish a trust fund in India to train promising youngsters in dace and music".   

Nirupama Vaidhyanathan