Three worlds, different styles - young dancers from the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa - Young Dancer

Dance Magazine, April, 1998 by Jennifer Copaken, K.C. Patrick

In the U.K.

"Namaste!" is a traditional greeting before beginning the practice or performance of Indian dance. It's also an Indian tradition to acknowledge that we are dancing on Mother Earth and honoring her presence.

My name is Reena Bhatt. I am fifteen years old and I was born in Bedford, a town lust north of London England. My mother is a pediatrician and my father is a businessman. I have one brother who is 26. Both my parents were born in India, but I've lived in the U.K. my whole life. I've visited family who still live in India several times. Gujarati is the language my parents speak, and I can also read and write this language.

I've always loved moving-studying dance since I was six years old. At first I did creative dance, then some tap and modern. I thought it was brilliant! When I was eleven, my mom introduced me to Sujata, a dancer who teaches khatak dance. I was still taking top dance lessons and doing some English country dancing in school and I enjoyed that, but I became more and more interested in khatak and went in that direction. I think it's because it feels meaningful to me; each movement has a specific meaning. It requires a lot of discipline, coordination, commitment, and practice. You really have to use your eyes, both in terms of focus and how you actually move them. A great khatak dancer is someone who can execute complex footwork called thatkar and at the same time maintain an elegant and fluid upper body, and graceful yet angular arms. Musicality is also really important.

Sujata, my teacher, explains that it takes years to learn the mathematics, rhythmic pulse, and technique before you truly make it your own. Once you understand the technical part, you open yourself to allow the abstract to become spiritual. When this happens, she says, you see the light that comes from deep inside and gives the individual strength.

Class lasts about one and one-half hours, beginning with a twenty-minute warm up for the feet. The footwork becomes very complex later, so the warm up is important to develop clear articulation. We start with a basic exercise on the spot, then increase the speed, moving in different directions; then we continue with twenty minutes coordinating feet and hands. Sujata has a syllabus in her mind when she teaches us; there is a logical development to the movements and how she teaches them. Each year we have exams that cover the theory and practice of khatak.

Traditionally the teacher is referred as your guru which mean this person kind of like a loving spiritual guide. Sujata says that in India this tradition is still very strong and your dance peers become a kind of extended family. Everything you do is a joint effort a kind of shared responsibility. There is a chemistry that develops over the many years of working together. Maybe it is less strong in the U.K. because were raised to be very independent.

In August 1997, Indians around the world celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence. Our community had a big celebration and I choreographed a piece for myself and three of my friends, Made in India. The idea is that we're Asians, but we live in England. There's a big contrast between Western and Asian influences, and our generation must navigate between these influences. I used some khatak movements and gestures but added some contemporary movement and music. We wore orange saris with green borders and white choli tops, the colors of the Indian flog. I painted mendhi on all of the dancers' hands and feet.

My friends are really supportive; they always come to performances and watch me dance. Someday I would like to be a pediatrician like my mom, but I know I need to keep dancing for my whole life. It's part of me and I love it. I'll find a way.

In the U.S.A.

"Ko-ni-chiwa" and a slight bow of the head is how eleven year old Sakiko Yamagarta would greet her friends in Japan; here in New York City's School of American Ballet she just waves "Hi" and giggles. She speaks Japanese, American English, and ballet French.

"I was born in this country in New Jersey she explains, "but when I was four our family moved back to Kobe, Japan. But I had already started to take a few dance lessons in Oradeli, New Jersey"

Sakiko's father works for the multinational Sanyo corporation 3nd spends much of his s time traveling.

Sakiko listened to classical music and watched her sister move to it for about ten years when she was competing in figure skating," explains Hiroko Yamagata, Sakiko's mother. "In Japan, Kobe Prefecture has many fine ballet schools and performing arts centers and Sakiko attended one of the top schools to start ballet. She loved it right away. She had begged to see New York City Ballet's Nutcracker, and once she did she was always sure what she wanted to do."

"When we came back to the United States, I had to wait a year before I could audition for the School of American Ballet," Sakiko admits. I auditioned when I was eight so I could get in when I was nine. Now I'm in level three and my teachers are Garielle Whittle, Madame Dudin, and Olga Kostritsky.