Kripa Baskaran
Bharatnatyam "Classical" dancing: An artistic
passion and a spiritual vocation
By Heidi M. Pascual
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therapist, and through theater, mime and dance, she works with special children suffering from autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral
palsy, and other forms of disability."
Such exposure brought a different kind of high to Baskaran. "After school hours, I would go to the special schools for autistic children
and those with Down Syndrome, and teach them little dances, and prepare them to do something for their annual show," Baskaran
recalled, giving full credit to her guru for such an experience. "That kind of work just gave me mental peace and happiness."
"School hours" in college were irregularly spent to complete her bachelor's degree, with a major in English. "My teachers scolded
me because I prioritized dance," Baskaran admitted with a laugh. "But for me, dance is more important than anything else. It was
more like breathing. Teachers were on good terms with me, but nobody likes it when you cut classes and go to a dance class! Dance
cannot be your first priority while you're in school, right? To me, it was!"
Right after graduation, the 21 year-old Baskaran got married to Baskar, a computer engineer, and later the couple moved to
England. Marriage didn't stop Baskaran from seeking avenues to share her dancing skills with others. "While in UK, I did a lot of work
with kathak dancers," she narrated. "We did some performances and workshops; we travelled, and I kept up with all these." The
Baskarans decided to settle in the United States as the demand for technology wizards rose and a brighter future was on the horizon.
"We've been here for almost 10 years."
In all those years while raising an only child, Archit (now 10 years old), Bharatnatyam has remained Baskaran's "priority," more so
because it has evolved into an art form with a spiritual meaning to her. "To me, Bharatnatyam is one superior art form where you can
connect to God." Baskaran said. "It is very spiritual. Physically and spiritually, it can uplift a person. Most of the pieces in Bharatnatyam
are based on Hindu mythology, whether we like it or not."
Baskaran founded the Natyarpana School of Dance in 2003 to not only help spread the Indian culture through Bharatnatyam
classical dance but also to spread its spiritual message and the sense of community. She conducts classes in her home on
weekdays and at the Hindu Temple in Pewaukee on Saturdays. Describing the Hindu Temple, she said, "It's a beautiful temple that
gives you a feeling that you're in a temple in India. There is a very close-knit Indian community and people speak different languages.
But they're very cooperative, supportive, and very encouraging, like the people in Madison. I'm blessed to be there and be a part of their
faculty.
"Teaching Bharatnatyam lifts up my mood, because I see young faces excited to learn from me," Baskaran said. "Teaching is one of
the best things that a person could ever do here. I don't know if I'm good at it, but I feel I'm good at it, and I want to do it in my lifetime as
long as my knees permit."
Like any other line of work, teaching Bharatnatyam has challenges uniquely its own. Baskaran explained that her dance students
belong to different categories. "Some kids are naturally blessed with a great form; some kids don't have any form at all, but they're
interested in dancing; some kids have the form, but they don't want to put their minds into it," she observed. "Balancing complex
personalities is a very big challenge. You cannot please everyone, but by God's grace, people in my dance classes seem to be very,
very happy with what I've been doing, and the amount of respect they show is remarkably high. My salute goes to parents and my
peers."
Lately, Baskaran's Natyarpana School of Dance has been doing a lot of work on Christianity and Islam. In one of her students'
arangetram, there was a salutation to the Moslem god Allah. "A lot of choreographies for these beautiful dances primarily revolve
around God," she added. "We also believe that there is someone superior controlling us. For a person to lead a noble path, you need
to believe in something over all the others. So, God is one way of probably diverting your attention and saying 'I need to lead a life free
of lies, a life free of hurting people,' just a straightforward, noble path. For me, through dance, I thought that I could transform many
negatives into positive energies. I feel that every religion can teach you so many good things. Hinduism is one such religion where the
Vedas -- everything has a meaning. Any sloka that you utter is more like purification or cleansing of your system."
As to community support for arangetrams and special performances, Baskaran said without hesitation that the parents of her
students are like family. "Without me asking, they will come forward and help me out in all areas: from food to taking care of my family,
hosting, etc. Without those people, God's support, and my close family, especially my husband Basker, I can't do anything actively."
As to future performances, Baskaran explained that this year, she'd like to focus on the forthcoming arangetram of a 10-year old
student, Anusha Ramaswamy. "She's been learning under me for five years, and on a private basis for the past three years," she said.
She comes two times a week and stays for two hours every time." Natyarpana has had eight arangetrams in four years. For 2008,
Baskaran is planning to do a special performance similar to the 2005 classical presentation by Natyarpana, titled "Goddess vs Evil."
Before that, Baskaran is busy preparing her students for a special show on February 25 at the International Festival in the Overture
Center. "We're doing something different," she exclaimed. "I'm connecting Bharatanatyam to Math, so you'll see how geometrically a
person's body can be proportionate to certain structural forms: could be a diagonal, could be a circle, could be a star, could be a
minus sign ... watch it. It's a surprise!"
We won't be surprised to watch another quality and stunning performance from Baskaran and her Natyarpana School dancers.
Visit Natyarpana's website: www.natyarpana.com. Kripa Baskaran can be reached at (608) 831-6873 or natyarpana@yahoo.com.
Testimonials:
* For the past seven years, it has been my pleasure to attend and write about artistic and cultural performances that are held in the
Madison area. Some of the most consistently enjoyable and technically proficient performances that I have witnessed over those seven
years have been performed by Kripa Baskaran and her Natyarpana School of Dance. During this time, I have witnessed Kripa perform
with singers and dancers from India and across the United States. These performances have been entertaining and mesmerizing.
Kripa and her dancers are very adept at drawing their audience into their performances with their projection of emotion and artistic
portrayal of the storyline. The time flies by quickly because the performances are very enthralling. I hardly consider myself to be an
authority on Indian classical dance. But from a lay perspective, it is difficult for me to imagine very many other schools of dance that
consistently achieve excellence in their performances. If only I were 30 years younger so that I too could learn to dance with such
precision and enjoyment. -- Jonathan Gramling, Publisher & Editor, The Capital City Hues
* I am always short of words to say things about Kripa. She is an extraordinarily remarkable teacher and a performer who is known for
her commitment and dedication for the art form. I have known her since her school days and she was so committed in taking
Bharatnatyam to the next level. A teacher who does not have an assigned seat as she is always on her knees with her students dancing
and none of us have seen her sit down and teach, she is a very talented choreographer who puts in hours towards her productions,
grooming her young students to be talented artists. She is known for her compassion, kindness, not only to students but fellow humans,
a true artist who wishes well for everyone. As a mother of a Natyarpana student and a friend/well wisher of Kripa, I spoke with the
Natyarpana parents and students to present a testimonial about Kripa and the one thing which they said about Kripa in several different
ways was "we are blessed and honored to be a student of Kripa, we look up to our guru Kripa Baskaran, thank you for being such a
kind and a giving teacher. Thank you, Kripa, God bless you. -- Anuradha Iyer
* I am so thankful to Kripa for teaching me Bharatnatyam without even charging me. Not many people will do this kind of service and I
am so glad I found a talented teacher like you who is so kind, your dance is mesmerizing. -- A Hmong student of Natyarpana
* I want to say that we are very lucky here in the Madison area to have a dance company like Natyarpana -- and we know, of course,
that Natyarpana couldn't exist without Kripa's efforts. It is unusual, I think, in a small city like Madison, with a comparatively small South
Asian community, to have such a large and multi-talented Indian dance company. Natyarpana has attempted and successfully brought
to fruition some very ambitious productions of Indian Classical dance. It is notable that, when needed, Natyarpana members are
capable of providing live musical accompaniment as well. The teaching efforts of Kripa Baskaran has enriched the community with
additional accomplished dancers. A Natyarpana production is an experience not to be missed!
-- Rick March, Wisconsin Arts Board
Whenever "Bharatnatyam" is mentioned in Madison and Milwaukee Indian
music circles, one of the first names always mentioned at the top of the list is
Kripa Baskaran, founder and dance/artistic director of Natyarpana School of
Dance. Anyone with an objective eye for music and the arts who has seen
Baskaran perform knows why, and anyone with the same objectivity who has
seen Natyarpana students perform credit their guru for doing an excellent job.
(Top) Kripa lights her altar and
seeks guidance from Hindu gods
for better performance; (above)
with son Archit; (below) with
Natyarpana dancers Radhika (l)
and Ramya (r) at DoubleTree
Hotel during an international
gathering in Spring of 2005.
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Where does the discipline to shoot for the best come from? It was her mother's influence that provided
Baskaran the initial direction toward classical dancing. The place was Madras, now Chennai, in Tamil
Nadu.
"I started dancing when I was five years old," Baskaran said, "and it was my mom who took me to the
dance school when I was four. She was very interested in dancing!" An only child, Baskaran discovered
for herself how her mother's own dream was gradually realized in her daughter, first by providing small
incentives. "My mom would send me a small bottle of milk with bread, butter and jam -- my favorite," she
recalled with a smile and a sincere gratitude, because it worked. "I became more focused, and
Bharatnatyam started to become my passion, even more important than my studies. It became an every
day affair after regular school hours."
The rigorous Bharatnatyam training since childhood and her personal interest provided Baskaran the
foundation required of a budding classical dancer. "For several years, I learned from a good
Bharatnatyam teacher whose class ran for two hours, four times a week," Baskaran said. "But then we
had shows and programs to focus on in addition to the classes, so I would say my dance class was
pretty much every day."
The much-awaited formal "graduation" from Bharatnatyam, called "arangetram," came when
Baskaran was 14 years old, but it didn't end Baskaran's search for "higher learning."
"It was like a path," Baskaran said thoughtfully. "I then started to focus on several
different aspects of Bharatnatyam: a school for pure expressions; a school for
talam (called nattuvangam, with the cymbals); and a special course to be able to
write and efficiently conduct a whole program."
She later found a most respected guru, Dr. Ambika Kameshwar, who helped
her take her passion to another level. "My life took a different dimension when she
became my mentor," Baskaran admitted. "I saw her perform in an international
dance festival, and I fell in love more with the art form, and signed up right away
as her student. I wanted to upgrade my skills." (Dr. Kameshwar is a Ph.D. in
Natyabhinaya and post-doctoral fellow in music, dance, drama and theater
development. She is a recipient of the prestigious Kalaimamani award for
Bharatnatyam, a rehabilitation facilitator, and manager of RASA, an organization
catering to special needs children [www.rasaindia.org].)
But it wasn't just the guru's world-class performance that attracted Baskaran to
enroll as Dr. Kameshwar's student. "She was working with children with special
needs," Baskaran described her last guru. "Her main focus is not just as a
performer. She's a dance