Profile by Savita Iyer
In 1984 when Sujatha Venkatesh arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, Bharatnatyam was, virtually, an unknown art form.
Although Geneva did have a couple practioners and the city’s local Indian community had sponsored a rare performance by Bharatnatyam artists from India, most people, in this cold, grey city, had never really been exposed to one of the oldest dance forms in India, the classical dance of Bharatnatyam.
Sujatha though, was not daunted by the lack of knowledge and awareness in the city where she made her married life. She had been dancing since the age of eight and was not about to give up the art form she loved. Dedicated to Bharatnatyam, she was determined to keep dancing and to make it both known and respected, as an art form in Switzerland.
Sujatha spoke little French when she first arrived in Geneva, but she plucked up the courage to approach the concierge of the apartment building she lived in to ask his permission to practice her dancing. He would not allow her to practice in her apartment (in Switzerland, unwritten rules about not making noise inside of apartments and respecting neighbors’ rights to silence are strictly abided to), but he did say she could dance by the side of the building’s indoor pool, which sat within a noise-proof, glass enclosure.
From that day, Sujatha religiously woke up at 5:30 A.M. every morning, and diligently practiced her dancing by the side of the pool for two hours. At first, practicing alone to taped music was an extremely weird experience, she said, “as I had always had a teacher with me who would correct my mistakes.” But given the lack of other choices, she had no option, but to get used to it and to continue practicing solo.
Eventually, Sujatha began to teach. She found a room in a church across the street from where she lived, and although, at first, she only had three students, she taught them with the same dedication she herself had received in her early training. While also imparting to them the need to uphold the same level of discipline to which she herself abided.
In those early days, Sujatha also made it a point to talk to just about everyone she met about her dancing to create a sense of cultural buzz and interest, not only about this particular art,but about her passion. “I’m that kind of person,” she says, laughing. “I spoke to every single person I came across about Bharatnatyam -- to such an extent that my husband refused to go out with me. But I had to market myself as it was the only way to get anywhere.”
Eventually, her determination and "in-your-face" attitude did pay off. People slowly began asking Sujatha to perform, and even though for the first four or five years she danced for free, she quickly started to gain recognition, both in Geneva and across Switzerland.
“I didn’t care that I was dancing for free as I just wanted to promote the art,” Sujatha says. “I got a lot of satisfaction from seeing people appreciate my dancing, and I loved the fact that the audience was so receptive.”
Today, 20 years down the road, Sujatha is a respected dancer in Switzerland, and Bharatnatyam is a greatly appreciated dance form. Sujatha has performed extensively in Switzerland and across Europe, and has not lost her ties to India and she returns to India to practice, every year, under her Guru.
She is also a highly sought-after teacher in Geneva, running Bharatnatyam classes for all levels, from beginners to advanced. Her students perform around eight times a year, exhibiting classic Bharatnatyam numbers as well as fusion items and specially choreographed dance ensembles. She has also seen several students through to the “Arangetram,” the rite of passage in Bharatnatyman that certifies a dancer’s mastery of the art.
In fact, Sujatha’s reputation is so widespread that she has to turn potential students away from her classes.
“My main aim was not to have hundreds of students, and not to teach for the sake of teaching,” she says. “I prefer to keep my classes small, because I want to work with students who are keen and who want to achieve a certain level of accomplishment through my guidance. That in turn reflects upon me as a teacher and as a performer.”
That said, dancing does not begin and end as purely a performance or teaching tool for Sujatha. She is constantly looking for ways to take Bharatnatyam to another level, and it is in this vein that she connected with Dr. Jacques Arpin, a renowned psychiatrist and cultural anthroplogist in Geneva, who explores the usage of various cultural art forms as therapy for mental and physical ailments.
Sujatha has worked with several of Dr. Arpin’s patients, using Bharatnatyam as a tool to unlock emotions, and bring about harmony between the body and the mind. Not all patient are receptive to this rather unorthodox method, but there are a few with whom Sujatha has had great success with, notably a woman who was paralyzed on one side of her body, and had lost not just the concept of space on the affected side, but also confidence in herself and her ability to function as a whole person.
“I worked with her to reinforce her muscles, so that she could get to a stage whereby she could express emotions with both sides of her mind and her body," Sujatha recalls. “Dance, and in particular Bharatnatyam, is very provocative, and you need to use your whole body to give meaning to your gestures. A flower, for instance, will only bloom or look beautiful if you use your hands, your fingers, your eyes, and your entire body, and being to express its state.”
Bharatnatyam helped the patient in question get every part of her
brain and her body involved and working again, Sujatha says, "The dance
form allowed her to use her body and her mind to provoke and unlock
emotions, and thereby let out a lot of the issues that had been
plaguing her." With this connection found between the arts and recovery, Sujatha hopes to expand the uses of dancing.
By the same token, Sujatha took Bharatnatyam another step further in its evolution, moving it from an art form into something greater.
“I love the fact that dance is so giving and has so many facets to it,” she says. “I would want to continue to see Bharatnatyam evolve, and I want to evolve with it.
Although she is a busy person, running a household and managing a husband and two children in addition to all her dance-related activities, one can be sure that she will continue to accomplish her goals. She is, after all, “that kind of person.”
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