Bharatanatyam Dancer, Founder of Natananjali School of Dance shares her experience of teaching in USA.



Introduction:

Lakshmi Swaminathan trained in bharatanatyam under the able guidance of Guru Thankamani Kutty, director of Kalamandalam, Calcutta. Lakshmi’s lifelong passion for dance led her to establish Natananjali School of Dance in Bethesda, MD in the year 2002 to train students in bharatanatyam.


Many young and talented classical dancers arrive in USA every year for higher education, career, or for setting up a family. Some of them continue their passion of classical dance either performing or by teaching. In this article we share the experience of Smt.Lakshmi Swaminathan and her first hand insights with dancers that they may find the same useful to understand the opportunities and challanges in the land of opportunity.

Here we start: ​
As a Bharatanatyam student in Kolkata, I never imagined I would one day share the dance form with American students across the world. While I have taught bharatanatyam for decades, in India as well as in the United Kingdom, conducting cultural assemblies in American schools is a richly rewarding experience. After moving to New York City in the early 90s, I was introduced to Young Audiences in New York, an organization that facilitated art-based school assemblies. My work with Young Audiences brought me into an entirely new world of sharing Indian dance and culture with American students. A few years later when I moved to the Washington, D.C. area, I was intent on continuing to spread my culture. I auditioned for a spot on Young Audiences of Maryland’s roster of artists, and I was happy to be accepted. For the past thirteen years, I have been a teaching artist, initially on my own, and more recently working with a partner. My varied experiences with Young Audiences have not only enabled me to teach others about my culture, but have also taught me valuable lessons about education, dance, and myself. ​

Performing for the school students in the United States is both rewarding and challenging. As an artist with the Young Audiences/Arts for learning, I travel all over Maryland, from cities to rural communities, performing for diverse student populations. I have had the opportunity to perform at schools for physically challenged students, students battling mental issues, students from low income households, as well as students from difficult domestic backgrounds. When I am able to reach out to a special education student through my performance, it is soul satisfying; nothing can compare to the joy of opening young minds to a new culture and art form. Performing at a school for special education students last year, I was deeply moved to observe their happiness as they participated in the interactive sessions, and the smiles that lit up their faces. ​

When I perform for an audience including students of Indian origin, it is great to see their palpable excitement during the assembly. Because their identity is showcased, they are intensely engaged. Hands shoot up and voices start chiming in: “My parents are from India!”, “I speak Hindi!”, “I speak Tamil!”. It is wonderful to see the pride on their little faces as the assembly enables them to share their heritage with their friends. ​

For some students, the assembly performance is the first time they are exposed to Indian culture; as such, it is extremely rewarding for me to share with them the beauty of India through the performance of Indian classical dance. When I educate American students about the fine nuances of bharatanatyam, I truly feel like a cultural ambassador. When hundreds of voices greet me back with a “Namaste” at the beginning of each assembly, it is truly heartwarming. When I complete a performance and students approach me to say that the performance has inspired them to learn Indian dance and visit India, the happiness and satisfaction that comes from hearing those words is immeasurable. ​


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