MEET Sirisha Sumanth, a young aspirant from Natyarpana Dance Company, who commenced her training in Bharathanatyam in 2004 under Guru Kripa Baskaran when she moved to the US to pursue a Masters degree in Engineering.
She completed her arangetram in 2008. “This year, I performed a solo on the theme Sivoham at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan on January 10. This was my first solo performance here. I have put in several hours of practice,” said Sirisha.
Anusha Ramaswami started learning dance from Kripa Baskaran at the age of six. She completed her arangetram in 2007 at the age of 11. Besides her passion for Bharatanatyam, Anusha learns Carnatic vocal from T V Ramprasdh of Chennai and Vanitha Suresh of Madison. She also studies Western voice and violin and performs with the leading youth choirs and orchestra in Wisconsin. “This year, I gave a solo Bharathnatyam performance at Thyaga Bhrahma Gana Sabha,” she said.
Kripa Baskaran, is the disciple of Chandrakala, Thanjai Shri Hemanth and Dr Ambika Kameshwar and also a choreographer. She has come down with 13-year-old son Archit Baskaran who is a keyboard player and a violinist and a student of T V Ramamurthy.
He has been learning classical Carnatic music from the age of 6 and has been working under T V Ramprasadh on Skype for the past three years. He also said, “This is one instance where our students are getting to perform individually, which is a mater of great pride after their performance was recognized by the Mylapore Fine Arts Academy,” she says.
For Kausalya Srinivasan, visiting professor of dance at the Bridgewater State College Boston, “This has been a great season for me assisting in choreography throughout Margazhi. Apart from taking classes, I also had students from the college who came for a study tour to India during December and to witness Pongal celebrations.”
