THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When vocalist Abhradita Banerjee came to Kerala, she brought along with her, Hindustani Music. When she brought her family friend Sucheta Shivakumar to Kerala, what came along was that dance of the storytellers - Kathak.Sucheta is in town as a guest faculty member of Natyaveda Centre for Performing Arts at Kanjirampara, where a new initiative is on to blur the dividing line between the performing arts of North and South India. “We believe that there should not be a separation for art as South Indian art forms and North Indian art forms. So we are initiating classes for Kathak, Odissi, Santoor and Sitar,” said Sunder Melayil, who runs Natyaveda.A native of Punjab, Sucheta was more than happy to come over to Kerala. “Being a kathak dancer from my childhood and being married into a South Indian family, I was a little disappointed that no one really knew much about Kathak in South India. So I was really happy to be given such an opportunity to teach Kathak here,” she said.For the santoor classes, Natyaveda has found a tutor in Hari Alamkode, a direct disciple of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and for Sitar, Ahmed Ibrahim, a disciple of Bale Khan of Dharwar.But Sucheta has a secret mission in coming to Kerala. She was fascinated with the classical dance of the state, Mohiniyattom. Kathak and Mohiniyattom being poles apart in matters of pace and footwork, what was it that attracted her to the dance form? “Expressions,” she said. “The Jaipur Gharana gives a lot of importance to footwork and the chakkars or the whorls. But the Lucknow Gharana where I was attached to later on gave emphasis to facial expressions. My mother, who was my first guru, had trained me in this,” explained Sucheta.Sucheta, who is in the city for a week this month, will spend about 15 days the next month so that her students will get a continuity. “I am so happy that people are coming forward to learn this dance form, which is not just fast, but full of positive energy. My students include college-going girls, married girls and housewives. And until this moment, I have enjoyed being with them,” said a beaming Sucheta.Kathak is not her only interest. Sucheta has a post-graduation in Hindi and Sitar too. “The students of Kathak here will be affiliated to the Indira Kala Sangeetha Vishwa Vidyalay at Kheragarh in Chattisgarh and will have to complete course work and take exams in both theory and practical,” she said.Trained in Kathak, initially by Daisy Walia and then Shoba Koser, Sucheta now works with Praveen Gangani of the Jaipur Gharana. She had also been experimenting with a fusion work involving the two Gharanas and also with Odissi and Bharathnatyam.“I do not believe in rigidness except maybe in the basic costume. I choose the costume according to the character I portray. At present I am working on a work based on the theme - aqua. So I intend to wear a blue duppatta with a white chudidhar and frock. If it is a bhajan, I would wear a saree, which very few kathak dancers attempt,” said Sucheta.A dancer, who believes that art like a river should flow out and reach everywhere, Sucheta says her best blessing has been the family she was married into. “When my eldest daughter was just a little over one, I had this opportunity to go to England and it was my mother-in-law who literally forced me out, saying that she would look after the baby. My Husband Kannan Shivkumar and my girls Surabhi and Purva have been equally supportive,” said Sucheta, while getting ready for the next class at Natyaveda.
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