A DANCE WITH THE FUTURE :: RISING KATHAK STAR VIDYA PATEL

Since competing in the finals of the first ever BBC Young Dancer platform, Vidya Patel has gone from strength to strength. Performing at the Ravi Shankar Festival in India and touring with one of the top contemporary dance companies, Richard Alston Dance, Vidya reflects on her debut Kathak solo and what is means to be a British BROWNGIRL immersed in a classical Indian dance form. 

What was the build up to your Rang Manch Pravesh like?

Most of my summer 2016 was geared toward training for my Kathak Manch Pravesh. Under the guidance of my Guruji Sujata Banerjee I was preparing for my Kathak Manch Pravesh, a North Indian classical solo recital, dancing for around one and a half/ two hours, with live musicians, performed to an invited audience of family and friends.

My intentions and motivations to do a Manch Pravesh was purely to put myself through the process of focused rigorous training in the Kathak style. It seemed to be the most appropriate time to do it- I had time to commit, blessed to have a wonderful guru willing to teach and guide me, and a family who let me do what I needed to in order to achieve without asking too many questions but still being the greatest supporters.

Thinking back on it, the training was intense but so enjoyable. Leading up to my Manch Pravesh I would spend six out of seven days a week with my Guruji trying to soak up as much as I could learn and be immersed in an atmosphere of the arts and discussing related subjects. Days consisted of my own practice, trips to the gym with my Guruji and more riyaaz and then rehearsals as well as evening class whilst it was still term time. Guruji having studied a masters in Sports Science, knew very well what my body needed so every week I would receive a weekly plan of training, related study and rest days fitted in accordingly. I had my personal trainer, guru, mentor and advisor all in one guiding me through it, all I needed to do was learn, do and repeat whilst maintaining my focus. Sounds straight forward but it was more difficult than said.

A huge driving force in the event were my family who were so patient and encouraging. Not having seen me for very long time leading up to the big day they managed to organize it all- the invites, the venue, running of the event which required so much- it was nothing less than organizing a wedding but one where the groom was ‘dance’. A few days before the performance I returned back to my home in Birmingham, had a rest day, followed by a final rehearsals with all the incredible music artists…before I knew it the day had arrived.

One huge thing I really appreciated was all the gurus, family, friends and dance family who had attended to experience this special occasion with me. Whilst performing I could feel the warmth from the very beginning and was just very grateful for those who had came or sent their good wishes.

2. How do you feel your Rang Manch Pravesh has enhanced or changed you as a performer? 

From this one experience I know I have changed as a dancer.

The training, long periods of time spent with my Guruji and most of all dancing with live music has improved me from where I was before I began. Dancing with live music is so important which we don’t always get to experience here because of the circumstances, nevertheless whenever possible our teacher does make an extra effort to have tabla in our weekly classes. I remember waking up early in the summer mornings, I would light the essence stick in Gurujis dance studio and begin. The aroma instantly setting the intention to begin my daily riyaaz. Practicing with accompaniment from Anu da (Aniruddha Mukherjee) on tabla was a joy and looking back was such a luxury. The continuous support and encouragement was a blessing and made performing on the day even more enjoyable.

Then Anirban Da (Anirban Bhattacharya) arrived from India who is the vocalist who sang for my Manch Pravesh. At this point everything seemed to be getting more real and the pieces were all weaving together to make a clearer intricately knitted programme.

The great thing was that we were all (Anu Da, Anirban Da and myself) living under one roof with my Guruji, so even after rehearsals there would be talks and stories of dance and music and I’d be listening in to conversations which were so fascinating with so much to learn from. Not to mention the small amount of ‘Bangla’ I had indirectly picked up from just listening and started to understand more or less all conversations spoken.

After doing my Manch Pravesh I have something to base classical choreography on after watching my Guruji’s creative process first hand. The thought that had gone into creating my pieces was meticulous, the attention to detail in choreographing followed by corrections to my execution of it. Seeing the way Didi worked with the musicians was really insightful, not having seen the process of this before of how to organize and orchestrate a long programme. I was joined by amazing artists, Aniruddha Mukherjee on tabla, Anirban Bhattacharya vocals, Shammi Pithia on bansuri, Kirpal Singh Panesar on Eshraj, Jasdeep Singh Degun on sitar, my brother in law Bhavin Solanki who accompanied Anirbanda in vocals, and vedam which began the programme by Shivam Mistry, Mukund Prajapati and my brother in law. They all added so much to making it a memorable experience and joy to dance to. We had quite a few rehearsals together beforehand therefore performing on the day was like a team performance even though I was dancing solo.

3. What’s on the horizon for Vidya Patel?

Its now my third ‘gap year’ after completing sixth form and not going to university-something which has become a permanent decision for the meantime. I am currently touring with the Richard Alston Dance Company for their Autumn/ Spring tour performing ‘Italian in Madrid’ til mid May 2017 nationally and internationally. It’s now approaching the last performances with RADC the next being in Germany which I’m really looking forward to. Watching the company in rehearsal and on stage has been a fantastic experience for me to be surrounded by such incredible artists who continuously strive for excellence and deliver it always too. Each and every one of the members at RADC are an inspiration for me and sharing the stage with them has been very special. I’ve really enjoyed taking part in company classes so hoping to continue with ballet and contemporary classes locally after the tour in over.

I was recently part of Magdalen Gorringe’s new work ‘If I Could Reach Home’ inspired by the refugee crisis, mainly focusing on a group of women asylum seekers from the Hope Project- this has led on to other projects- one involving doing more work within my community in Birmingham and bringing about more awareness of Indian classical dance. This has led onto another exciting dance project in the pipeline which will be taking place January 2018.

Going to London for Kathak classes still continues. There will be a few major festival organised by my Guruji taking place this year so definitely will be busy with those and is something dance and music lovers should keep a look out for.

I’ll be revisiting some collaborations which I had began last year to create a longer duration of work from with the aim of sharing it with more audiences in the UK and internationally.

It’s only the beginning of a long journey ahead which I’m willing to endure since I know the experiences along the way will be unique with a lot of unexpected events and rewarding experiences. From my experiences in the early beginnings of my career I can tell you that it’s an unpredictable profession but so far I know I wouldn’t have these moments which I’ve had so far from any other profession. I really hope I can inspire people, if not to dance professionally then to create awareness of the importance of dance and the arts in hope that they make it part of their lives in one way or the other.

4. As a BROWNGIRL growing up in the UK, how do you think Kathak has helped you to understand your cultural identity?

My mom was born in Mumbai, India and my dad in Uganda, Africa, making me and my siblings the first generation born the UK. For both my two older siblings and myself dance played a huge part in our childhood. My parents wanting us to stay connected to our culture- encouraging us to attend dance classes was one of the options they took us to classes especially being art lovers themselves. They themselves took every opportunity to go and listen to Pandit Ravi Shankar in concert and other very well known music and dance artists whilst living in the UK. My parents took us weekly to classes on Saturday and Sunday. Being too young to participate I remember watching my sisters in class at the back of the class until I was old enough to participate. One of the things dance did was to create an environment were you’re given the opportunity to learn more about the culture behind it. Pronunciation, articulation and knowledge about dance, your exposed to a lot you otherwise wouldn’t be and then it’s up to you how much you further investigate around the subject and it’s rich history. I know that my interest in Indian Classical music has only been a lot because of dance- it’s all interrelated to each other.

Kathak has been a reminder of what my cultural identity is and not. For me my cultural identity is an even mix of my upbringing in the UK with teachings from my parents and Kathak- which is deeply connected with rich history in the country which is my homeland. It’s a privilege that I am training in something which originates from India and makes me feel part of another community other than my Gujarati community.

Some people say being born in the UK makes it less possible to create the same environment for dancers here too. My teacher a few times has commented on how there are superb ballet dancers training in all parts of the world, similarly Kathak dancers can also be from everywhere and don’t necessarily have to come from India and Indian origin. Of course the hard work and extra effort needs to be applied but everything is in reach if you have guidance, believe and do.

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