ECHOES FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN - BARKHA PATEL - KATHAK EXTRAORDINAIRE
In this digital age of quick connection and self-curation through social media, it’s now much easier for us to find each other across oceans. So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when an email arrived from a promising young Kathak dancer in New York, but I was and it was overwhelming how well we connected!
Barkha Patel radiates a rare beauty and it’s astounding how I was able to understand so many of her ideas, thoughts and experiences so clearly just by watching her dance. All were assumptions however until I spoke to her and realised that so many of them were surprisingly accurate.
“I was born in India but I’ve been raised in the US my whole life. My sisters and I were brought up with a very ‘Indian’ upbringing. My parents are Gujarati and we would visit India every summer without fail.“ Barka explained how family background and upbringing is so important in determining what children want to pursue and how that is nurtured. She started learning with her Guru, Rachna Sarang when she was eight years old and hasn’t looked back since. Barkha’s parents not only instilled the cultural traditions and etiquette of Indian culture but also developed a sense of familiarity and belonging with stories, imagery and ideas that she found relatable in Kathak dance.
It hasn’t always been a smooth journey for Barkha. As her teacher’s most promising student, she was also pushed the hardest. At 17 she performed her solo debut known as a ‘Rang Pravesh’ with live musicians all the way from India. Barkha admits she was young at the time and the intensity of the experience almost put her off taking Kathak further. “My Rang Pravesh taught me that to be a classical dancer is not enough. Being a good person, a selfless person is what really makes an artist. What I understood and wish I grasped sooner was that there is taalim in etiquette (outside of laykari and bhav) that a dancer should have. It is a tough concept to understand when you feel like you have already been raised to be a respectful young woman. I resisted learning the etiquette because I thought I was fine the way I was. I eventually did take a step back, let myself become open to learning more and slowly began to soak in what I was being taught… it was a difficult transformation but a beautiful one.”
So Barkha went on to graduate from Boston University with a degree in finance on the pre-med track but she was in a tough dilemma as her heart kept calling her to dance. She was heading for healthcare consultancy when after much deliberation, she decided to give dance a try. Her father supported her and told her not to look back, passing on his ethos of working hard and giving one-hundred percent to whatever you choose to do.
Since then, Barkha’s training has changed to continuous hours of riyaaz (self-practice)...
She’s been visiting India twice a year since 2011 to work with musicians and also completed her Masters degree in Fine Arts (Kathak) from a Kalidasa Sanskrit University (in association with Bharata College, Mumbai). She has been very fortunate to have learned how to teach by her Guru and through teaching students from different age ranges also allows Barkha to learn in many ways. “ My students have taught me how to be more patient and loving. They teach me about the newest pop culture music and trends too! I can be locked up for hours listening to tracks of tabla and Hindustani vocal maestros but my students help me keep relevant! I am so fortunate to be able to give back all the great teachings I have received from my Gurus.”
Barkha is ambitious to try different things with Kathak, including collaborating with upcoming musicians and artists. “I would love to see Kathak at the level of Ballet all around the world and have it shared with different audiences. I hope I can contribute to that vision that I know so many Kathak dancers share. I truly believe the art is much greater than me. I am just a vehicle through which the art speaks and I want to make people feel a part of that.”
Check out more of Barkha's work on www.barkhadance.com and be sure to follow her journey!
