Ten confidently beaming students of the Saidapet Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School kept their audience captivated with their Bharatanatyam arangetram recital at the Sir Pitty Thyagaraya Hall on Tuesday. Six years ago, the event was a distant dream for the girls due to their family’s financial circumstances.
The ten girls, seven from Class 12, two from Class 10 and one from Class 9, are from lower income families residing in Saidapet.
“I always wanted to learn the art, but I did not ask my parents because I knew they couldn't afford it,” said S. Bhuvaneshwari, a Class XII student of the school.
Six years ago, Aanmajothi, a trust working for preserving cultural heritage, started free Bharatanatyam classes in the school.
“We wanted to spread the rich culture of our country in the Chennai Corporation schools also. Most of the children there cannot afford such classes,” said K.S. Natarajan, director of the trust.
The girls started learning the classical dance form with great interest. “Respect for us grew in our neighbourhood. Our parents were also happy. There was concern over the expenditure for an arangetram, but the trust sponsored that for us,” said B. Priyadarshini, one of the dancers.
The girls say the dance has improved their ability to concentrate. M. Seethalakshmi, assistant head mistress of the school, told The Hindu, “Their academic performance has improved. Some of them are from broken families and art helps them forget their worries.” A. Hemalatha, Class 12 student, said her peers now look at her with awe.
“Our neighbours, too, want to learn, but this is only for our school's students. Motivated by us, many of our juniors are taking up classes,” she said.
Aanmajothi is also facilitating free dance classes in six other Chennai Corporation schools with the help of Kalakshetra Foundation, and classes for music in four Chennai schools by collaborating with Carnatic musician T. M. Krishna.
“We asked the students to research Bharatanatyam for a deeper understanding of it. Earlier, they did not know of any classical dance artiste,” said T. Bhavani, their dance teacher.
Ms. Bhuvaneshwari adds, “My role model is actor Shobana. Till now, we did not know about such [art-based] career options.”
