Exposing the audience to the potential of collaborative work, is a great way to bring them to appreciate other cultures

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An interview with ADITI BHAGWAT, Eminent Exponent of Experimental Dance

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IN THIS INTERVIEW WITH INDIAN SOUNDS & STEPS, ADITI BHAGWAT THROWS LIGHT ON HER JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY, AS SHE CONSISTENTLY COLLABORATES WITH PROMINENT DANCERS AND MUSICIANS FROM INDIA AND ABROAD. SHE ALSO EMPHASISES ON THE VIRTUES OF DIFFERENT GENRES COMPLEMENTING EACH OTHER AS SHE BELIEVES ALL MUSIC, DANCE AND ART HAVE A COMMON LANGUAGE. TO EXPERIENCE THIS FEELING, READ ON!.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]EDITOR’S NOTE:  Aditi Bhagwat is one of the most celebrated Indian exponents of experimental dance, with a string of successful collaborations with leading arts exponents from multiple genres and geographies.

Aditi inherited her keen sense of music and rhythm from her mother Smt. Ragini Bhagwat who was a trained classical singer. She carried this tradition further after starting to learn Indian classical dance at the tender age of 4 years. She began rigorous training in the Jaipur style of Kathak under Padmashri Dr. Roshan Kumari. She has also received able guidance from Kathak exponent Smt. Nandita Puri and Tabla virtuoso Pt. Yogesh Samsi.

Having secured a masters in Psychology, Aditi did her masters in Kathak from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. She is an ‘A’ graded artist of the Doordarshan Kendra, impaneled with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and has received the title of ‘Nalanda Nritya Nipun’ from the Nalanda Dance and Research Academy, Mumbai. She received the OneBeat fellowship which was an initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Under this fellowship Aditi collaborated with 32 musicians from all over the world. She featured as a ‘foot percussionist’ from India and successfully combined Indian rhythms and Kathak bols (syllables) through her feet and ghungroos.

Aditi has experimented with the traditions of Jazz and world music. Her first collaborative ventures were with Jazz maestro Louiz Banks, percussionist Sivamani and music composer Merlin D’souza from India. Crossing the borders of her discipline, she collaborated with pianist Bela Szakcsi Lakatos (Indo-Gypsy Jazz project, Budapest Spring Festival), New York based pianist Rod Williams (The Issue Project), Jazz Harpist Susan Mazer and Flautist Dallas Smith (Reno Artown Festival) and with Flamenco exponent Bettina Castaño. She has collaborated with the renowned Latin Grammy nominated music group Las Migas in their concert “Flamenco Fiesta” at the Royal Opera House in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain, Mumbai.

Her online ventures include performances for TedEx Serenemeadows 2021, The Asia Dance Festival (Seoul), Lecture/Demonstration series for the Cassandra Voss Centre (St. Norbert College, Wisconsin), The Livingston Public Library (New Jersey), and many more.

‘FlamencoKathaa’ and ‘Crossroads’ are Aditi’s collaborative ventures with the Spanish Flamenco. ‘Crossroads’, a unique blend of Jazz-Kathak-Flamenco in collaboration with the Consulate General of Spain in Mumbai at the Spectrum International Dance Festival in 2020. She co-produced and acted in the international short film titled “Aarsa” which premiered at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and showcased at the Phoenix Film Festival, New York Indian Film Festival.

As a dancer, she has enthralled audiences at numerous events, such as Duo Dance Festival 2022, South Korea; India Summer Days Festival 2019, Karlsruhe (Germany); Reno Artown Festival, USA; Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation ‘Avartan’ and ‘Kaafila’ tour, USA; BRICS Summit Dance Gala 2017, Xiamen, China for ICCR; and Sree Sankara International Dance Festival, Kerala; ‘Diwali at Times Square’, New York City, 2013, just to name a few.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624010429324{padding-top: 3% !important;padding-bottom: 1% !important;}”][vc_column_text]

THE ADITI BHAGWAT INTERVIEW

You have a distinguished track record in experimenting by blending different forms performing art forms and collaborative ventures – both at the national and international levels? What do you think contributed to the success of these experimentations and collaborations? How have these ventures impacted the global perception of Indian traditional and classical art forms? What has been your 2 or 3 most rewarding experiences with these collaborations?

ADITI BHAGWAT: Acceptance and tolerance of what others are saying through their culture and tradition have made these experiments successful. I value the art that others share with me, I value where it comes from, its origin, its aesthetics and all the story-telling in their music and dance. This brought me to embracing different artistic viewpoints, cultural differences and seeing how they can align with ours. The communication, dialogue and exchange were exciting. All this enthusiasm has led me on this journey of exploration and discovery.

Most rewarding experiences include

• The OneBeat fellowship program initiated by the US State Department of Educational and Cultural Affairs
• Crossroads – Flamenco – Jazz- Kathak collaboration with Flamenco artist Bettina Castaño and Jazz Harpist Susan Mazer and Flautist Dallas Smith.
• Collaboration with Jazz maestro Louiz Banks in the beginning of my career as a collaborative artist. Performance with Grammy Award winning Spanish group Las Migas recently in Mumbai.

When Kathak or Lavani met Jazz and Flamenco and world music during my experiments, it broadened the perceptions of audience in India and abroad.

‘Just like we have myriad moods and transitions, seasons and experiences, we can also express ourselves through multiple roles.’

Unlike most of your peers, you have made your mark in different arts forms – be it Kathak, Lavani, Experimental Fusions, and also as a dance tutor, choreographer, a film actor, and on platforms like ‘online’ and TEDex? What motivates or drives you to take up these multiple roles, challenges and platforms? How easy or tough is this for you? Kindly elaborate?

ADITI BHAGWAT: It is difficult and easy, both. If you have supportive artists who guide you and work as a team, it becomes an easy and enjoyable ride. What is a challenge is staying true to your core art form and still crossing borders and going beyond the conventional. That can be difficult but it’s not impossible. Life has a lot to offer… just like we have myriad moods and transitions, seasons and experiences, we can also express ourselves through multiple roles. Any limitation one art form may pose, could be overcome or compensated by the other. While acting I could be other people, I have played a dancer in an international short film titled Aarsa and recently in a Marathi TV show, ‘Jivachi Hotiya Kahili’ on the Sony Marathi channel.

I can be my free, boisterous self while performing the Lavani when I am otherwise more composed and disciplined being a Kathak dancer. I used to teach online well before the lockdown since I have students abroad and hence managing that practice during the lockdown wasn’t a very new challenge.

The audience typically are different for different art forms? For example, the audience will be different for a pure classical do and a Jazz / Pan-Global Musical or for that matter, for a Kathak-Flamenco fusion and a Lavani? How do you prepare yourself or adapt yourself while performing before such a varied category of audience?

ADITI BHAGWAT: If you know your audience beforehand then that’s a plus but sometimes we just gauge while on stage. After more than two decades of doing this regularly, one develops that innate sense and can stir the performance likewise. Also, most of the time, I perform for my joy and satisfaction. It should never be the audience deciding the quality or nature of the performance.

When presented well, any theme or concept is appreciated. I have performed Kathak incorporating stories from the Bible and it was received very well by an audience that would otherwise never reach out to a traditional Kathak performance. Exposing the audience to all the possibilities that collaborative work has to offer, is a great way to bring them to appreciate other cultures and in the end see how it all is eventually the same …. music, dance and art have a common language.

‘I have performed Kathak, incorporating stories from the Bible and it was received very well by an audience that would otherwise never reach out to a traditional Kathak performance.’

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row enable_arrows_animation=”no”][vc_column][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1624012669427{padding-top: 3% !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_gallery interval=”5″ images=”12415,12332,12331,12414,12416,12333,12334″ img_size=”450×360″ onclick=”” css_animation=”fadeIn”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]What are your views on today’s Indian classical and traditional dance scenario? How, according to you, has it improved over the years? Where are the areas where it requires further improvement, and how do you think the arts community can work towards this improvement?

ADITI BHAGWAT: More and more people are learning dance and music and parents are very ambitious too. Compared to the time when I started training in Kathak, you see many more budding students and artists in this field today. Parents are encouraging, families support careers in this field and with an increase in the number of TV channels and shows, many artists have a platform to present their talent which wasn’t the case back then.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]So there is an obvious shift in the scenario. Artists are doing well and they all know the importance of hardwork and dedication. What can be improved is their patience and sustenance. Many students wish to learn a lot but don’t have the patience for it or fall short when it comes to sustaining their passion and hard work. There is always a fascination for novel things but a few months or years into the practice, they start dropping out. Parents are overtly ambitious and at times, pressure their children to go beyond what they can naturally handle. The pressure is too much to pursue every skill or art possible. That in my opinion needs to be controlled. Anything in excess isn’t good after all.

‘Social media when used correctly and effectively is a great tool for publicity and promotion and also, to get business.’

Young, talented seeking instant ‘success’ or ‘recognitions’ by fighting it out in performing arts competitions and / or social media has become the norm of the day? Do you think this is a healthy trend? What would your advice be for such youngsters and their parents?

ADITI BHAGWAT: I have mentioned that in the answer above. I will add that social media when used correctly and effectively is a great tool for publicity and promotion. Sometimes, also to get business. But anything in excess is harmful … that explains it. Abusing social media and making unrealistic comparisons is not a good approach to building a career as an artist. Every artist has a different journey and different skill set. We must focus on ourselves and see what best we can do and do better each day.

What’s a typical day like in the life of Aditi Bhagwat? How does it start (what time) and how does it end?)

ADITI BHAGWAT: Every day is a different day especially if you are a freelancing artist. But my routine consists of teaching, practice, exercise, cooking, connecting with people for work, rehearsals if there is a concert coming up or while building a new project. My typical day starts at 7 am unless there are early morning rehearsals where I start dancing at 8 am Sometimes, I get creative in the night and sleep late. I like to hang out with my neighbors’ pet cats. Painting and cooking are my hobbies.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624011263768{padding-top: 3% !important;padding-bottom: 3% !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row enable_arrows_animation=”no” css=”.vc_custom_1474355814165{padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]

CONNECT WITH ADITI BHAGWAT ON

Website I Wikipedia I Instagram I Facebook

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