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The first ISTD Kathak examinations were held in Seattle
Liveanklets is a Kathak dance school in Redmond/Bellevue in the state of Washington in the USA. It started in 2003 and has grown from 5 to 40 students in six years. The students are in the age group of 6 – 27 years.
Liveanklets was introduced to the ISTD by Sujata Banerjee who visits Seattle often to conduct training workshops. She has been working closely with the students for three years.
I, as the teacher and owner of Liveanklets, felt that learning and teaching in the west is very different to learning Kathak in India. However, the opportunity offered by the ISTD to formalise South Asian dance education by taking examinations does bridge the gap of learning an Indian dance form outside of India.
"We were very fortunate to be able to conduct our first examination here in the Seattle area on April 25, 2009. Taking a formal exam boosted the confidence of the students and gave them a benchmark for their skill set.”
The examination was a memorable milestone for the students. Here is what some of the students had to say about their experience: "This was our first opportunity to get a formal assessment of how much we had learned in Kathak over the past few years and this also provided us with the first formal milestone for our Kathak education, so I was very keen to take the exam," says Nitika Arora.
Kanika says: "I got a chance to focus on the history and theory of Kathak while preparing for the exam and I enjoyed that."
Getting ready for the exam provided the students an opportunity to strengthen the routines they already knew and that increased their confidence in a performance capability.
The students had a great experience during the day of the exam since they found the examiner very approachable. Liveanklets parent, Taran Arora, says: "I was greatly heartened to meet the examiner. He was very capable, confident, and passionate about Kathak. During his brief interaction with the students, he instilled joy and pride for Kathak in each one of them."
Liveanklets students had an overall positive experience of with the exam."I felt comfortable with the grade of the Kathak exam I attempted and I believe it was the appropriate level of exam for me," says Prachi. "I am very likely to attempt another Kathak exam, if offered the chance," Prachi adds.
We will continue to conduct such examinations within Liveanklets. I'm told that with this examination we have set a record of being the first US city where the ISTD South Asian examination has been conducted.
Manisha Chainani |
