An experience with Humility

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” 

― Ernest Hemingway, The Wild Years

The rehearsals for Krishna Bharatham have intensified. This week, I had the pleasure of  observing the choreographer and dancers in action and was also able to draw a few of them aside for a quick chat (only before and after rehearsals of course-Discipline was at its most effective during these rehearsals). 

In chatting with with our SIFAS Guru, Guru Sanjith Lal, I found that his humility came through with each anecdote he shared and I was reminded during these moments, that the only way to pursue any passion or creative art is to do so with complete abandon and humility. Although his responses were brief yet candid, you will find that they urge you to consider your own process of pursuit of a creative art form.

You have worked with the choreographer previously, during your own training with Kalakshetra. Now, you are established as a guru yourself in SIFAS. How do you feel working with your guru? And that too alongside with your current students? How is this experience different?

Sheejith Sir was my class teacher in my final year at Kalakshetra. As a guru, Sheejith Sir is as always very strict, especially when it comes to technical or traditional aspects of the dance form. While he remains friendly as a person, he is very focused on the art form and is particular that the Kalakshetra tradition be maintained. In his classes, you will find that such focus is emphasised.

But what a wonderful person he is and "extra talented" too. Further to dance forms, he also knows how to play the mridangam and compose music. In fact, the musical score of Krishna Bharatham is composed by himself and his wife.

With regard to the students, I have found that they have learnt a lot from this experience and have in fact become more disciplined.

It is interesting that you speak of discipline. I think one of the difficulties teachers of SIFAS have often had with students is their lack of focus on their respective art form. This is understandable especially  in light of the fact, that here in Singapore, the pursuit of the art form is a hobby to which only a few hours are dedicated while their primary focus is their studies or career. Would you say this has changed? Do you find them to be more inspired?

Of course! The students have become inspired both by the way he teaches the dance and also by the way he conducts himself and the classroom. Let me explain.

When Sheejith Sir starts the class, he turns on the electronic tambura and the sruthi is allowed to fill the classroom and remain in the class throughout the session. When the students hear the tone of the sruthi, they too become calm and inevitably more disciplined. 

Further to this, I find that the way he conducts the class seems to influence their behaviour; toward making them better human beings. I have found ego issues and insecurities to become dispelled. There has also been an improvement in general class conduct which I hope will remain long after the production is over - punctuality is one example. ALL are in early, at least a few minutes before the start of a session.  This is a rare occurrence in SIFAS.

You are yourself a young artiste and would be performing at the Esplanade with the students and your teacher, this must be a special experience for you.


Dancing with my teacher and my best friend, Shyam (also a guru at SIFAS) on a foreign stage is quite the experience. When I am in front of Sheejith sir, I feel as I had those days back in college (kalakshetra). He also treats us that way, as one of his own.

That statement seems to suggest the humility that the teachers of kalakshetra have imparted to those like yourself, the understanding that it is a continuous process of learning. 

In terms of ego, it is often easy for an artiste to get carried away with the limelight. What is your opinion on this and what would be your advice to other aspiring young artistes? How would you suggest they go about this in their day to day efforts in pursuing an art form?

I would ask them to be happy with the opportunity and give it sufficient justice. The quality of your performance as opposed to the quantity (of time) of exposure speaks volume.

Krishna Bharatham: The Alumni Experience

While walking up the SIFAS steps to our first Alumni meeting with Sheejith Sir and the dance teachers, a range of emotions floated through my mind: I was thankful for the opportunity, but didn’t know what to expect at the same time. All the participating dancers had a common, long-standing relationship with SIFAS that tied us together – yet every production is a new experience with its own challenges, hence an inevitable sense of anxiousness dawned upon me. 

This anxiety turned into excitement minutes into the meeting. Sheejith Sir explained the essence of the storyline and what we were expected to portray, and I became all too energized to be part of this journey. I knew from then on that learning under such an esteemed choreographer and dancer was certainly going to be a valuable experience for us all. 

Training for this show has nonetheless had its fair share of challenges. Our first couple of days were a little daunting, as we were still trying to figure out the steps and formations. I for one had the extra challenge of regaining my stamina for the nritta sequences after a long break from dance....the struggle on that front still continues! ;)

But through the sore backs and legs, I have certainly learnt some great lessons from this venture. At each rehearsal under Sheejith Sir, there has been at least one moment that left me in awe. Whether it was a correction to the angle of our body, or our character portrayal, or even watching him jumble the beats to choreograph a new sequence – I was left admiring his talent and experience. Watching fellow dancers and how they have progressed in their individual parts has also been great. We have all been able to learn from each other and collectively become better dancers together. Sharing the stage with Sanjith Sir, Shyam Sir, and Sheejith Sir is both intimidating and inspiring at the same time. The symmetry of their aramandis and sharpness of their movements has boosted my energy to work harder to improve my standard of dance to the best of my abilities.

At this moment, we are working towards making the best production we can make for the audience to enjoy the essence of Krishna through the Mahabharatam. But the lessons I have learnt through this process will certainly be with me even after the evening of April 8th 2012. 

~ Sruti Rao

The Dancer's Perspective

Krishna Bharatham


Esplanade, 8 April 2012

As dancers, we sometimes wonder why we put ourselves through long, consecutive late night rehearsals that leave us physically and emotionally exhausted. We ask ourselves if it’s worth it when we have exams to sit for, readings to finish, or 12 hour experiments to complete the next day. But then you realize that your intrinsic love for the art form will always trump the Proms you miss, the recurring knee injuries, and the aches that make it oh so hard to stand in the train the next day.

I speak for myself here - the experience from Krishna Bharatham is unlike other productions that I’ve been involved in. It reinforced of the (lack of) discipline that we started taking for granted during our usual dance classes (suddenly we raced to be on time for rehearsals and started accounting for when we would be late for class); we put in extra effort to remember what had been taught the previous day. Our aramandis became lower than usual, and we discovered that our bodies could bend farther than we thought they initially could. Karvais were now of utmost importance – (as ashamed I am to admit this) it suddenly mattered whether that pause was a thaka or a thakita. Our feet were getting used to calculations we had not experienced before. On the whole, the experience has taught us to look past technical perfection and to embody a bhava with our physical forms.

Bharathanatyam fits differently on different individuals, and the inevitable challenge in a group production is to coordinate everyone’s movements. Bharathanatyam may be better known as an individual art form, but the challenge is in dancing in a group. The experience has been great so far, with all of us watching out for each other. (Admittedly, we are still struggling, but I’m sure we’ll get there by show time.) The best lesson one learns when dancing with others is that working as a team is key – this means abandoning that ever-present artist ego, and realizing that you only look good as long as everyone else looks good. Of course, group productions always mean that you have that much more fun getting to know your fellow dancers :)

It has also been an amazing experience working with Sheejith Sir – there is so much to learn from his years of experience. Even though he is twice our size and irrationally terrifying, we have been so fortunate to have this opportunity to work with such a renowned composer and choreographer. There is so much to learn from just observation – from his expressions to his thought processes and to his ‘instant’ korvai calculations. To be on the same stage as Sir is such an honour, and an experience that none of us will forget.

~ Anuja Varaprasad

Make sure to support the SIFAS Alumni in their performance of “Krishna Bharatham” on 8 April 2012 at 8pm at the Esplanade. Not only is the dance choreography worth the watch, but the music composition will keep even the dance-averse enthralled.