At Guru Sundar Prasad Kathak Mohostav,
Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi on Feb 3, 2004 |
Anjani Ambegaokar has been training
in Kathak under Pundit Sunderlal Gangani for more than 20 years. After
doing her MA in Kathak at the MS University in Vadodara, Anjani came to
the United States in 1967 and founded the Sundar Kala Kendra Dance School.
It has about 5 branches in Los Angeles and Orange County and has trained
hundreds of dancers, while her company, Anjani's Kathak Dance of India,
has performed around the world. Anjani has made a name for herself as a
dedicated dancer, choreographer, and educator of Kathak. Her daughter,
Amrapali, is now the principal dancer of her company.
Anjani is the recipient of several
awards, including the Choreography Fellowship from California Arts Council
for 2000. She was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers
Fellowship grant for 1991, 1992 to 1994, 1994 to 1996, given to only one
Kathak dancer / choreographer in the USA.
To add to her laurels, Anjani Ambegaokar
has been awarded the prestigious NATIONAL HERITAGE AWARD by the National
Endowment for the Arts for $20,000 for 2004. This is the first time
that the award is given to an Indian dancer/choreographer/teacher in the
22 years of history of the award. This the highest award for traditional
and folk artistes in the USA and is given by nomination. |
Anjani shares her joyous feelings
and aspirations with narthaki online.
The prestigious NATIONAL HERITAGE
AWARD is the highest award for traditional and folk artistes in the USA.
When and how did you get to know of this honor?
On the 12th of May, Barry Bergey,
Director of Traditional & Folk arts section of the National Endowment
for The Arts called me at home in the afternoon. First when he announced
his name I thought, this must a call for some questions regarding my application
on behalf of my Sundar Kala Kendra Foundation for the next project. Then
Barry said, “You have been given the National Heritage Award,” and I kept
saying to him, “You are kidding, this cannot be true,” and he said, “It
is true and I am calling to congratulate you.” And finally when it started
to sink in as he explained the details of what it means, my next reaction
was what an honor this is!! He also said that this is the first time an
Indian dancer has been given this award. Amrapali (my daughter) was
in India, so I woke her up at 3 am and told her about the award and then
called my husband in the office. Both of them were very happy and
excited. It feels wonderful to know that my work got appreciated on a national
level and has appeared in papers such as New York Times, Los Angeles Times
etc.
This fellowship category is not
open to application. Fellowships are awarded on the basis of nominations
from the public. Did you ever dream that you might one day be nominated
for this honor?
I was nominated in 2001 and I knew
about it, I had to give all my supplemental material including video of
my work. The nomination is reviewed every year, up to five years
and I did send them updated material once a year. This year I did not even
think about the award because it has been 3 years and I thought there is
no chance of me ever getting this award, and then it happened! There were
about 270 nominees this year of which 12 were selected for the award.
There is a review panel of excerpts in the fields of traditional and folk
arts, which changes every year. This year there were 11 experts in the
traditional and folk arts field and they worked for four days to finalize
the list from 270 to 60 to 12. The award is also given to performing
and visual artists, from blues singer, tap dancer, Mexican musician, American
Indian quilt maker, Cambodian artist, Egyptian Santoor player etc.
How does it feel to be the first
Indian dancer / choreographer / teacher in the 22 years of history of the
award?
I feel very honored; it is a very
humbling experience to be chosen as the first one among the dancers. I
also feel very strongly that I have received this award with my parents
and my Guruji's blessings. Starting from my 'Papa' Dr. Sitaram
Ambegaokar whose dream was to see his daughter dance, my 'Aie' my mother
who always supported him, my dear Guruji - Pandit Sundarlaljee Gangani
who believed in me, and taught me this incredible art of Kathak dance,
my two brothers who were always there for me, my husband Jagadish
who has admired and appreciated my work and has helped me to carry on my
work, of course my beautiful daughter Amrapali who is one amazing dancer/performer
and my best friend who is carrying on this tradition that I am very proud
of and has been there for me in every aspect of this devotion that we have,
dancers of my dance company who are always there to perform who have become
part of the extended family, my students and their parents who have supported
all my projects, my musicians who have believed in my creative ideas -
this award I share with all of them. The wonderful part is my Guruji
turned 75 on May 19th and I could call him and share this news with him,
what more could an artist ask for? I believe that an artist
can dream, but he/she needs a full support system to make that dream a
reality. I am grateful to all who have made it possible for me. The
three great artists who have received this award in the past are Ustad
Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain and T Vishvanathan.
At a time when so much of funding
and grants for the arts are being slashed, this fellowship must be a great
blessing. What do you propose to do with the amount?
What do I propose to do with the
amount? To tell you the truth, I do not know yet. I will receive
the check in September at the Award Ceremony in Washington. D.C. There
will be four days of festivities including Banquet, Reception and performances
at the Library of Congress and at George Washington Univ. The additional
performance at the Library of Congress is by myself with my artists only.
Every year one artist is selected to perform at the Library of Congress
and this year they have selected my work, which is another great honor.
Anyway, I hope I can use at least part of the moneys for my future artistic
projects.
“Fellows are selected according
to criteria of authenticity, excellence, and significance within the particular
artistic tradition.” Do you perceive this as a big responsibility to live
up to, or do you just feel a sense of satisfaction for recognition of your
work?
Both. First, it is a wonderful
satisfying feeling to receive such an honor, specially since I was not
expecting it at all and was not even thinking about it. I like to
believe that truth prevails and I have always tried to be very truthful
to my work and true to my Kathak dance. Yes, it is a big responsibility.
Berry Burgey highlighted some of my projects, teaching, sessions about
mathematics and Kathak rhythms and passing on the Kathak tradition to Amrapali
and her achievements including Cirque Du Soleil. I would just like to continue
to do what I have done so far and dream about my projects and make them
realities as often as possible, and cherish the process of making that
dream come true.
Can Kathak be categorized under
‘traditional and folk’? What is the status of Kathak on the American performing
arts scene now?
At present Kathak is categorized
as part of the Traditional and Folk arts of this country just as all the
other classical dance forms of India. In the old days they were part
of the ethnic category and Kathak is also considered as part of the world
dance. When I request funding from the National Endowment for the
Art, I can apply for either dance category or Traditional and folk arts
category, so I still have the option of choosing between the two and I
like to have that option depending on my project. For the Kalidas'
Shakuntalam dance drama, we received funding under dance category, in competition
with all other dance forms of USA including ballet and modern dance. The
status of Kathak dance is very good and getting better. I would say
that my receiving the award is a perfect example that the dance form is
recognized nationally. In the 37 years that I have lived in the US,
I have always made a genuine effort to promote Kathak in its true form
from Alaska to Florida and from Hawaii to New York.
What are the challenges ahead
of you as the winner of this award?
I consider them opportunities and
experiences and I am truly looking forward to all of them. I do not
know that they will be, but my goal has always been to continue to strive
to make myself a complete artist with a deep rooted tradition and new ideas
and a mission of taking Kathak dance to new heights, and new places, and
new audiences.
(as told to Lalitha Venkat on
e-mail)
Contact
Anjani Ambegaokar
"Sundar Kala Kendra Dance School"
1934, Peaceful Hills Road
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Ph: (909) - 595-8934
Fax: (909) - 598-3351
e-mail: AnjaniA@aol.com |
