Today we’d like to introduce you to Aparna Jagadisan.
Hi Aparna, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started learning dance and training very young at the tender age of 4. It was originally my mother’s interest that I should learn bharathanatyam, but with time what began as an extra curricular interest, grew into deep passion and love for the art. Trained under eminent Guru, the noted bharathanatyam exponent, composer and choreographer Kalaimamani. Sri.Madurai R Muralidharan and Smt.Chithra Muralidharan for over 32 years, I follow the Tanjore style of Bharathanatyam where I work on developing and perfecting the style, that would be seamless and fluid while yet retaining the precision, power and purity – typical of classical dance form.
I completed my Bharatanatya arangetram (my first solo dance recital ) in 1994 and has been a consistent performer for varied audience across India, making a significant and discernible impact on the concert platform. I have had to privilege to have played key roles in my teacher’s major dance productions like vaayu outburst, Avathara purushan (based on Ramayana), Sri Krishna, silapadhigaram, namazhvar charithiram, thirumangai azhvar, Kural oviyam (written by ex chief minister – Tamil Nadu kalaignar karunanidhi ) and more.
I have also assisted as a dance teacher in my teacher’s dance school – Nrithyashetra Dance Academy in Chennai, India for over 8 years training young talents and interested dancers to be successful Bharatanatyam artists. For my services in promoting art and culture, I was conferred with the title “Nrithya Chudaroli”.
In 2021, I was selected as part of a very talented team of 680 experienced dancers across the globe to participate in dancing a varnam. The event’s proceeds were contributed towards Covid Relief fund. The event was organized by my teacher and this feat was recognized by the Guinness book of world records for most people performing a choreographed dance online simultaneously.
After completing my MBA and a short career in the corporate world I decided to take my passion my profession and founded the Siksha School of Bharatanatyam in 2016 at Franklin, Tennessee and have been training young talents and interested dancers in the Franklin, Nashville and Brentwood area for past 9 years. Siksha is dedicated towards providing in-depth training and guidance for interested individuals to become world class performers in the field of Bharatanatyam. Our Annual performances give students an opportunity to showcase their excellence. Over the years the school has trained scores of students who come from all walks of life and nurtured their passion while creating awareness for leading a healthy artistic lifestyle.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely was not a smooth road but neither was it a tough turf.
As the saying goes nothing comes easily without the handwork and sacrifices, so has been my dance career. I have had to as a young dancer for various performances miss school many times and skipped exams too. Have given up many personal and friends and family occasions so I can practice and perform. When I decided to open Siksha school to teach dance and share my knowledge with others neither was that a cake walk. worklife balance has always been a compromise, However when you do something that you love to do no path is difficult. with the support of my family and my students we have changed every challenge to an opportunity to learn and become better.
Siksha school started small with 2 students and have progressed taking baby steps showing consistent progress.
We have faced space constraints, difficulties in showcasing shows in the way it was planed, injuries, and many more.
We took every challenge as a possibility to learn.
Covid posted us a new and unseen challenge and we learned to explored how to operate online. Our steady progress has shown us that patience and perciverance will yield the fruits that hard work deserves. We now operate from our own dedicated studio space and our students perform at all major community events and competetions across Franklin and Nashville.
We train all age groups addressing the needs of different students according to their interest and requirements, and also run classes for students online from other states
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Siksha school of bharathanatyam is dedicated towards providing in-depth training and guidance for interested individuals to become world class performers in the field of Bharathanatyam(Indian Classical Dance). Over the years the school has trained scores of students who come from all walks of life and nurtured their passion while creating awareness for leading a healthy artistic lifestyle. We help students learn and present their art in prestigious platforms in and around Nashville. We also offer guidance to students who wish to pursue Bharathanatyam as a certified course through affiliations with universities and help them gain college credits in the process. From beginners we train students to be able to do solo performances, arangetrams, certified courses, Bharatanatyam theory, Nattuvangam Training and Adult only classes we have spread our wings to explore and guide in different areas in dance.
We have successfully showcased different and rare concepts in our annual performances like Shakthi (On famine power) Saptha Thala (the various Rhythm Structure), Thrichitrambalam (On the dancing lord Nataraja). Our Annual performances give students an opportunity to showcase their excellence and talent.
We teach revived dance techniques translating theoretical concepts into practice, based on the teachings and research of our forerunners and try to creatively inculcate traditional dance styles and with a modern touch.
Being one of the finest dance institutions in Franklin Tennessee, we celebrate diverse culture and synthesis the experience of ancient and contemporary art to create masterpieces that become eternal.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
While we are happy and proud of our progress, we are also immensely grateful for the support that’s extended to us by the community.
Our students receive more invitations, warm welcome and a great reception from Local Indian communities, to perform in their community events, competitions and other prestigious platforms.
Our students also participate in local and other interstate competitions and place in different categories.
As a small attempt to give back to the community that has supported us unconditionally, we support and sponsor local Indian associations and women’s cricket associations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sikshaschoolofbharathanatyam.com/
- Instagram: Siksha_franklin
