A Hungarian’s Love for Bharatanatyam

A Hungarian’s Love for Bharatanatyam

Mangalore Today News Network

By I J Saldanha Shet

Mangalore, June 20, 2013: Bharatanatyam lovers of Mangalore are to get a rare opportunity; to witness a performance by Dr Alexa Szoke of Hungary. Mangalore Today, "the favourite Magazine" as this European Scholar and her Husband said, has the first privilege to this exclusive breaking news in the City.

 

Dr. Alexandra Szoke (her original family name), born in Budapest, Hungary, completed her PhD in social anthropology from the Central European University in Hungary and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. 

She moved to Mangalore 18 months ago, accompanying her husband, Ian Cook, who is doing research in Mangalore as part of his a PhD in social anthropology at the Central European University in Hungary. Ian is originally from the town of Glossop in the UK, but met Alexa at a conference when he was working for an NGO in the Czech Republic about 6 years ago.

She persuaded him to move to her home town of Budapest, Hungary and she also got him interested in her discipline, anthropology!

Dr. Alexa, researched the local state and welfare provision in eastern Hungary.  Ian has had a long standing interest in India after he spent six months working on an organic farm in Melkote, Mandya District, when he was 18. In Mangalore, his research focuses on how the lives of auto rickshaw drivers, casual vendors and real estate agents interact with the life of the city, as Mangalore undergoes rapid and fundamental changes more visible recently. This has taken him all over the city, led him to learn Kannada and changed him forever. Alexa has since finished her PhD – with most of the writing done from a flat in Yekkur – and will join the University of Vienna as a post doctoral researcher upon their return.

Dr Alexa, a shy, petite, strong personality, very humane and a great listener   compliments her tall husband, Ian - out going, empathetic in nature who has been studying the many common facets of Kudla and has become an insider for many local people. Both have taken keen interest in the ancient history and local traditions and customs.

Alexa’s first experience of  Bharatanatyam came a bit more than a year ago when she joined Sanathana Natyalaya Mangalore, who were  organising a series of performances to mark their 30 anniversary. She instantly fell in love with Indian classical dance, thanks to the enthusiasm, warmth and love shown by her guru Sharadamani  Shekar, and under whose guidance she  became immersed into the world of Bharatanatyam.

About their stay in Mangalore she says, both she and her husband found most fruitful, and they made every attempt to experience many aspects. Now she is preparing to offer a humble recital of the classical dance pieces she learnt to a fair level. The performance will be  on  Saturday June 22,  at 6 PM, at Sanathana Natyalaya, Shree Devi College Road, Ballalbagh, the School which in many ways has become her second home. She expressly gives thanks to ’Sanathana Natyalaya’ for the opportunity to perform and also to Radhika Shetty, founder of Nrityaangan Charitable  Trust and performing artiste in India and the USA, for her friendship, support and  inspiring teaching over the last year. The tremendous encouragement Dr Alexia received in her endeavours in Mangalore, she says will be very memorable for a long long time to come.

Ian & Alexa will be leaving the city at the end of June and are both very sad about it, as they’ve made great friends in Tulu Nadu. They’re already searching for ways to come back and it’s hoped that the Bharatnatyam performance will be a special way to say goodbye.n


Interview
Dr Alexandra Szoke and Ian Cook, speaking to ’Mangalore Today’ in an exclusive talk have provided special information about their pleasant stay in Mangalore over the last about 18 months. Some of the enlightening statements of Dr Alexa are reproduced here. They mentioned that ’Mangalore Today’ Magazine was a source of particular information and  favourite reading for them, after they happened to pick it up from a local news stand in the early days.

MT: Why did you get interested in Bharatanatyam?
Dr Alexa: When I moved to Mangalore I was in the middle of writing my doctoral thesis. I spent my days  chained to the computer and was going a little crazy. I used to dance ballet - a classical dance form  from Europe - until I was about 16 and have always regretted stopping. Joining Bharatanatyam  classes seemed like a good way to rekindle my interest in dance and also give me a welcome break  from the writing. I loved it. My guru, Sharadamani Shekar, has been a real inspiration and not only in terms of dance. We can’t really speak the same language with our tongues, but we try to do it with  our hands and feet instead.

MT :Was it hard to start learning an alien dance form?
Dr Alexa: Yes, very. It’s not only the dance steps I had to learn, but a completely new type of music, culture,  rhythm even thought. Then of course there’s the physical pain that comes from spending so much time in the half-sitting position! I of course joined the junior class and I was 3 to 4 times older than everyone  else - my body probably feels the pain a bit more than the others! But I noticed that since I joined,  older ladies  too joined. It was nice to see that. It’s never too late to start learning something new. I’ve also been taking additional classes from Radhika Shetty, founder of Nrityaangan  Charitable Trust, and she’s spent time in the USA so she understands how it is to adapt to something  new. She’s helped a lot with explaining the meaning behind the gestures, as I wasn’t really familiar  with Hindu mythology and so on.

MT: Will you be able to carry on dancing back home?
Dr Alexa : I hope so. I’ve been dancing for only 15 months, and it isn’t enough time to learn very much. I wish  I’d started much earlier. I searched online and found a Hungarian dancer who spent a long time in  Chennai learning Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music and she gives lessons, so hopefully I can carry  on learning with her. Although of course it won’t be the same as in Mangalore, as the whole cultural  environment is very important. I thank every one concerned.