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Journalism of Courage
A Kathak performance by a Japanese dance teacher accurately portrayed royal India
If shadows could speak,they would say that the silhouette on the wall was of a coveted dancer from Awadhs royal courts. She beat her ghungroo-ed feet to match the tabla,swayed to the cadence of saraswati vandana and expressed every nuance with grace and fervour. But what compelled everyone to deliver a standing ovation was that the dancer Masako Sato,33,was a Japanese performing Kathak with the poise of a pro.
Satos performance was part of an evening organised by the Japan
Foundation which also included a bansuri recital by Taro Terahara,35,another Japanese artiste.
Satos romance with dance began as a child. A trained Japanese classical dancer,she was visiting India in 1996 when she attended the Kathak Mahotsav in Delhi. I immediately knew that I was meant for Kathak. I began taking classes with Pt Birju Maharaj, she says. Today,Sato teaches Kathak in Tokyo.
Terahara was drawn towards Indian classical music when he was growing up in Japan. I collected CDs of maestros such as Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia,Pt Shiv Kumar and Ustad Zakir Hussain, he says. In 1992,I visited India to take lessons from Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia. Besides performing worldwide,he teaches bansuri and Indian vocal music to students in Japan.
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