South African embarks on a Kathak journey to India
Brian Sekoko of Soweto south will study at the Ganesh Kala Mandir in New Delhi, one of India's oldest dance institutions.
A young South African enthusiast of Indian dance forms has embarked on a journey to India with the hope of becoming the first Kathak graduate from the African continent.
Twenty-two-year-old Brian Sekoko, hailing from the black township of Soweto south of here, will study at the Ganesh Kala Mandir in New Delhi, one of India's oldest dance institutions running for almost four decades.
The institute is under the patronage of Guru Ganesh Hassel, father of Vinod Hassel who runs the RK Dance Theatre where Sekoko was a student.
"Sekoko will undergo intensive training in the Jaipur Gharana style, which is considered the mother of classical dancing," said Vinod Hessel.
Sekoko fell in love with the Indian dance form six years ago when Hassel was demonstrating steps to students of Maselitso Secondary School in Soweto.
"I was learning ballroom dancing and when I saw other students doing the Indian steps, I immediately went and joined them," Sekoko said.
Since then he has not looked back and even put aside his work as a volunteer at an HIV/AIDS care centre to follow his dream.
"It's an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime and after my return I plan to open a school here as well," he said.
Hassel started teaching Indian dance forms in the African township of Gauteng a decade ago and now conducts classes at six venues in Soweto, Thembisa and Alexandra, all in Johannesburg.
The RK Dance Theatre also conducts classes in the Indian suburbs of Lenasia and Mayfair, from where six girls had gone to India earlier.
"The trips of three girls were fully sponsored by the RK Dance Theatre. Their families were excited that the children were provided with a chance to visit India," said Hassel.
Hassel said there would be a formal graduation ceremony for Sekoko when he returns from India, after which he would take over one of the centres of the RK Dance Theatre in Soweto.
There are 250 African students at the five centres run by the Theatre in three black townships.
Hassel said Sekoko was selected to go to India, as he was the first black to show keen interest in Kathak dancing at an international level.
"My dad has a number of white students at his institutes in Frankfurt and Britain, but no black students," he said.
Sekoko stunned local audiences on his stage debut last year with a mesmerising half-hour Kathak performance.
