July 27, 2004

The art of Bharatanatyam
Jayendra Kalakendra dance school raises $2,550 for Jeena

By Marilyn Fahey
Staff Writer

In vibrant, bright-hued costumes and glittering jewelry, dancers from the Jayendra Kalakendra dance school recently performed in a Bharatanatyam fundraising program at Evergreen Valley High School’s theater, their ankle bells jingling with each complicated step.

The performance raised $2,550 for Jeena, a nonprofit resource and support center for children with developmental disorders and their families.

Following the Bharatanatyam performance, Jayendra Kalakendra students danced with Jeena kids—costumed as peacocks, swans and other graceful birds—in a rendition of “The Ugly Duckling.” Suganda Sreenath-Iyer, founder and artistic director of Jayendra Kalakendra, and instructor in Jeena’s Creative Dance Movement program, conducted the dancers.

Because of their development disorders—including pervasive developmental disorder, autism and cerebral palsy—Jeena kids often feel extremely anxious being in front of people. Even so, Iyer said, the kids did great. “The Jeena kids loved it; it was a good experience for them and for the Jayendra Kalakendra students as well.”

Iyer founded Jayendra Kalakendra in 1989 to keep alive the art of Bharatanatyam. A classical Indian dance form dating back thousands of years, Bharatanatyam involves elaborate hand movements and exaggerated facial expressions and is deeply rooted in Hindu spiritual tradition. The school provides intensive training in Bharatanatyam to preserve the cultural heritage of India and to impart a cultural identity to its students.

In addition to her dedication to Bharatanatyam, Iyer is deeply committed to the Jeena organization. “Whatever help they need, I’m glad to give it,” she says. Her enthusiasm has spilled over to her students at Jayendra Kalakendra.

“When I asked for volunteers for this fundraiser, immediately several students approached me and said they wanted to help out,” added Iyer. One little girl from Jeena, Priya, who was used to dancing only with Iyer, had to dance with another student, Adya, during the performance. Iyer worried that the change might fluster Priya, “but she did beautifully.”

Obstacles overcome
A classical Indian orchestra accompanied the dancers. Yet due to visa problems, the musicians from India who were originally scheduled to perform didn’t arrive in time, except for the flutist, Sunil Kumar.

Iyer only had to make a few calls before she assembled another orchestra, including a Carnatic vocalist (SreeLakshmi Kolavennu), violinist (Shubha Narasimhan), veena player (Venu Kolavennu) and mridangam player (Ramesh Srinivasan). Iyer accompanied the musicians with hand symbols while conducting the dancers.

The orchestra and the dancers couldn’t hear the music on stage before the performance because of technical difficulties. This was a problem, since the dancers rely on the music for their cues, and 22 of the Jayendra Kalakendra dancers were first-time performers. But after a half-hour delay, the sound problems were worked out, and over the next two hours the Jayendra Kalakendra students performed 12 dances ending the evening in a number with the children from Jeena.

About Jeena
Jeena focuses primarily on the cultural needs of the Indian-American community. It has projects in India as well as the Silicon Valley.

In India, Jeena is involved in training professionals who work with special-needs children. In the Silicon Valley, Jeena organizes field trips, playgroups, summer camps and provides families with treatment and therapy funding. The center also offers the creative dance movement class, which Iyer leads every Sunday afternoon.

“I feel that I get more from working with the Jeena kids than they get from me,” Iyer says. “Before working with Jeena, I was skeptical that I could help them in any way because I hadn’t worked with special-needs kids before. How will I be able to help them? But after working with them for two years now, I can see how their energy and input rejuvenates me. After working with them for an afternoon, I’m ready to tackle the whole rest of the day and so much more.”