Bageshree Vaze Dancing to Her Own Tunes Written by Aparita Bhandari

Her voice,
seductive when she is near her lover,
Bageshree is lovely, desirable.
With eyes large like the lotus
and a flawless pale body,
she plays upon the lute
her songs of love.

The picture in the Mumbai newspaper looked familiar. Bageshree Vaze to appear at the Mulund Planet M to sign copies of her debut self-titled album.

Oh yeah, it was our own Bageshree.

A resident of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Bageshree recently performed in Toronto in March at the seventh Kala Nidhi International Dance Festival and Conference held at the Premier Dance Theatre, HarbourFront Centre. At the Kala Nidhi event, Bageshree performed Kathak, a classical North Indian dance.
While pursuing Kathak over the past few years under Jai Kishan Maharaj, the eldest son of Kathak virtuoso of present time Pandit Birju Maharaj, Bageshree also found time to work on her debut album.

The single ‘Deewana’ from Bageshree was recently getting heavy airplay on MTV India. So, in the early months of 2004, Bageshree was touring major Indian cities, making appearances in stores such as Planet M, the Indian version of HMV, and talk show programs on MTV India.

Then, two days before her performance at the Kala Nidhi festival on March 27th, Bageshree flew in from Mumbai to Toronto. A six-day festival celebrating a century of Indian dance, the Kala Nidhi event saw some of India’s top performers in Kathak, Mohiniattam, Manipuri and Kathakali take up the Toronto stage.
Switching gears, for Bageshree, has been a way of life.

Born in Pune, India, Bageshree came to Canada when she was a child. Her family’s interest in the classical arts was evident – both Bageshree and her brother Bibhas were named after ragas (melodic structure) of Indian classical music.

“My father is a paediatrician,” says Bageshree. “He learnt Hindustani classical (North Indian classical style as opposed to the South Indian Carnatic classical style of music) singing from his father. My grandfather was a lawyer, but he used to sing on All India Radio (India’s premier radio station before the invasion of FM channels). My mother grew up in East Africa, and she was interested in the arts as well – painting and light classical music. Her father used to play the sitar.

“So, both me and my brother grew up knowing a little about Hindustani music. But when we were in school, we both played the saxophone. My dad wanted me to learn western classical music, which he really loved as well. But I rebelled and took to Bharatnatyam.”

At seven, Bageshree had her first brush with Bharatnatyam through an initiative by the St. John’s Chinmaya Mission. That experience got her even more interested in the Indian classical arts.

“I’d no clue about Indian dance,” she says. “I was already in ballet. But one day I was sitting at home and watching TV, and a car with some Indian family pulled into our driveway and some aunty insisted that I come to the temple to learn this dance. The next thing I knew, I was in a beginner’s class with Menaka Thakkar, doing steps I’d never seen. I got promoted to the senior class and one of the first dances we did was in raga Bageshree. That’s when I stared to learn about my name and about Indian arts.”

In her early teens, Bageshree started to learn classical singing from her father. In 2000, she started to learn Hindustani music with one of India’s foremost vocalists Veena Sahasrabuddhe. Continuing her Bharatanatyam training with guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai and guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, Bageshree performed her arangetram (the debut performance marking the transition of a student into a performer) when she was 16.

However, the familiar Hindustani music used in Kathak, as opposed to Carnatic music in Bharatnatyam, drew Bageshree to search for another guru.

“I had a Chalmers grant in 1998 and was going to use it to learn more Bharatnatyam,” she says. “But my friends (and dancers) Jahanara Akhlaq and Niharika Mohanty convinced me to go for Kathak as I kept saying I wanted to learn it. “So, I approached Pandit Birju Maharaj (in New Delhi) for a teacher. I learnt from his youngest daughter Mamta, after which I learnt from his eldest son Jai Kishan Maharaj, as well as Panditji himself.

“Stylistically, it was a challenge. It was like learning dance for the first time as I was using muscles in my feet I’d never used before. But there’s really no magic to getting a style down – it just took a lot of practice, 24 hours a day.”

At the same time, Bageshree also kept her singing alive. “I’ve always loved singing and loved pop,” she says. “And I still listen to a lot of The Police, Madonna, Duran Duran. I think was so lucky to grow up in the 80’s, no matter how much people make fun of it.

“I started writing songs which combined some Indian classical elements and pop, and played them for Anwar Khurshid, a Pakistani musician. He encouraged me to write more and record an album. We did some demos together, and got a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to do an album.”

Her journeys into the world of classical music haven’t been without their struggles. But for Bageshree it’s a path she intends to keep on.

“Growing up, I did experience a lot of confusion,” she says. “I should’ve been more comfortable saying I wanted to pursue Indian dance and music. It’s just that no one had done it before in my family, and we all know it’s not an easy lifestyle. But my parents were very supportive all the way.

“My friends knew it was important to me, but I don’t think they understood how I didn’t have to get job like them. I had some interest in political science and law and liked writing, which is why I went into journalism school. But after my undergrad, I got a Shastri grant and went to India for more training, which is when I started to perform in India and realized I can make a go of it.

“When I came back I did a lot of freelance writing and got a job eventually at MacLean’s as a researcher/reporter. But I had to make a choice at that point – whether I want to be in an office or off to India again, performing and learning.

“It’s not easy. There’s a lot of adjustment and discomfort – people making fun of your accent. Sometimes you feel neither here nor there. But I think I’ve become accustomed to it, and the actual material – music and dance – and the joy I get out of doing it surpasses everything else.”