Meet Sunny- a Kathak mentor at Shakti
Kathak dancers conveys moral tales of God and Goddesses which include characters from Ramayana and Mahabharata. It incorporated childhood stories of Lord Krishna and was performed in courts of Northern Indian Kingdoms.
This knowledge is provided to us by Mr. Sunny Sushodhia, a phenomenal Kathak teacher at Sarvam Shakti.
In a recent interview with Mr. Sunny, we got to know a lot about his background. He comes from a family of artists. His family is based in Sujanagarh, Rajasthan. The lineage of learning and performing kathak started from his grandfather amd was passed on to him. Mr. Sunny
belongs to Jaipur Gharana among the 4 Gharanas. He is professionally trained under many renounced classical dancers including Shri Birju Maharaj.
Mr. Sunny express his joy of being part of Sarvam Shakti and have got a chance to teach the underprivileged children and making a difference in their lives.
As a dancer, choreographer and educator, he teaches with energy and integrity, while creating an environment that creates discovery through dance.
He further mentions when facilitating an experience for the accomplished dancer, the student new to dance, or anyone in between, he seeks to provide meaning opportunities for students to connect their experience in the dance class with other aspects of their lives, with other domains of knowledge and perspectives.
He believes in fostering student connections beyond the studio walls through direct engagement, while also building a supportive, collaborative leaning community within the classroom. In the teaching process he makes sure that everyone get a chance to give and receive feedbacks, to brainstorm, to analyze and ultimately to invest in each other’s success.
Mr. Sunny believes that struggles and difficulties are a part and parcel of any activity. Learning kathak for 5 years has made him more persistent. Whenever his going gets tough, his mind reminds him of all the times he couldn’t get the steps and how he practiced his way to achieve good results and is now imparting these values to students as well.
The students have gained immense confidence and self discipline and some are also looking to pursue Kathak as full time dance teachers in the future. As it is rightly said there is always a dedicated and persistent teacher behind the success of a students in shaping his/her mind, giving new perspectives to live
life, and to keep moving ahead no matter what the circumstances are.
