{"id":6011,"date":"2020-01-02T19:57:51","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kathak.org\/?p=1275"},"modified":"2021-07-03T00:38:56","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T00:38:56","slug":"blog-gretchen-hayden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leela.dance\/devsite2\/blog-gretchen-hayden\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making of the California Gharana: Gretchen Hayden"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Making Of the California Gharana<\/h2>\n

Gretchen Hayden<\/h4>\n

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<\/span><\/h2>\n

As a well established kathak dancer, what is it like to look back on your experiences of kathak? What encouraged you to take your very first kathak\/dance classes, and what was your very first class with Guruji like?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I had never seen kathak before walking into the class being taught by the young Chitresh Das at the\u00a0<\/span>Ali Akbar College of Music<\/span><\/a>\u2014at that time housed in the ex-San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael. I had come to simply observe a class because a dear friend (who was also exploring various dance offerings in the Bay Area) suggested we try out kathak. She had heard about the class through a musician student at the AACM who had given her a ride while hitchhiking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To step into the AACM building was to cross the threshold into another world. Upon entering, one was greeted with he sounds of music, tal, tabla, and kathak dance classes wafting from the various classrooms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In those days Guruji was referred to by his name, Chitresh. He would often have a student accompanist nearby, as he conducted the class standing, dancing in front. Before I had enrolled, I had first observed a class comprised of students who had been studying for 3-6 months. These students were of various ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Nearly none were of South Asian heritage at that time. I sat on the floor and watched him conduct the class and the experience was completely mesmerizing. Even at this \u201cbeginning\u201d class level, one could feel something very powerful going on. The students I observed were focused, sweating, and giving it their all.<\/span><\/p>\n

I registered for one semester\u2014three months\u2026and then for the next semester\u2026and the rest is history. Something struck a deep chord in me early on. It was exhilarating. Difficult. Grounding. Vast. And I felt another universe open before me. I quickly realized this could be a lifelong pursuit, although that was not my intention at that time. I had no desire to perform. I was taking it moment by moment, being present with being immersed in kathak and training with Chitreshji.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t recall exactly what the first class was like, although do know it made me happy, uplifted and exhausted. I do recall at least a few internal \u201cah ha\u201d moments that must have made me feel at home early on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n