00:00I haven't had a practice in the last three years.
00:03For me, the practice is something that's a spiritual connection to the greater world, to the universe.
00:09So it's a very spiritual thing for me.
00:11But I haven't had the opportunity to engage in the art forms or to learn
00:15because I don't have the time to practice.
00:24Hi, I'm Meenakshi Bhaskar, Artistic Director of Bhaskar's Arts Academy.
00:29I am the daughter of Dan's Doyens, Mr. K.P. Bhaskar and Shanta Bhaskar, who started Bhaskar's Arts Academy.
00:37When it first started out in the 1950s, they ran it as a school,
00:41travelling until the mid-60s, practising their art and spreading the art from all over Singapore and Malaysia.
00:47And then when Singapore and Malaysia split up, then we had the problem of going across the causeway.
00:52It made it a little bit more complex, but they continued their classes in JB Kluang and Penang.
00:59Eventually, more teachers began to sprout up there.
01:03People began to migrate and sprout up.
01:04They also pulled back and reduced their classes.
01:07And I think by the 1980s, they stopped going to Malaysia.
01:10They established the school, and they used to perform in the 1960s for Anika Ragam performances,
01:19for political rallies when we were getting separation from the British,
01:24and then again political rallies when we became an independent country,
01:28and really enjoyed that, and from that sprouted a lot of their work.
01:32But the school was established, and they continued to run the school as well.
01:36We used to have a lot of performances in the early days at embassies and at the Istana a lot,
01:43as guests of the Prime Minister and also the President.
01:46Whenever there were foreign dignitaries, we were invited to perform there in the 50s through to mid-80s.
01:53The school then evolved in the 1980s.
01:58We had an organisational shift.
01:59The government, Ministry of Culture, was offering spaces to arts organisations,
02:05and so we had to reorganise ourselves to be able to qualify for one.
02:09Up to then, they were teaching at our home, at a community centre in Katong,
02:15and at the ECA Centre on Northumberland Road.
02:19So they would have these three centres in Singapore, and they would travel to JB.
02:22So to centralise all their classes, they wanted a space,
02:25and when the government was supporting arts groups,
02:28they applied for a space, and it became Nurtia Laya Aesthetic Society.
02:33So that ran for many years, and then we moved from Teluk Kurao to another place,
02:38and then we were the first tenants at Stamford Arts Centre, and it was really great.
02:42We started with one room just for dance class,
02:45and then we ended up taking on another room, and classes started doing well.
02:49We were also doing a lot of performances, even though we were teaching.
02:52That was a very creative time for my mother.
02:54We've been here for 10 years, and we're really grateful.
02:57So that's sort of the brief journey of our school.
03:02My parents were very much sold to the idea of one country, one nation,
03:12living harmoniously amongst each other.
03:15They really loved the multicultural aspect of Singapore.
03:18They invested a lot of time trying to learn Malay culture, Chinese culture,
03:22Malay dance, Malay music, Chinese dance, Chinese music,
03:25and really fostered friendships in the art circle with cross-cultural collaborations they did.
03:33My mum got a little bit involved in the creative aspect of it,
03:35but she just focused on the creative.
03:41Then when my father passed away, my brother stepped in and helped out
03:44as executive director, and he was doing a great job.
03:48He's the one who helped us find the space here at Bras Basar,
03:51and helped the school get further a bit more,
03:53and so that my mum could just focus a lot more on choreography.
03:56Then my brother retired, and my mum started having to wear both hats,
04:01and that was just before COVID.
04:03She told me, I need you to come back home, because I was living abroad.
04:06It was a huge struggle for me, because I started my own school,
04:10and been there for about almost 30 years.
04:12And when I said, sure, and we made a plan that 2020 would be the year
04:17that I would move part-time here and part-time in the US,
04:21and that's when COVID happened.
04:22And then 2022, she passed.
04:25There was no chance to do this gradual transition,
04:28so what happened was I had to end up wearing both hats
04:32of artistic director and executive director as well.
04:34My father had a belief that arts should be for everyone,
04:45and I think keeping it affordable was one of the things
04:48that he wanted to offer the community.
04:51So because of that, I think we have this struggle.
04:53Our teachers are very experienced and quite well-educated in the field.
04:58They've got a diploma, and they've worked maybe in the field
05:02for about 20-plus years, so they're teachers who've been teaching
05:05for at least 10 years.
05:07It's been challenging, but also very rewarding.
05:11So learning how to shift and navigate between these changes
05:17has been the challenge, but it's been very rewarding
05:20coming and working on trying to really create a system
05:23of saving their legacy, because 70 years' work is really quite amazing.
05:28Especially my mother, she was a prolific choreographer,
05:29and not only did she choreograph major dance dramas
05:33and major productions, she was also very actively creating
05:36small repertory pieces for solo performances.
05:41The school is run as a non-profit, so the struggle we have
05:45is with the lease.
05:47We do some in-house productions for the school.
05:50We gain some money from it, but it's still not a lot.
05:53We've always committed to being a low-fee school.
05:57With great difficulty, this year, in April, we raised our fees,
06:00but we've had that same fee for almost 10 to 15 years.
06:04The arts is kind of very limited, and dance is, you know, the bottom feeder,
06:23and Indian dance is literally the bottom feeder of the bottom feeders.
06:26So, you know, it makes it really difficult.
06:29I think it's more what people are willing to buy.
06:36They try to get free classes or the cheapest classes,
06:40or, you know, they'd rather not pay for dance.
06:43They'll pay for almost anything.
06:45They'll pay to go see a lip-sync concert of a pop star.
06:49We pay $150 to go see that.
06:51But when we have a performance of $30, we're unable to pull the crowd.
06:56Even though people who come and watch the show are thoroughly engaged,
07:00and NAC has a 90% satisfaction score,
07:03even though we meet that every time,
07:06we're unable to draw people in to buy the tickets for dance.
07:11The traditional arts tend to be the lowest rung,
07:14and then of the traditional arts, I think Indian arts is pretty low.
07:18Firstly, because we're the smallest community,
07:22and we are so diverse among Indians.
07:24Also, we have the different dance forms.
07:26So, already, you know, divided there.
07:29And then how many of the community would patronize that?
07:33So, it's a very small percentage.
07:34In that way, we're very small.
07:35But it's just a thing of the market.
07:37It's just how the market is.
07:40I do some dancing, but not enough for myself.
07:45I'm hoping to get back to it again someday.
07:48There's just a lot to deal with that I chose not to dance for the last few years.
07:53For me, the practice is something that's a spiritual connection
07:57to the greater world, to the universe.
08:00And if I'm not able to come to my teacher,
08:03and I do have a teacher in the various dance.
08:05My mom used to be my teacher in Bhattana Chim,
08:08but I haven't had the opportunity to engage in the art forms or to learn
08:13because I don't have the time to practice,
08:15and I don't want to disrespect my teacher by not showing up prepared.
08:20Creative process for me is also from a spiritual place.
08:24I find inspiration in many things.
08:27I find inspiration in personal connection, especially human connection.
08:31I like relationships.
08:33I like dissecting relationships and understanding relationships.
08:37I like understanding feelings and emotions
08:40and what are the motivations for people.
08:44I love delving in that.
08:46I like learning something new.
08:48I have to really understand what it is that I want to say in every way in my art.
08:55I have to connect with it in a very, very deep level.
09:00So if I'm given a piece of music to choreograph,
09:03I will probably put that song on repeat and listen to it all day long.
09:07Unlike school where you have your teacher only for one year,
09:11with traditional arts and with dance and music,
09:14your teacher tends to be in your life from the time you start the lesson
09:17until, you know, forever almost.
09:21It's very mixed emotions because I am left with the legacy
09:25and what to do next I feel trepidation about
09:29because I don't want to misstep.
09:31Some days I come into the office thinking I'm going to be doing X, Y, Z,
09:34but I end up doing A to Z.
09:37But it's still very rewarding for me.
09:39I go to bed with a full heart
09:41and with this feeling of responsibility as well.
09:45We are also interested in nurturing the next generation.
09:48It's very hard to reach out to the non-Indian community as adults
09:51unless they are really inspired by dance
09:54and really inspired by what they see in a performance.
09:57And when my mom passed away, we sat down and I said,
10:00do we want to continue?
10:01Is it worth continuing?
10:02And for all of us, it was a yes.
10:04So safeguarding what happened, the history,
10:06and trying to preserve it
10:09so that future generations can look back
10:11and feel some sense of pride
10:13for some Singaporean artists and Singaporean work.
10:16So trying to make sure all of that is preserved
10:19in a way that's meaningful for the future
10:21as something that happened in the history of Singapore.
10:24So that's one of the things that I feel is very important to us.
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