TRINIDAD EXPRESS - By Phoolo Danny-Maharaj - SANDRA Sookdeo is a rare combination of dancer, choreographer, author, playwright, costume designer, accountant and tutor. Yet she remains the humble Didi (big sister) to hundreds of students over the past 19 years.
Daughter of the late cane-farmer Harrichand Sookdeo and housewife Jean Ramsaran-Sookdeo, she grew up in a household with seven siblings, two sisters and five brothers and attended the Munroe Road Hindu School and St Francois Girls' College. She is employed as an accountant in the Finance and Accounting Division at the Ministry of Education.
This Cunupia lass was introduced to Hindi, music and dance from young. "I wrote my first Hindi exam under the then Hindi Certification Board in 1966." She was introduced to vocal and instrumental music in 1976 at the Bharatiya Vidya Sansthaan (BVS) classes led by Professor HS Adesh, and later on that year, joined the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC) dance classes taught by husband/wife team Pratap and Priya Pawar of India.
The energetic and amiable Sookdeo was among the first students to learn the classical and folk dance styles from the Pawars. It was a whole new beginning for her. Dance awakened her creative energy and completed her life, she said. Even while learning, Sookdeo taught the young villagers the art of dancing, handicraft, and singing."I love dance so much, that "I'd sleep with my ghungroos (bells) on my bed, so that every time I turned, I'd hear the beautiful sounds," she said.
There's contagious laughter and her eyes light up on the topic of dance, "Dance fills that little vacuum to give me total satisfaction. It puts me in touch with my Lord. Dance helps me to transcend all the limits of communication leading to a rich aesthetic and spiritual experience. Dance is my worship."
Sookdeo grew up in Munroe Road "where everyone looked out for each other and where we were allowed freedom and creativity at home and at the temple".
No wonder, 10 years later in 1987 and still enthused with dance music, Sookdeo received a government scholarship to perfect her skills in New Delhi, India. With a whole new world of inspiration in the land of her ancestors, she specialised in the classical Odissi dance style. Visualising herself dramatising the Hindu scriptures through dance, she spent years perfecting many folk dances from the different villagers of India. She also studied the Kathak, Mohini Attam and folk dances and she learned to play the Pakhwaj and Mridang, the drums used for dancing, and the harmonium.
She performed on stage and in a TV serial Baghi Ki Beti in India before returning home. "I performed with my colleagues and one of my gurus Mayadhar Raut which for me was the most memorable," she said.
On her return home in 1991, Sookdeo started the Kala Mandir dance group and also performed and conducted workshops at home, in Jamaica, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
She has since carved a niche for herself producing a dance-drama annually since 1991. Her students ranging from three to 70 all participate in the presentation. "Dance is much more than an art and for it to live on it must be passed on. So I ensure that all my students participate," she said. She continues to study music and Sanskrit language "which helps me to understand the scriptures and choreograph the verses in dance".
Author of Indian Dance in the Caribbean, Sookdeo was honoured by various local organisations for her contribution to the arts.
Reflecting the growth of Indian Dance in Trinidad and Tobago, she said "We have come a long way. But so much more can be done in terms of promotion and sponsorship." She feels however, that there should be more recitals "thereby creating more awareness of classical dance."
Not keen on chutney dancing however, she said: "Our art (Classical) deals with discipline and hard work and dancing to the meaning of the lyrics, not just swinging our bodies anyhow to the rhythm," she added.
Among her most popular former students, is Michael Salickram, leader of the Shiv Shakti Dancers.
To be able to show that a dancer has mastered the art of dance, "she must be able to dance to live music and be able to recite the same bols (sounds) as those from the Pakhawaj (drum). Taal or time must be mastered as well as Raag or Melody. Only when that is mastered, that a tutor can have a live performance."
Sookdeo said it was her duty to pass on her art to students. "To me, dance is much more than an artform of expression or exercise that engages the body in rhythmic movement in tune to music. To me, dance is a total surrender of my body, mind and soul to my Lord. I wish every dancer could experience that surrender."
