That’s what Brian Sekoko (21) recently experienced in a production called “AFRICAN BOLLYWOOD ” AT THE Wits Great Hall in Johannesburg.Nerves didn’t get better of him in those tricky chakkars(spins) and complex hand ,feet and eye movements, as the Hasal dynasty which included Acharya Guru Ganesh Hiralal and his son Pt. Umesh Hasal from Mumbai and his eldest prodigy Dr. Vinod Hasal based in South Africa accompanied him on traditional instruments.

So impressive was Brian’s performance that his gurus, Guru Ganesh Hiralal Hasal JI and Dr. Vinod Hasal, received emails, faxes and phone calls from Indian parents who regard the Sowetan as a role model to their children.They want to know from their apathetic offspring, “If an African can learn this art from, why can’t you?” Dr. Hasal’s male students include “plenty” of Africans: “It gives me more job satisfaction in the townships because of the reverence the dancers have for the music and dance and the energy they give me”. When Brian Sekoko says Classical Kathak Dance has changed his life, he’s very serious. This ballroom dancer started taking weekly lessons in grade 9 at the Matseliso Secondary School in Zone 4 , Meadowlands in 1999. His teachers were from the Radha Krishna Academy of Dance and Music who, with his family’s blessing, have put him on an unusual career path.

It is so unusual that, according to Dr. Vinod , He is the only African dancer in the world studying Kathak on a professional level. Brian is not alone.His former classmates also know their way around the Tathkar(footwork), on their bell laden ankles, and the navrasa (expressions). Fellow Kathak lover Johannes Mthabela is about to open the RK Academy’s third centre in Meadowlands.

Over at the Tshepo Arts Centre in Tembisa, there are teenagers who can dance and sing the Bollywoodhits, in Hindi, as well as give a Kathak flavour to pantsula,indlamu and gumboots. Brian’s dedication and discipline won him the scholarship from the Hasal family to study with Acharya Guru Ganesh Hiralal Hasal in Mumbai and Rohit Lal in Delhi.

For a six month to a year, this shy young man will be benefiting from seven generations of Kathak dancing in the Jaipur Gharana(school). Back home,this training will also empower him to graduate in a Rang Pravesh. Dr. Vinod and his wife Aliya, who live in Bedfordview, wanted to do something unique for the Soweto Centenary.They have previously sent six dancers of their South African Indian female dancers to India, three of whom were fully sponsored who were training with Acharya Guru Ganesh Hiralal in Mumbai and in New Delhi under Smt. Uma Sharma. When the “big guru” and his other dancer-musician son , Umesh spent six months here last year, Brian, one of the Soweto candidates danced for four hours a day and passed the grueling test. The Academy hasn’t been a one-way initiative.”The interaction has been brilliant”, enthuses Dr. Vinod who Loves to fuse Indian with African dance forms and has been the pioneers to experiment with the above in South Africa making this a trend to be followed by all other dancers and choreographers. “In fact, the Indian girls have been learning Zulu dance and Gumboots”.

The free Soweto and Tembisa classes are now party sponsored by the INDIAN CONSULATE AND INDIAN CULTURE CENTRE JOHANNESBURG AND THE HIGH COMMISSION . Dr. Vinod’s motivation, even when he was first based in Durban on his arrival from India in the 1990’s was to “break the barrier ,to get into the heart of Africa.God has been kind and very protective”. “Sharing, that’s what I like in Africa.That’s what is missing in India, where the ‘recipes’ are jealously guarded. “My forefather and ancestors were very giving.They want this art from to go to every corner of the World.

“That’s the main reason I’m still here, although I’ve had many prospects to teach at New York University, in Canada and Australia.But I love this country”. This North Indian dance is derived from the name Kathak-meaning story telling,through mime, music and a myriad of rhythms. Come to think of it, the growing African fascination with KATHAK makes perfect sense.It is a perfect fit for story hungry South Africans. Brian will set out on his Journey in Kathak on a professional level on the 29th Dec 2005 at the Kamani Hall in New Delhi (India) along with a performance from his Guru Dr. Vinod Hasal accompanied by Acharya Guru Ganesh Hiralal Hasal Ji , Pt. Umesh Hasal Ji and Rohit Lal along with other musicians and singers.