SUPERHEROES WITHOUT CAPES

We’ve decided to turn the spotlight away from our beautiful and talented ballet students and instead focus on The Ballet Parents. I talked to a few of them who shared their insights on what it really takes to be one.

Swapna Deshpande with her ballerina daughter Ananya Deshpande

Swapna Deshpande, an Engineer at Cyient Technologies and mother to 10-year-old Ananya, circles down on time commitment that she puts in to support her daughter’s ballerina aspirations.

“Every Sunday, I drive her from Pimpri to LDAB’s Kalyaninagar/ Camp Studio; I wait there patiently for the rigorous 2-hour training session to conclude and then drive back home, the whole activity takes up 4 hours.”

Despite being a busy working professional, it’s impressive to see her dedicate a big chunk of what is predominantly a lazy day for most, to her daughter’s ballet.

Srividya Kartik with her ballerina daughters and ballerino son.

A similarly striking story is that of Srividya Kartik, a former practising doctor, currently working as a freelance medical literature editor in addition to being a full-time mom and home-school teacher to 2 ballerinas: Jinisha (5) and Jhanvi (11) and 1 ballerino: Jayant (8). Knowing that all of her kids really enjoy learning ballet, Srividya doesn’t hesitate to don the hat of a multi-tasker and be a time management guru. Wednesdays and Saturdays are all about juggling the ballet classes for the Kartiks.

Meenakshi and her lovely daughter Kaveri

Meenakshi Chouhan and her daughter Kaveri are a family of fitness enthusiasts. Reminiscing about her daughter’s ballet journey Meenakshi tells us, “I make an effort to make my daughter understand the nuances of exercise and diet. After a weight training day at the gym, I come back home and share with her what muscle groups I worked on and how they’ll be sore for a couple of days. But this process is necessary to make them stronger. Thus, Kaveri has a better perspective which helps her deal with ballet’s physically daunting requirements.”

Kaveri has already been enrolled in a ballet school in Zurich, where she and her mom will be spending the next 3 months with their dad, who works there. That’ll ensure that there isn’t any break in her training and she can effortlessly catch up to her peers when she resumes her ballet training at LDAB. This mother-daughter duo raises the commitment to ballet to a new level.

Bhavna Saxena with her adorable daughter Tarunika (Tria)

It’s endearing to listen to Bhavna Saxena, Creative Director at Klay Preschool & Day Care, narrate how she enrolled her daughter Tria at the tender age of 3 in ballet classes at LDAB.  After having trained for over a year, Tria, now 4, is all set to appear for the first exam in her life: “The Pre-Ballet Examination” in June this year.

Bhavna is elated on this development, “I wish that she associates the word “exam” with fun and an opportunity to display her skills and never with “trauma”, which is unfortunately true for millions of students in our country.”

Rakhi and her daughter Saumya

Rakhi Sampat, freelance interior designer, private tutor, proud homemaker and mother to 9-year-old Saumya, has wise insights to add to the discussion:

“A person needs to enjoy what he does for a living. Money is necessary of course. However, long-term growth and sustainability in a career can only come when he’s truly happy in life. My daughter is a happily busy child. She takes ballet, elocution and music classes. I want her to discover herself by exploring a wide variety of creative arts and be well-equipped when the time comes to make a wise and well-informed decision about what she would love to take up as a career in life.”

The other parents we talked to agree unanimously that they had similar motivations for encouraging their children to take up ballet.

But it all boils down to the money at the end of the day, or does it?

Neha Suhjani, LDAB founder, observes, “Ballet is not cheap. The specialised studio requirements, the dance attire, the shoes, the beautifully crafted costumes and the peripherals require an investment from the parent. Nevertheless, through our contacts in the supplier network, we make it a point to be as cost-efficient as possible for the benefit of our clients.”

She further adds, “As the classes at LDAB progressed, we eventually put out the OUAT concert, I received such positive feedback from the parents and it strengthened my belief that they understand and appreciate the value the LDAB delivers.”

Proud parents of the ballerinas who adorned the stage last December in LDAB’s concert – Once Upon a Time

As I conclude the blog I’m sure the next time I see a proud ballet parent applauding earnestly, with a hint of a few tears of joy in his eyes, as his child nails on stage those “fouttes en pointe” (Continuous whipped turns on toes), this thought will definitely pop up in my head: the parent is a true superhero, just without the cape.