Dancer Kim finds charm in India's Kathak

Kim Jae-hee, 31, practices an Indian traditional dance, the Kathak, at the Cultural Center of the Indian Embassy in Seoul, on May 14. Kim will perform the Kathak during the opening ceremony of the 2013 Indian Film Festival to be held at CGV Yeouido, Seoul, from May 24 to 28. / Korea Times photo by Kwon Ji-youn

By Kwon Ji-youn

Most Koreans consider dancing an unstable career. Often, there is no fixed income, it is difficult to secure gigs, and the competition is fierce.

Kim Jae-hee, 31, said her parents were against her determination to dance, like most Korean parents, but she couldn’t deny its artistic allure.

“I think it runs in my blood,” Kim said. “My mother sings very well and my father is great with his hands.”

But Kim doesn’t dance just any ordinary dance. She dances the Kathak, one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances. She will be performing the Kathak during the opening ceremony of the 2013 Indian Film Festival in Seoul, at CGV Yeouido, from May 24 to 28.

She learned the Kathak when she traveled to Calcutta for three months in 2010. She now takes a dance class at the Indian Cultural Center of the Indian Embassy in Korea, along with eight others.

Kim began dancing at 22, when she dropped out of college to learn the belly dance professionally. She said she felt tingles in her fingertips when she saw a video of a young girl performing the belly dance.

Within two to three months, Kim transferred to an instructor-level class. She practiced up to eight hours a day.

“I had stumbled upon the culture while working as a waitress at an Arab restaurant,” Kim said. “I came to love everything about it.”

Kim said she cherished the sensuous bell sounds and the rhythmic beat of Indian music, adding that it “rings within her heart.”

Her iPhone is filled with Indian music, which she said calms her.

She was the first student to learn the Kathak at the Cultural Center, which opened in July of 2011. She has been attending classes since, still learning from the same instructor, Manojaay Dbral.

“I also learned a lot from YouTube,” she said. “I still watch videos of people performing the Kathak and sometimes record myself dancing as well.”

Kim finds herself fascinated by other art forms as well.

“I love to take photographs, and was told that I have a knack for it,” she said. “When I was young, I wanted to become an artist. I also love to make jewelry out of beads and to make bindis, forehead decorations worn in South Asia.”

Kim buys her costumes online directly from India and alters them herself to fit. She also hemmed the costume she wore at the Indian Food Festival early this month.

This experience granted her the opportunity to apply for a scholarship at the Cultural Center, which may give her a chance to study the Kathak in India. She has yet to hear from the center regarding the results of her application.

“Whether or not I receive the scholarship, I plan to continue dancing the Kathak,” Kim said. “I have a long way to go and so much to learn. But no matter how much it tires me out physically, I love it.”

Kim hopes someday to become a teacher for children, whether it be dance or another subject. When Kim was young, she remembers a teacher who told her, “Your future will be the brightest.”

“I’ve come to realize that my being happy makes others happy as well,” Kim said. “I hope one day that I can be a teacher who, like my teacher once did, brings hope and happiness to children.”