Practicing ancient arts of ancestors

Children of immigrants are keeping cultural link with family homelands

Inside a Lexington home, the fierce yet fluid twang of a traditional Chinese instrument, called a guzheng, resounds as a young girl prepares for a school talent show.

At a Bedford community center, the bare feet of girls thump out a mesmerizing beat, as they swirl in gauzy, flowing outfits, practicing a classic dance from southern India.

In Acton, a 7-year-old Sikh girl, accompanying herself on a harmonium under the direction of her mother, sings a hymn to the lord of light in the Punjabi language.

All around Boston, the children of recent and not-so-recent immigrants are learning the musical and performing traditions of their parents' or grandparents' homelands. Whether classic Indian dance, Chinese flute, Korean fan dancing, or Bulgarian folk singing, youngsters are learning ancient skills, even as they play in soccer games, listen to pop music, or play computer games.

Some are being taught arts common in their homes; others are learning skills that their parents never had a chance to study. Some youngsters are pushed by their parents; others have pushed their parents into finding teachers and classes for them.

Janu Sonthi, 14, of Acton, who studies bharatanatyam, a classical dance from southern India, says dancing "keeps me connected to my culture. I don't really do a lot of things that are close to my culture, so this is tied to that."

Her parents encourage her, but the motivation to begin came from her.

"I saw one of my friends dancing and I thought that's really cool, so I wanted to try it," she says. After six years, she still thinks it's cool.

Ethnic arts - whether Chinese ribbon dancing, Brazilian capoeira, or Japanese taiko drumming - are not isolating experiences but are providing skills useful in today's global village, practitioners say.

"The world is becoming such an international place," says Reshma Singh of Acton, who teaches bhangra, a form of Indian folk dancing and whose students include her 7-year-old daughter, Sufi Kaur.

Proficiency in an ethnic cultural art can be a boost on a college entrance application as well as a social outlet, she notes.

For many young people, the ancient and the modern blend seamlessly into a uniquely American lifestyle. Sonthi plays field hockey and basketball as well as studying Indian dance. Fellow dancer Divya Padmanabhan, 15, of Lexington, loves science, studies karate, and prepares to argue about alternative energy on the debate team.

Several years ago, young Lily Zhu of Lexington was studying piano and flute and played in her school band when she became intrigued with the guzheng, a Chinese stringed instrument, while visiting a family friend who played one.

"I just looked at it and I tried to play a little bit. And I really liked the sound," says Lily, now 13. "So I told my mom I wanted to play the instrument. So my mom found a teacher for me."

Her mother, Julia, who moved to the United States from China 10 years ago, was surprised and then pleased her daughter wanted to study a Chinese instrument. She also thought it would be hard to find a teacher. "Even to me, the guzheng was an ancient instrument," she says.

She discovered that the guzheng has been increasing in popularity, both in the United States and China, and she quickly found a teacher in the Boston area.

"I just like how the sound is very full," says Lily. "And I think the instrument itself is beautiful."

Lily's mild words belie the passion she exhibits when she performs a piece called "Battling the Typhoon." Her hands nimbly race across the guzheng's nylon-wrapped steel strings, making it roar, growl, and sigh like the passage of a summer storm. She recently performed the piece at a school talent show.

"Most of my friends had never seen this instrument before," she says. "I think because the song itself is very exciting, they were very impressed with it."

Singh, who moved to Massachusetts from the Punjab area of India, estimates about 200 area families are active in Indian dance. Her daughter, Sufi, has shown aptitude for movement and so is learning both bhangra and odissi, a classical dance form from eastern India, as well as the harmonium, an instrument often used to accompany Indian singing.

Sufi also plays tennis and soccer - and "the other day built a gingerbread house," her mother says.

"You may think you're doing classical Indian dance in isolation, but it informs your vocabulary of dance - your movements, your gestures, your expressions," Singh says. "I would love it if Sufi did Indian dance and Western dance, too."

A typically skittish first-grader, Sufi insists she can't say why she likes Indian singing and dance, because it's a "secret." (Actually, she says everything is a "secret.") With gentle encouragement from her mother, Sufi plays the harmonium, pumping with one hand and pressing the keyboard with the other, as she sings a Sikh devotional song.

Her shyness dissipates and her voice grows stronger as the song goes on; she insists on singing all the verses, much to her mom's amusement.

Jothi Raghavan of Westford, who has taught bharatanatyam in New England for 30 years, acknowledges that few of her 100 or so students will pursue a professional dancing career.

The study of dance is, however, important for other reasons, even beyond connecting with students' cultural roots, she says.

"This particular art form is very intense; it requires a lot of hard work," Raghavan says. "So I think they become well-rounded individuals."

Many of her students say dance creates a bridge back to a culture that they only know about through older relatives. Sravya Gourishetti, 14, of Boxborough, has been studying bharatanatyam since the second grade.

"This makes my family happy and it makes me happy, too. Because whenever I talk to my family in India, I connect to them this way," she says.

Fellow dancer Arpita Chaudhuri, 12, of Acton, who has studied dance for eight years, says she performs at family gatherings: "They enjoy it and I enjoy doing it for them."

In some cases, the children of immigrants may be carrying on traditions that are disappearing in their parents' homeland.

For example, folk singing is diminishing as Bulgarians turn to Western music, says Violet Jeliazkova, of Woburn, founder of the Bulgarian American Center.

Jeliazkova is actively encouraging more children to join Bulgarian folk singing and dance groups, which are often popular among non-Bulgarian Americans.

"We need something to inspire them back to the culture," she says.

Lily Zhu needs little encouragement. If asked to choose which instrument she prefers to practice - flute, piano, or guzheng - the guzheng usually wins.