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Seven Kentucky Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grants Awarded

Lakshmi Sriraman

Seven Kentucky master artists have been awarded Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grants from the Kentucky Arts Council.

The Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant provides $3,000 to a Kentucky master folk or traditional artist to teach skills, practices and culture to a less experienced artist from the same community during the course of a year.

The seven recipients are folk or traditional artists who are considered masters within their community and who have identified an apprentice from the same community who has potential to become a master. Both master and apprentice must be Kentucky residents.

Among the recipients of the grant was Lakshmi Sriraman, artistic director of the Shree School of Dance in Lexington. Sriraman is an accomplished performer, teacher and choreographer of Bharatanatyam, one of the oldest classical dance forms of India, dating back to 1000 B.C.

The dance style is known for its rhythmic and ornate footwork along with narrative storytelling. Sriraman will teach apprentice Vasundhara Parameswaran, also of Lexington.

The grant will not only allow Sriraman to teach her apprentice about Bharatanatyam, but will prepare Parameswaran to become a teacher herself.

“Other than me, there is no other teacher of this dance style in central Kentucky, so I’m happy to train my student and bring her to a level where she can teach, do workshops and take this tradition forward,” Sriraman said. “It gives me great pleasure to know it will live on.”

“This is a shot in the arm,” Sriraman added. “The fact that Kentucky recognizes what we do as something worthy to invest in gives us more joy and confidence in what we’re doing.”

In addition to the $3,000 grant from the arts council, Sriraman received a $1,000 anonymous donation from a member of the Lexington-based International “We Serve” Foundation.

The masters and apprentices who will receive funding include:

Cynthia Sue Massek (Willisburg), who will teach Appalachian women’s music to Melody Youngblood (Berea);

Lakshmi Sriraman (Lexington), who will teach Bharatanatyam (Indian dance style) to Vasundhara Parameswaran (Lexington);

Justin Bonar-Bridges (Ft. Thomas), who will teach traditional Irish music and Clare style fiddling to Emmanuel Gray (Covington);

Hong Shao (Nicholasville), who will teach pipa (traditional Chinese stringed instrument) to Leah Werking (Carlisle);

Douglas Naselroad (Winchester), who will teach guitar making to Kris Patrick (Mousie);

Gary Cornett (Louisville), who will teach old time Kentucky fiddling and luthiery to Walter Lay (Louisville); and

John Harrod (Owenton), who will teach eastern Kentucky old time fiddle tunes and style to James Webb (Frankfort).

Visit the Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant page of the arts council’s website for more information or contact Mark Brown, arts council folk and traditional arts director, at mark.brown@ky.gov or 502-892-3115.

(story provided by Kentucky Arts Council)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."
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