Panni Cserepes - founder of Trigatu, contemporary Indian dance teacher, creator, organizer,
5/2/1976 Budapest
As an agile kid, I was serious about sports, athletics, handball, skiing, speed skating, ice hockey, shotokan karate from an early age. When I was a teenager I became interested in dances, my mom and I went to a South Slavic dance house and took a couple of intensive dance courses (flamenco, step, jazz ballet). My dad found an ad of Panni Somi which said she was starting a classical Indian dance course. She was the first in the country, at that time belly dance or yoga were not yet popular. I attended her classes regularly between ages 16-35, with shorter, longer breaks, in total approx. I studied Bharata Natyam from her for 10 years. During this time, I graduated from high school and Szellemkép Free School, majoring in art video. Afterwards, I spent most of my time playing music, participating in several bands, singing and writing various instruments and music. We toured Europe with my electronic dance music formation called Pupilla, we played at various underground places and festivals. In the meantime, we founded a cultural group with others (Cökxpon Ambient Society) and I made a living from organizing a festival and running my own cultural pub, which after some years was ruined of financial problems. Still our scene at many festivals stayed for long time. During these times, i started teaching Indian dance in 2010, first to relatives and friends, and then in 2013 I founded Tri Gatu Dance Studio. My goal with teaching was first to research and develop my own world of dance form, to create, to experience creativity, to develop body consciousness, to express what I want to say. For the same purpose, I also formed a dance group with my advanced students. In the meantime, it has also become important to pass on knowledge, experience, and opportunities to others to open a channel together, where energies can flow freely, where direct contact is made with our inner selves, keeping our bodies and minds intact, healthy and alert. In addition to teaching, up to this day I train myself by learning more and more movement styles like odissi, kathak, rajasthani Indian, contemporary dance, yoga, kalaripayattu, Indian and other martial arts. I have an Indian dance master helping me to immerse into the hindu mithology, the backgound stories, the hand signs, the abhinaya, the drama and theater of this beautiful old classic style the bhata natyam.
I consider it is important to be constantly open to new things, to withdraw from them in order to bring other, exciting forms and feelings to life, so that together we can be influenced by them and show it to others. My goal is to fuse Indian and European dance styles, so that Indian culture reaches ordinary European people, as well as young people in an understandable and accessible form. 12/10/2021.
