A parna Marar is a rare combination of excellence in academics and dance.Even as the engineering postgraduate continues her dance pursuits in Nrithyodaya in Chennai under Padma Subramaniam for a post-graduate degree from Sastra University, Thanjavur, she manages asoftware solution company in Thrissur. Therecipient of Yuva Prathibha Puraskar of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2010, Aparna has proved her artistry in numerous national festivals and also as a choreographer. It was her commitment to serve society through dance that compelled her to develop an interest in dance therapy. An invitation from the National Institute on Development Delays (NIDD) in the United States for conducting a workshop on ‘Movement exploration using techniques of Indian classical dancing for children with development delays’ turned an excellent opportunity to prove her expertise in this area. The success of the workshop has encouraged the organisation to invite her for workshops for associates of NIDDacross the globe . Excerpts from the interview …
How did dance therapy capture your imagination?
Even as a child I was part of medical camps organised by my mother and grandmother, both medical practitioners. The sufferings of patients touched me considerably. As learning of dance progressed, it dawned on me that dance could be a potential therapeutic tool for many physical disabilities. I established contact with NIDD through a protracted search on the internet. Discussions followed. Convinced by my findings, they invited me to be the resource person of a workshop that was held at St. Gregory’s University, Oklahoma, and later at National Children’s Hospital, Costa Rica.
Do these institutions have a system of their own?
Of course. Fr. Paul Zahler, founder-director of NIDD, has been successful in creating positive results in many children through his methods during the past 70 years. He follows the ‘Experience quotient functional approach,’ which facilitates the combination of the five sensory modalities and the four cardinal functional abilities – motor, psycho-social, communication and cognitive. I could learn that the functional approach was well in conformity with Indian dancing. As the children were persuaded to dance freely, they started when the music was played and stopped the movements when the music was off. This creates a unique ‘auditory-motor experience’ in them. Similarly ‘visual-motor experience’ was produced by enacting the ‘Panthattam’ in Mohiniyattam – when I throw an imaginary ball , they all run to catch it. In group performances, when one child enacts shooting an arrow at another child, the latter one falls down as if stricken by it. The mudras were very effective for communication. When I say, “look, there is a deer”, showing the mudra for a deer, they all look for the animal in that direction. Similarly, not only do they comprehend the mudras for an elephant, river and so on but they started reproducing them as well. This was proof enough of developing cognitive ability through Indian dancing. When I presented Irayimman Thampi’s lullaby, ‘Omana thingal kidavo’, the American children could realise the depth of maternal emotions in the lyrics. ‘Krishna nee begane baro’ also had a magical effect on them. The workshop had parents also as observers and many of them were weeping as they could experience the strong mother-child bonding.
Experience in Costa Rica…
The children there were mostly depressed as they were all suffering from terminal diseases. As I danced for them, I could see how their faces blossomed. I have performed on innumerable stages, but the contentment I get from the children's responses makes me more committed to work for them through the medium of dance. Further, many physical exercises prescribed by NIDD bear similarities to those enshrined in Natyasastra, such as for ‘angas’ and ‘upangas’. This was a great revelation for the trainers of NIDD. We plan to extend the activities of NIDD in India too.
