Like in her art, the walls at Chicago-based artiste Hema Rajagopalan’s Chennai home in Nungambakkam appear like symbolic structures in concrete. The multi-cultural spirit of her productions permeates every room of the apartment that buzzes with people, voices and ring tones. You hear English in myriad accents as her Indian, American and French students and Indonesian collaborators discuss the day’s work. The robust aroma of Indian spices from the kitchen, where dinner is being readied for the team, seems to indicate the predominant ethnic flavour in her work.
Though the distinctions between genres have never felt as blurred as they do now, collaborations have punctuated Hema’s creative journey for more than three decades. “I moved to Chicago much before the Internet took over our lives,” she says, moving her fingers over the keys of her laptop. “The exposure and influences were very real. They deeply impacted my classical sensibilities and I gradually let other genres spill into my visual imagery. My movements and expressions assumed a new dimension. It was not to make a departure from my traditional moorings as a Bharatanatyam dancer (a student of K.N. Dhandayuthapani Pillai and Kalanidhi Narayanan). It was also not because I wanted to make a statement about being different. I just began to feel stifled confining my art in a tight box,” Hema elaborates.
Her upcoming project with the renowned Nan Jombang Dance Company is a result of her Natya Dance Theatre winning the MacArthur International Connections Fund. Over the past week, the two groups have been huddled in a studio in the city trying to give a definite shape to the partnership. “We plan to stage the work by the end of the year in India, the U.S. and Indonesia,” says Hema, who has earlier worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, popular cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago Children’s Choir and many well-known Indian musicians such as Ravikiran.
Hema was drawn to Nan Jombang’s performance after watching a video posted by a friend on Facebook. She clicked the ‘like’ button and Eri Mefri of the Sumatra-based company responded by expressing his desire to know about her work. After several exchanges on social media, they are now here to design a common idiom to share the stage.
From Chennai, the two groups will move to the work pads in their respective countries and be in touch over Skype till they meet again in June in Chicago. “Leaving the ego outside the rehearsal space and finding a favourable creative meeting point are the challenges of such collaborations. You have to ensure the vision of the piece doesn’t get diluted,” says Hema.
“Nan Jombang, an expression of the indigenous Minangkabau culture, is rooted in martial arts and Muslim culture, but the core or soul is similar to my contemporary narratives. So I don’t think it will be difficult to tie both together. I have got used to working around the well-defined structure of Bharatanatyam and its mathematical sequences and exploring the possibility of integrating it with free-flowing mediums.”
Over the years, Hema’s art has widened its palette, making her vocabulary so personal and so varied in its influences that it’s hard to label or categorise it.
