Remarkable!
MALINI WHITE
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Malavika Sarukkai's holistic approach to her art form seriously considers not only all its aspects, but also its possibilities in today's morally devalued world
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I find it extremely difficult to find even one student who is willing to make the commitment to purity of the form - MALAVIKA SARUKKAI
PHOTO: R. RAGU
CORE LOST Malavika Sarukkai: `I am so dismayed that most classical Indian dance has become what I call bazaar art, concentrating solely on entertainment'
Interviewing Malavika Sarukkai again, revealed further intensification of convictions that were apparent two years ago. Here is a dancer whose holistic approach to her art form seriously considers not only all its aspects, but also its possibilities in today's devalued world.
"I am so dismayed that most classical Indian dance has become what I call bazaar art, concentrating solely on entertainment. My chief concern now is how to foster what I consider important: its spiritual aspect and the sowkhyam in classical art tradition. I would like to call attention to how dance uses the body to project aesthetic and spiritual aspects, not only the sensual."
Vessel of communication
Intent shapes her dance. A true lover of the art form, she does not use dance as a vehicle to project or promote herself. Instead, she considers herself a vessel — patra — of communication. Sharing is therefore crucial: eager that the audience partakes of all she has to impart, small gatherings are preferred, where eye contact is possible, instead of the dark well of a huge auditorium.
"I want to break the compartmentalisation of exponent and viewer, to share the emotions I recreate, so that viewers forget themselves in what they witness, when ego sinks, the artiste's as well as the rasikas'. If this is possible, it gives them a sense of repose; the mind becomes supple, adaptable, enabling people to deal with other areas of everyday lives. Then art becomes a form of yoga."
Her contribution to her students is even more intensive though, unfortunately, not always as rewarding as her endeavour deserves. "I find it extremely difficult to find even one student who is willing to make the commitment to purity of the form. They are easily seduced by short cuts; they want instant success. I feel Indian Corporates must promote and sponsor both research and cultivation of these classical arts. Money is here to stay, has become a part of our lives. So I feel that if a student or researcher can be paid, if they are earning enough while they are giving their discipline and integrity to the art form, then the financial compensation might make them committed. I was talking to a scientist who felt the same way; so arts and science are facing the same problems of fighting the debasement of commercialism. It needs time and the right ambience to develop your craft seriously, so funding would help."
To Malavika Sarukkai, innovation is not just external gesture; it is organic growth from within. Her choreography is the commingling of various streams that flow into her — temple architecture, sculpture and painting, grounded in her knowledge of spiritual and cultural tradition.
Additions to her repertoire are generally motivated by what has kindled her spirit. Her inspiration is often as disparate as Thimakka (an grand old lady who planted 400-odd trees for the love of it, oblivious of ecology or conservation) or Hanuman (she was affected by a Chola bronze of him, in the familiar pose of respectful servitor, yet bristling with underlying alacrity).
Painting in Space was a recent collaboration with Prof. B.N. Goswamy who curated an exhibition of Indian miniatures in the San Diego Museum of Arts.
"Ragamalas are a recurring theme in this school of painting, so I was already familiar with that feature. The paintings have energy flows of their own.
It wasn't an inspection of them and then a decision that I would depict them in such and such a way. It was more that I absorbed them, letting them resonate in my being so that my own energies transmuted them into dance form, bringing out the mood of lyricism and balance that characterise the paintings.
An exciting showcase
At Sanskriti's Heritage Lecture Series last week, all Sarukkai's professionalism was exercised when the inordinate delay was not conducive to the best frame of mind in performer and audience. One was soon swept up in her ideals in action in the variety of excerpts that best showed her aesthetic range and philosophy.
Addressing the audience between sequences, she explained and illustrated exactly how her body conveys what she endeavours to recreate and transmit. It was precisely those details — the angle of elbow, stance of the foot, the slight inclination from the waist — that made concrete the satvic dimension Sarukkai so values in classical dance.
The segments were a judicious mix of abstract movement and interpretative abhinaya, though the sringara and vatsalyam sometimes teetered on the cloying.
Sthithi Gathi was a brilliant example of how she could transmute even pure nritta from merely rajasic to sattvic.
Interspersing the rapid energetic sequences with pauses and stillness made one look afresh at nritta, which all too often becomes purely mechanical.
Sarukkai's exquisite execution, depth of insight, and balance of traditional with contemporary, make her performances exceptionally unique.
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