Having made her reputation as an unmatched Mohiniyattam dancer and musicologist, Deepti Omchery Bhalla’s next step was to delve into the music, rhythms and dance idioms that are indigenous to Kerala.
Her research into the history of music and dance of Kerala in the company of her mother, Leela Omchery, helped her widen the repertoire of Mohiniyattam and enhance its aesthetics by infusing into it the rhyme and rhythm of the soil. In doing so, Deepti may have inadvertently stepped on the toes of certain Mohiniyattam dancers, each of whom claims to have a monopoly on the stylistics of the dance form and its practice. Even as Deepti graciously refuses to be drawn into an argument, she firmly insists that she has never stepped out of the framework of Mohiniyattam as it was taught to her by the doyenne of the dance, Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma.
In Thiruvananthapuram to attend a private function, the dancer and choreographer, who is also a senior professor of Carnatic music in Delhi University, talked at length about her evolution as a dancer and her extensive research into different aspects of the dance. She talked about how each dancer has to evolve her own idiom and vocabulary to step out of her guru’s shadow.
“How else can a dancer develop her own identity? Look at the great dancers today who were trained by legendary gurus. All of them have had to develop their own signature style to make a name as dancers. That was done by delving into their own training and understanding of dance and then going beyond that to formulate their distinctive style. And the best of them did that without transgressing the basic framework of their dance form, be it Bharatanatyam, Kathak or Odissi,” says Deepti.
In her case, Deepti points out that she has always adhered to the adavu and mudras that were taught by Kalyanikutty Amma even when there were murmurs that it resembled Bharatanatyam in certain respects. Deepti explains with a smile that the passing resemblance to Bharatanatyam was unavoidable as the artistes were dancing to compositions set in Carnatic ragas and talas.
She recalls that even in the matter of expressions, Kalyanikutty Amma was insistent that no emotion should be exaggerated. “So, if you read reviews of my recitals, you will see that critics point out that I was restrained in my abhinaya. There is lasya but my guru used to remind me that the dominant bhava of Mohiniyattam should be that of unalloyed devotion to the Lord. So even eroticism, romance and anger had to be restrained and not blown out of proportion,” she elaborates earnestly.
The dress code
She has been a stickler to the dress code that was favoured by her guru - white and gold dress and gold ornaments without any kind of gems. “The idea was that the dancer should not distract the viewer’s attention from her expressions and movements. So my guru was completely against coloured blouses and clothes. But I did change the hairstyle. She used to have a long plait but I thought the hair coiled up on one side like a bun was something more in sync with a Keralite identity,” she says.
According to her, when a dancer does a thematic group presentation, it would make sense to have costumes, coloured or otherwise, that go with the theme, depending on the preferences of the choreographer or dancer. “But while doing a traditional margam in Mohiniyattam, I believe it is essential to adhere to the costume that has been accepted as the norm by our gurus,” she says.
Deepti did not stop with aharya. She felt that to accentuate the identity of Mohiniyattam, the dancers had to rediscover the rhythms and compositions that were intrinsic to Kerala. She worked with masters of rhythm, including traditional musicians playing exclusively in temples, to discover the cadences of ancient rhythms and complicated phrases played on native percussion instruments like the mizhavu, thimila, edakka and the chenda. She mentions the names of living masters like Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar, and past legends such as Neeleswaram Sankaran Marar, Kurichi Kumaran Nair Asan and Trichambaram Krishnan Marar.
Sankaran Marar, for instance, used to play a ritualistic chenda called the veekku chenda, a rare vadya, one that was much bigger than the conventional chenda and was used only for temple rituals (pooja kottu).
“His playing had a long and complicated vaythari that I had never heard before. I stayed with these masters of percussion, recorded their performances and learnt from them the tala and the phrases. Then I set to music some of the lyrics that were discovered by my mother from long forgotten texts and introduced a whole new set of choreography that was completely Keralite in essence and spirit.”
New choreography
‘Shabdachaali’, ‘Nrittya Prabandham’, ‘Daru Varnam’, ‘Dundubhi Natyam’ and ‘Vaathil Thura Paattu’ are some of her compositions set to rare talas such as Mudukku, Triteeya, Raja Vidhya Dhara and so on.
Deepti Omchery Bhalla Photo: R.V. Moorthy
She mentions the Vaathil Thura Paattu composed by Kutty Kurunji Thangachi. Although it has a kanditha Nayika waiting for her Lord, the theme of which is found in other classical dance forms of India too, here the Lord comes to her and then she regrets her harsh words and anger. “That is why it is called Vaathil Thura Paattu (songs when the door opens). My mother stumbled upon the music during her research. I composed and choreographed it,” she says.
Deepti believes that it is essential for a dancer to be well-versed in music. “Otherwise, you are at the mercy of musicians, not all of whom would be sensitive to a dancer’s vision. It is my proficiency in music that has helped me compose and set to music the lyrics that were discovered during our research. It has helped me absorb the vaythari and chandas from traditional art forms such as Mayilppeelithookkam, Thullal and Padayani,” she explains.
The danseuse admits that she feels concerned when Mohiniyattam dancers tamper with the beautiful movements of the dance and its framework in the name of experimentation and new choreography. “For instance, recently, I happened to see a few leading dancers who had their back to the audience. For my guru, that was something taboo. Even if a movement ended that way, she would insist on us turning around to face the audience. Similarly, dancers are supposed to have a smile on their face but you are not supposed to sing or show your teeth during a Mohiniyattam recital. Many of these fine details are lost in recitals today.”
While Deepti also does group performances, she insists that solos are the means to gauge a dancer’s calibre and it is only in a solo that an artiste gets to go into intricate details of a choreography. Whenever Deepti plans to present her choreography, she ensures that the music is sent early to the musicians if her accompanists in Delhi don’t travel with her.
“There is so much more to do. Rediscovering native rhythms and music would make a lot of difference to the repertoire of Mohiniyattam and the dancers themselves,” she says.
