As I enter the hall in Delhi Public School, I hear shouts of “Shiva”. It turns out that Bharatanatyam danseuse Uma Sathyanarayanan, who is doing a lec-dem organised by SPIC MACAY, had asked what they knew about Nataraja. “Shiva, yes,” laughs Uma, “but what else?” A doubtful “dance” came from the front row. Uma beams. “He is the lord of dance,” she explains and goes on to show how Shiva’s different names are depicted in dance: Gangadhara, Chandrasekhara …
Her portrayal of Soorpanakha approaching Rama and being mutilated brings the house down. Accompanied by just the violin (KP Nandini) and mridangam (K Venkatasubramaniam), Uma showed Ravana’s sister marching through the forest eating fruits from trees, seeing Rama, working on her looks, being repelled by both Rama and Lakshmana, her anger and finally the chopping off of her nose. In the last row, one boy nudges his mates and comments, “See how her walk changes. When she’s in the forest, it’s almost like she owns the place. Once she’s trying to attract Rama, she’s so submissive.”
Uma Sathyanarayanan during her lec-dem at DPS Coimbatore, organised by SPIC-MACAY
The finale was Vande Mataram and, as the vocalist Ila Sangeetha Dilip’s voice rang with sujalam , Uma launches into a quick demonstration of the connection between forests and water; her fluttering fingers and expressive face showing how deforestation leads to rivers drying up and the need to plant more trees.
“When you pray to Nataraja, what do you ask for?” came one query during the interaction. “Core strength and balance,” she laughed. Then more seriously, “Prayer is an individual thing, so it depends on one’s belief.” She explained what a thillana is, whether Bharatanatyam has a dress code, why dancers wear anklets and exhorted the children to learn music, dance or “any art form. It allows you to immerse yourself in something and improves concentration. Don’t believe anyone who says that Std X and XII are only meant for studies.” The last statement brought glee to the kids and rueful laughter from the teachers.
She elaborates this point in a chat after her programme. “Learning any art form is a holistic experience. Dance is not just about performing on stage; it can be therapeutic and cathartic. After studying for 10 hours, an hour in dance class — whether you break free and dance or just listen and watch — can send you back refreshed and re-energised. But it does need time management.”
This is her first tour in the south, she explains. “I was a bit doubtful about the response. Sometimes when you know a little bit about something, you don’t value it enough. But the response has been good.” When she mentions having visited many institutions in Punjab, Rajasthan and other states in the north, I ask if the response is different there. Thoughtfully she replies, “It depends on the environment and the school; on their approach to knowledge.” But sometimes, she says, “a child asks a question that makes you think and introspect. It’s very interesting when that happens.”
When performing in a school, she makes it more interactive. “Younger children are more uninhibited so I try to draw them in by making it more narrative-based. Dance is a visual art and, when they see stories come alive before them, they find it exciting.” Then she laughs, “But it’s so difficult to keep kids engaged. They have such short attention spans today.” What about colleges? “Well, they’re older and more conscious of themselves. So that would be more performance oriented with explanations.”
But Uma also admits that she feeds off the audience response. “So I might suddenly get creative or introduce something new.” How does that impact her accompanists? “It’s fun,” says Nandini. Nattuvangam artiste Priya Dandapani agrees, “We coordinate with each other and it works when the group is in sync with each other.” Since the group has been together for some time, they don’t find it difficult. Uma emphasises that her focus in not on the compositions — whether her own or someone else’s. What matters, she affirms, “is how what I do and how I do it. Reaching out to the children is important.”
As a teacher, she agrees that things have changed since the time she was a student. “It is difficult to make them learn the way we did — so many hours of practice and going on stage only after so many years of learning… all this doesn’t work today. We have to give the children short-term goals and tweak our teaching accordingly.”
But many youngsters are taking up dance and, with social media and technological advances, there is lots of action. Does she think it’s a good thing? “There’s lots of exposure,” she muses, “which helps improve awareness of dance but there are pitfalls. The yardstick of success changes; as does the idea of success itself. Are you successful only if you get a 1000 likes? Many feel that success comes like that,” an expressive snap of her fingers accompanies that statement. I venture to ask how active she is on social media and her team laughs. “I am okay,” she smiles, “but the younger ones are out there.”
