It was Jayachandran Palazhy’s constant search for a new way of expression in dance and his intense urge to innovate that led to the formation of the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts in 1992. Trained and exposed to various traditional Indian art forms, Jayachandran’s stint in London brought him into contact with renowned artistes and new global dance forms. That exposure gives Attakkalari’s performances and its artistes a unique dance vocabulary. Jayachandran, in an e-mail interview, talks about his journey so far, the challenges, the future and more. Edited excerpts from the interview
Twenty-five years of Attakkalari. Looking back, how do you feel?
The selfless efforts of friends, fellow artistes, thinkers and enthusiasts propelled Attakkalari to where it is today. The Attakkalari Dance Company has staged landmark productions across the globe and hosts South Asia’s biggest and most important festival of contemporary dance – the Attakkalari India Biennial. In the beginning, I had to put in my own money, but we have a much more professional system in place today. Dance has become an economically viable career option and, today, dancers trained in Attakkalari are in huge demand, in the country and internationally.
How did you ‘discover’ dance and that it was to be your life?
I often tell my students that dance must discover you rather than you discovering dance. This is true in my case as well. When I was a child, I used to stand in front of the mirror and imitate the dances that I had seen. I had to wait until I went to Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur to really commence my training in dance under Kalamandalam Kshemavathy. After my graduation in Physics, I went to Chennai on the pretext of studying computer science. In reality, I wanted to pursue higher studies in dance and found my gurus in the Dhananjayans at their institution, Bharata Kalanjali, where I spent most of my time.
Later, I joined Kalakshetra to study Kathakali as a part-time student and had the opportunity to take part in the performances with both these institutions and do occasional solo performances as well.
Physics, Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance. How do they all fit in?
Understanding of the rules of gravity, velocity, momentum, force, propulsion, friction and various aspects of physics help you understand how to move efficiently, fall on the ground or lift another person. Bharatanatyam, or any of the Indian forms such as Kalaripayattu or Kathakali that I studied, puts one in touch with our land, its history and immense heritage. For me, contemporary dance is not a form, but rather an approach to dance. The attempt is not to prescribe a set of aesthetics or predetermined movements, but rather equip the students with tools, skill sets and facilities in the body and mind so that one’s ability to imagine and move correspondingly are enhanced to the optimum.
I am more interested in the concepts of body and principles of movements that govern Indian physical and performance traditions, rather than the outer forms. If we can process memories, imagination and our experiences of living today with these concepts and principles, while at the same time make use of the knowledge and information one gathers from other cultures or places, we have the possibility of evolving as an artiste and an individual without losing one’s roots.
London was a major turning point in your journey.
At the London Contemporary Dance School, I was able to study different styles of contemporary dance as well as ballet, Laban movement ideas and stagecraft. I could watch the endless classic films by masters through repertory cinemas, attend dance, theatre and music performances as well as visual art exhibitions and talks by thinkers, writers and artists. The support I received from the Arts Council England, Regional Arts Boards and Foundations helped me realise some of my artistic projects. I had the opportunity to collaborate with acclaimed artistes and our works got a fair amount of recognition too. The 14 years I spent in London and my travels helped me get various perspectives. All those encounters might have played a role in shaping Attakkalari.
What makes Attakkalari unique? Is it the melding of Indian metaphor to western abstraction in dance or something more?
Attakkalari has successfully brought together knowledge and wisdom from Indian performance traditions with information and skills created elsewhere in the world.
All its productions have an R&D phase to develop a vocabulary and structure aligning with the concept or the theme of that production. The National Diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media is the only such comprehensive professional course in India for aspiring young dance artistes.
Attakkalari Dance company offers the chance to talented dancers to gain further professional experience while the Incubation Centre for the Arts and Media offers choreographers and dancers opportunities to make their own work. The community dance programme at Attakkalari studios offers short courses, regular classes, workshops, master classes and summer intensives. Attakkalari India Biennial has been presenting some of the most cutting-edge works from across the globe by acclaimed international choreographers and dance companies as well as works by emerging choreographers.
What is your view of traditional dance and contemporary form in India today?
India is blessed with rich cultural heritage, and we have abundance of traditional dance, music and other art forms.
I think we need to support and nurture these forms by infusing them with new energy and encouraging creative explorations in them without losing their unique characteristics. However, today, even though the demand for contemporary dance services are far more than before, the funding for creative endeavours in dance is not good. Assured funding even for an established festival like the Attakkalari India Biennial is difficult to come by. If the creative arts has to thrive in our country, we as a society and nation need to value experiences in the same way we seem to value commodities.
You have shown a penchant for research in dance. What has that yielded?
Over the years, Attakkalari has undertaken in-depth research into the teaching methodologies in Indian performing arts traditions. We have worked with masters such as Kathakali maestro Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair, Koodiyattam exponent Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, Kalaripayattu gurukkals, including E.P. Vasudevan gurukkal (Kaduthuruthy), G. Satyanarayanan (CVN Kalari, Thiruvananthapuram) and Lakshmanan gurukkal (Hindustan Kalari Sangam, Kozhikode), as well as Bharatanatyam gurus such as Shantha and V.P. Dhananjayan, Prof. C.V. Chandrashekhar and Leela Samson to name a few, in unearthing the concepts of body and principles of movements in these forms as well as the teaching methodology of developing an artiste in the traditional milieu.
The knowledge from these independent projects led to a major research project — Nagarika. It is an integrated information system on Indian physical expressions through technology. The project resulted in interactive digital platforms on Bharatanatyam and Kalaripayattu.
What does the future hold for you and Attakkalari?
Attakkalari will launch an Incubation Centre for the Arts and Media soon to encourage interdisciplinary arts projects where dance and movement artists get the opportunity to collaborate with artists, thinkers and entrepreneurs from other disciplines to create original works. The resulting work will première in Bengaluru and will be considered for performances and outreach activities through the network grid of Attakkalari and our partner organisations, as well as Attakkalari’s ‘ Sanchari’ Mobile Theatre initiative, which takes performance works on tour to tier-two cities and small towns, thus broadening the base of dance.
