Not intangible, but still evanescent, the Indian dance scene comprising the main dance forms, under the ‘traditional’ and ‘classical’ category, remains an enigma. Ever since the 20th century revival, which saw a burst of energetic activity in refashioning dances touted as the special identity of regions where they originated, performances, no matter what the political dispensation in the country, has gone on unabated. Ahead of International Dance Day (April 29), perceiving the entire world as connected through dance is no doubt a very comforting and poetic idea.
Carried to its farthest limit, the richest expression of dance as an activity inevitable to all mankind and the Universe lies in the Sanskrit Ángikam Bhuvanam couplet, where the entire activity of cosmic rhythm is visualised as a dance. But leaving esoteric ideas aside, my concern in this article is with dance and the dancer of India today.
Dance in post-Independence India exists at numerous levels, and each seems to find its own survival mechanism — with excellence and mediocrity at two ends of the spectrum, able to create their own spaces. In fact, no matter what observation one makes, flattering or otherwise, would be true or untrue, depending on which side one views it from. Senior artistes have been heard to say that while there are several dancers in the country, there are very few who can be called artistes. Many practitioners of the art form would answer like Merce Cunningham, the well-known American Modern Dancer, who when asked how he became a dancer said, “I did not become a dancer. I have always danced.” On the other hand, Padmini Chettur, the contemporary dancer, says that only after watching her in ‘Sharira’, where she felt the pulsating force in the base of her spine while performing, did Chandralekha acknowledge, “You are now a dancer”. German contemporary dance expert, Sussana Linke, in a private conversation on the existence of so much mediocrity, told me that the world today is so used to quick fixes, that the idea of a lifetime spent in trying to understand and live dance is too much for young people to accept and the world we live in is bound to have, whether in the West or in India, a substantial percentage of mediocrity, with odd pockets of excellence.
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Date:16.01.2007. Renowned Odissi danseuse Lina Mohanty performing in Mukteswar Dance Festival in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening. Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty
Dance classes no matter where, are nevertheless bulging with aspiring students. Our dances have survived amidst changing mindsets. What is the value of a form of artistic expression some ask, which lives on myth and ancient poetry, where the disjunction between life all round and the art form is so wide? This madness of myth and metaphor they believe only enhances the ruptures in space, time and life. The themes expressed in the old inherited repertoire of varnams, padams, javalis and thumris are frowned upon by many youngsters today. But adherence or departure from what is termed ‘Sastric’ or traditional apart, the strong impact of the form and structure, and the grammar of movement techniques despite all other points of approach one may disagree with, attracts disciples to learning our dances. Today’s emphasis on the human body is strong, with movement by itself considered expressive, beyond intention, and this approach has been particularly beneficial for the male dancer, who seems to be coming into his own — specially in traditions which were purely for female performers — like Bharatanatyam and Odissi. The male body with its strong leaps and body and leg stretches has injected a new kind of energy into these dance forms, though there is always the temptation some have fallen to, of making the dance a purely physical construct. And with the rhythmic force and visual appeal of nritta playing so important a role in communicating with mixed audiences of varying levels of discernment, perhaps that very important aspect of the art involving more of the inner dancer, tends to gain less attention.
While even in forms like Bharatanatyam, abhinaya faces a certain resistance to its women-centric nayika themes, in dances like Kathak, interpretative dance is getting to be a forgotten art. In fact dance training in most instances, has now largely become limited to acquiring knowledge of the movement technique, with little attention to allied disciplines of music, poetry, etc.
Chennai, 08/01/2016: Odissi by Arushi Mudgal at The Music Academy, Madras. Photo: V. V. Krishnan
In an institutionalised teaching system, are we producing clones? In the old guru/shishya method of transmitting knowledge, the guru’s instructions with minimal demonstration, were visualised by a disciple according to his or her understanding — the individuality of the learner assured in the process. Late Kathak dancer Maya Rao often spoke of how her first guru Shambhu Maharaj taught her only the intra forms of Kathak like amad, toda, tukra, tatkar, paran, gat nikas, gat bhav etc. No pieces were taught. She had to create her items with the building blocks she had been given by the guru. Banis, sampradayas and gharanas preserved in the totality of how they were conceived in a line of succession, is a rarity today. And in the present fast-moving world, horses are changed mid-stream, and changing loyalties from one guru to another is not uncommon. In Bharatanatyam, one finds the new phenomenon of ‘mentors’ who are the new guides and artistic directors for youngsters who after learning for over 12 to 13 years under a guru, switch their allegiance, led by the compulsions of the performance arena.
The intertwined music and dance training has changed. Music is being viewed as a performance investment and is often outsourced. Dancers are acutely aware that the quality of the musical accompaniment can raise the bar of a performance or lower its appeal. It is not the old style, where the singer followed the dancer’s improvisations, maintaining classical purity — simplicity and clarity of enunciation of the sahitya being watchwords. But with manodharma substituted by the structured, rehearsed dance for each musical line; with accompanying musicians not part of the dance sampradaya, musicians naturally want space to prove their individual merit — the quality of music at times even overwhelming the dance.
But many performers of the day are inadequately informed about music and sahitya — treating each performance as a suite of individual songs they try to understand in relation to movement. In the scene now, dancers equally proficient in music like Swapnasundari, Geeta Chandran, and among the young Ragini Chandrasekhar and Arushi Mudgal are rare.
Dance scholarship has very few takers with the glamour of the performative angle becoming so attractive. Dance is becoming a commodity rather than a transformative expression. Youngsters by the dozen are coming up every day and even as the complaint of not enough platforms for showing one’s talent is eternal, one sees more and more of dance programmes the year round, with every state mounting one or more high profile dance events. Odisha perhaps takes the lead with the government taking on most of the festival celebrations.
Inspiring spaces
Dance has never had it so good with forts, temples and a whole lot of architectural landmarks of the country providing a magnificent backdrop for dance festivals like Rajarani, Mukteshwar, Udaigiri /Khandagiri rock cut caves, Konark, Purana Qila, Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram temple, Halebid, Ellora and Ajanta cave temples, Khajuraho temple complex and several more. These sites add glamour to the dance, but one doubts if they inspire dancers to delve into their art. The latest among cities to join the festival bandwagon is Shimla.
So much has been spouted about spirituality in dance that one wonders if dance now is being made to stand on its head. How often does one experience the dancer becoming the dance, or feel the dancer’s persona getting obliterated in that which one is trying to show? But does the performance scene today, more based on skill than transformation reflect or even allow for this to happen? Today, it is the dancer who merits more space than the dance.
Cheerleaders for the dancer will be ready to stand and applaud, no matter what the quality of the performance. We form a loud generation. Sound systems blast the ears, while long-winding introductions to the performers intone away about titles and festivals she or he has participated in. Where are the subtleties and the understated aesthetics in the performance?
CHENNAI : 03-11-2017--- Malavika Sarukkai dance recital at The Music Academy in Chennai. Photo : K.V. Srinivasan
One raises a toast to dancers who defying all this negativity, are doing creditable work, laying the standards for excellence. Demands on dancers are phenomenal. They are expected to be true to ‘tradition’ while catering to a changing society. Many have become adept at creating dance for the occasion. Through tradition, they seek to interpret the contemporary world. Using narratives with heroines like Sita, Mandodari, Manthara, Shoorpanakha, Draupadi and heroes like Karna, they question the rights of woman, caste barriers and how we look at society’s subalterns. Practitioners push boundaries with more inclusivity, incorporating world literature, using poetry of Lal Ded, Jana Bai, Mukta Bai, Sangam poetry, so successfully harnessed by dancers like Alarmel Valli with all its wisdom and totally contemporary perspectives. Organisations like Delhi’s Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, intelligently pin the central motif of a festival, featuring top dancers from different traditions, on the interpretation, compulsory to all performers, of an old verse in Sanksrit. Interactions with world artistes have resulted in productions with a different dimension. For instance, Kathakali productions based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Othello have enabled reaching out to world audiences. Odissi collaborations between Malaysia’s Sutra Foundation dancers with experts from Odisha have resulted in unique group compositions like ‘Ganjam’. This type of coming together can inspire sensibilities and manifestations different from the counterparts within India.
Watching recently ‘Naama Mhane’ on Sant Naamdev presented by Bharatanatyam dancer Vaibhav Arekar and his disciples, one felt that bhakti when propelled by an intense involvement, can evoke a work of searing impact on the most varied contemporary audience.
Even years later, I cannot erase the experience of watching Sonal Mansingh’s Odissi work ‘Jara’ or Kalamandalam Gopi enacting Nala’s role. The treatment of ‘Thari’, a group production in Bharatanatyam, conceived by Malavika Sarukkai, turned out to be perhaps the best of dance work last year. While cultural memory cannot be wished away and a varnam or a padam, no matter how ancient, is in the final analysis only an idea or blueprint which the artiste has to bring to life. As for the future of dance, a senior dancer put it aptly to me, “No criticism or any force will halt our madness. To get rid of it you have to shoot us.’’
These dance forms have largely kept themselves isolated from the less vociferous contemporary dance loyalists, a few of them engaged in promising work. When and if the two sides ever decide to talk to each other, the possibilities in this art form can be far reaching.
