The grace of a dancer comes from the knowledge she has in other related fields. Literature, painting, sculpture, myth and music came together at Nritya Rangoli hosted by the Academy of Music to explore many streams of knowledge that is essential for dance.
Speaking on literature for dance, Shatavadhani Ganesh said, “Given the spatio-temporal situation, a dancer should know what kind of literature and music can be used for dance. She should also sense the socio-aesthetic agreement, only then would her dance be welcomed by the audience.”
Suppose you translate a song into English and dance to it, “when Hanuman is translated as ‘monkey god’ and Ganesha as ‘elephant god’, how can the rasa of Bhakti survive? It merely would lead to laughter,” he explained. Hence he concluded, “to learn Indian classical dance, one must understand at least one Indian language, otherwise language would be a barrier to understand the cosmology that has sustained million mythical backgrounds which are often enacted in Indian classical dances.”
As a music director, Praveen D. Rao spoke on the necessity of basic understanding of music for a dancer. “A choreographer should know the difference of applicability of a recorded music and a live music. Complex music can be recorded, but to replicate it live is tedious and sometimes impossible,” he clarified.
Talking on the assumptions that dancers come with, Praveen reiterated, “Choreographers should drop the constructed notions that a war scene need to be in Khanda jathi or a folk dance in Thishra or a sailing boat in Mishra etc., because it would limit the imagination of a dancer, also limiting the canvas of creativity.”
Rao recalled an anecdote to show how important it is for an artist to think in an interdisciplinary way. “It was Nahid Siddiqui’s Kathak rendition. I was under the impression that every move required the beat of tabla. But Siddiqui turned to me and whispered, “Praveen give me some space. Let’s perform together.” She meant tabla should follow as the dance flowed.” Rao confessed that he learnt how to amalgamate with other art forms by this subtle conversation that he had with Siddiqui.
Praveen further claimed, “Fine arts is all about errors. Chorus in singing is nothing but errors of many people. That’s why it sounds more intricate than a solo recital. I believe error gives depth. On the contrary, copying or sticking to a standard structure, though might provide some volume, brings no depth to dance.”
“Rhythm has two aspects. Taala and Laya. Taala is the physical manifestation of Laya, whereas Laya is the internalization of a sense of rhythm,” observed Bharatanatyam performer Kiran Subramanyam. “Taala can be taught but Laya should be understood by watching, listening and should come from within. To walk, there need not be any beats but there is certainly an elegance for walking in dance which definitely has some structure of Laya.”
“Is a great performer a great dancer? Exhibition of energy by putting up a grand show does not make one a great dancer. Dance needs to be visualized on a vast canvas; it needs a rich background for which there has to be extensive research,” said Choodamani Nandagopal, a scholar of sculptures in Karnataka. Bringing the essence of sculptures to dance, she said, “As the sculptor does not create the art by merely assembling a posture and a few hastas, a dance should also originate from a concept. Extending this, Praveen pointed out, “it is this concept, theme, element, rasa or mythological background that provides direction to compose music which would come close to what the dancer has intended.”
Nandagopal continued, “The body has to be understood in its entirety for which reading sculptures would help a great deal. Bhavya Niluvu , ‘Gorgeous Stature’ comes only when there is an understanding of geometry.” She asked, “Why don’t dancers spend sometime in front of the sculptures before they choreograph?”
