Brought up in an era when classical performing arts of India were increasingly coming under the patronage of an urbanised, educated elite, Anita Ratnam received her Bharatanatyam training in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and dedication. But after achieving success as a soloist, she exhibited rare courage when she consciously removed herself from the mainstream and re-designed her artistic approach. Today she is known for her performances of ‘Neo Bharatam' which give a fresh perspective to themes, music, costumes, sets, lighting and everything related to a stage performance. The renowned dancer, writer and founder editor of Narthaki magazine for dancers was recently felicitated in Kolkata. Excerpts from an interview:
Of late you seem to be working a great deal with Goddesses…
In March, 2006 when I came to Kolkata for a performance, that (one) was also dedicated to Goddess Tara. I was beginning to channel my artistic journey, like where should I go, which is my direction, what should I strengthen, what should I crystallise? I had a vision of Kali and suddenly it came to me that okay, this is what I need to do. I have so many interests in life, not just dance. Just being a dancer for me is very limiting.
Do you mean “limiting” in the sense of boring?
I don't want to use the word boring. I can say limiting. I love life too much. I love to travel, I love friends, laughter, conversation, books, cinema, fashion. I always feel now if I wasn't a dancer I would have been something in fashion. I remember going back from Kolkata, very touched by the warm audience, my vision of Kali, my early morning kesariya chai from the ‘matka'. I was staying in Camac Street at that time so I would walk to Theatre Road for my kesariya chai enjoying the whole Kolkata morning experience. I went back and registered for my Ph.D. in Women Studies. I wanted to study but I didn't want to do it in religion, dance or in English, but in an area that really interests me, which is “the imaging of women in performance”, and they were always having this huge dichotomy where classical dancers speak one thing but on stage they are doing something completely different.
In what way?
I have always found that what classical dance does is a formal specific construct. The frame puts you many years, many centuries from the present time, because the core values of the classical repertoire are something very different. But to me it was not very convincing. Classical is beautiful and it has its own ‘satya'. I wish classical dancers would proudly say “I am a classical dancer and I am proud of it.”
Yet you too are a trained classical dancer!
My training is in classical, Bharatanatyam is the foundation or the pillars, but life has impacted me too much. So I want my life and my art to come closer together. I want to be who I am even on stage and I don't want to pretend. Anyway, the process had started earlier, much earlier to 2006 — in the sense of the process of dismantling ornamentation, trying to go into movement and investigation, trying to ask why am I dancing, what do I have to say? I am not young enough to invest in a modern dance discipline and training, but what can I do with my dynamic training?
The process had started, but I had to crystallise my thoughts, all my little conflicting things and with them decide and needed to start being seen on stage with the choices I made. So I said, okay, I am drawn naturally to women, to women images, myth, legends and the idea of contemporary mythology. Why are we named after Goddesses? Somehow do we hope that we would imbibe the luck of the Goddess or their qualities? I carry with me now the monograph of Sri Aurobindo's “The Mother” which I read many years ago. His description of Mahashakti Mahakali Mahasaraswati is a seminal description of the ideal woman. So as I said, little windows and doors were beginning to open. I started to focus on women in myth and legends, but I couldn't just do them the way I was taught.
I had to re-imagine them and I realised that my strength would be new ways of speaking the old, but in a very convincing way — not just changing costume and doing the same choreography, or keeping the old costume of classical dance and just doing new choreography. I had to decide what would suit best with my height and structure. I always feel a very good artiste should also be an intelligent artiste. It is also equally important not only what you dance but for whom you perform.
Published - July 21, 2011 04:34 pm IST
