Young girls clad in gold and green danced to the wail of the violin and the beat of the tabla. The pause between each beat is as beautiful as the dance itself. Ranging from the age of 9 to 21, the subjects of the recital are from Kalasindhu Academy of Dance and Related Arts.
The academy also teaches music. “A dancer is not just a dancer, he or she is their own musician, costume designer, make-up artist and technician,” explained Poornima Gururaja, the founder of the institution. Kalasindhu aims at training its students holistically.
K P Chandrasekeran, director of Kittappa Natyayala at Tanjavur was also present at the event. The performance was a part of the third edition of Guru Shishya Parampara, which is aimed at promoting classical dance through the age old relationship between a teacher and his student.
“Everyone follows this parampara in their own way. The point of this programme is to get people to realise this relationship, and to get them talking about it,” said Usha R.K, an art consultant. The series was organised in collaboration with International Council for Cultural Relations and National Gallery of Modern Art.
In a brief talk before the dance, Poornima said traditional dances such as Bharatanatya are socially relevant even today. “The idea behind each movement is the same. If in sringara the nayaki expressed love, now the expression happens through a text or a call. It is the duty of the teacher to make a student understand this social relevance.”
Like all forms of art, dance too needs decoding, “Dance is not just a string of precise body movements, and it is also not only about expression. It is a living tradition expressed in a beautiful, poetic way. One important point that we forget is that dance is a documentation of social and political history.”
When asked what difficulties she faced while teaching Bharatanatya to her students, Poornima said, “Nritta is easy enough to teach, it is abhinaya which poses a challenge. How do you make a child understand the pain of pining for a lover? Initially it was very hard, however I learnt to associate elements that invoke similar feelings to get them to understand. I told them to think of a bowl of hot chocolate fudge within reach, which they could not eat, and my work was done.”
The responsibilities of a guru or natyachara, includes carrying on this living tradition, especially in a world where dance has been pushed to the fringes. “No one wants to be just a dancer; it has become a hobby that children take along with abacus and ballet. Very few take it up as a job,” says Usha. Those brave-hearts who did take up dance professionally were commended.
In the process of preparing for the programme, Kalasindhu approached seven gurus, most of them descendants of famous Nattuvanars. “With such famous teachers are available, we wanted to make most of the opportunity,” said Poornima. The presentation focused on the quartet tradition and how it still lives through these gurus. Although styles varied, there were some common elements that defined the tradition.
As the lights dimmed, and as the performers walked out the audience was left with memories of sudden turns and beautiful expressions.
