“In Japan, dance is not considered a proper profession; so I never thought to be a dancer when I was a child, neither was I ever forced to do so. Nobody imagined me to be a dancer but somehow I couldn't quit it and that's the reason why I am still continuing with this beautiful art.”
Mayuka Ueno Gayer, born in Osaka, Japan, started training in Western classical Ballet at the age of three. After studying Political Science at Keio University, Tokyo, she left for France for further studies in sociology and arts. Parallel with her academic studies, the ballet dancer started working with several artistes and choreographers. She credits her husband saying, “I didn't come to India for my dance but for my husband's posting.” Since 2006 Mayuka has been living in New Delhi with her husband and with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations scholarship she has been studying Odissi, among the most popular classical Indian dance forms, under Guru Pratibha Jena at New Delhi's Triveni Kala Sangam.
When Mayuka was introduced to Odissi, she could not make out much difference between it and Bharatanatyam, but she chose Odissi because of her attachment to her guru and also because she was convinced that Indian dance resembles the Japanese one. “I discovered the universal message of Indian dance and the richness of its physical and facial language. Compared with western dance Indian dance has a meditative dimension. Currently my concern is to modernise the physical vocabulary, I am trying to find the key to connect the very beautiful and traditional Odissi dance vocabulary with a modern touch. And being Japanese I would like to put a Japanese identity into my dance.”
Physical training is not so tough, “but if we talk about facial expressions, it is the most important and the most difficult thing, especially for me, since most of the expressions use the eyes and I have very small eyes compared to other Indian girls. It's all what you call a big challenge for me to satisfy my guruji's expectations.”
Describing Indian dance as “first of all devotion to the god,” she says, “It's an alive painting to explain a story or a reality She says her guru makes things clear. Take the 10 avatars of Vishnu (Dashavatar). “Matsya, the fish, represents life in water. Kurma, the tortoise, represents the next stage, amphibianism. The third animal, the boar Varaha, symbolises life on land. Narasimha, the Man-Lion, symbolises the development of mammals. Learning all this was really fun, it was a new world for me.”
When she came here she realised that “it's a totally different mentality; in India dance is much beyond physical, it's a way of communication with god. Somehow the dancer does not care about the audience watching. In Japan also dance was considered the same, but now it has disappeared, dancers dance for the public's entertainment.”
Apart from learning Odissi, Mayuka continues to practice Contemporary and Ballet and teaches in a Japanese school, Vasant Kunj. Bowled over by the dance opportunities India offers, she has long-term plans and as of now wishes to stay put in the country. She wishes to expand her knowledge and experience by participating in Indo-Japan Global Summit which is going to be held this September. She is also planning to present her latest stage creation, based on the concept of Dashavatar.
