Reflections on learning

When I sit in my Leap writing class I cannot help but think about how closely Indian classical dance is related to writing. There is always a story or message that an Indian classical dancer strives to convey. Natyasastra, the most important book for all Indian fine arts defines the end purpose of any art as “Rasa.” Rasa is achieved if the artist succeeds in transferring the sentiment behind his or her work to the audience. To elaborate, if the artist has a humorous plot and she conveys it to her audience prompting them to laugh, she is said to have created Rasa. This is true for any art, be it dance or writing. A writer uses creative and rhetoric tools to impress upon the audience her sentiment. Her tone, register, diction are carefully chosen keeping this sentiment in mind. Similarly, an Indian classical dancer uses her eyes, facial muscles, body and fingers to elaborate on a central theme. In writing, it is important for the writer to adhere to a predominant voice throughout the piece. In Martin Luther King’s speech, I felt passion and emotion as his predominant voice; on the other hand I felt, Zadie Smith adopted a voice of reason (though condescending). King used dramatic imagery and metaphors to convey his voice; Smith used ridicule, expert opinion amongst other techniques to convey her voice. This predominant voice is called “Sthayi Bhava” or dominant mood according to the Natya Sastra. If the dancer is portraying a jealous lover, then through out the piece she would adorn this persona which would manifest itself in her actions, looks, gait and attitude. A writer uses rhetorical tools like wit, ridicule, repetition etc, to persuade the audience to appreciate his or her sentiment. An Indian classical dancer also uses several approaches like role play, humor and repetition to elaborate and convey her plot. These rhetorics that the dancer uses are called as vyabachari bhavas or transient moods. Dr. Kanak Rele in her book Bhava Niroopanna states that, “ Vyabachari bhavas spring from or assist the basic mental state i.e. the sthayi bhava.”

The similarity I noticed did not stop with rhetorical usage or Vyabachari bhavas to convey the voice or sthaayi bhava but also in the approach towards structuring this writing. While giving form to the powerful content the writer has to keep in mind techniques like transitioning from one thought process to another, proving a claim and progressing from the introduction towards the conclusion in a smooth manner, all exercised with a singular intent of retaining the reader’s interest through out the piece. We use a similar technique in Indian classical dance too. In a quintessential piece of the Bharatnatyam (a form of Indian classical dance) repertoire called ‘netrandhi neratile...’, the heroine starts with questioning her lover about his illicit meeting with his mistress, she then reminisces with him the memorable moments they have had together and then finally appeals to him to come back to her. When I choreograph this piece, I always pay attention to the transition between the moods that the heroine goes through. I substantiate her transitions with actions or role play that justify the transitions and finally I conclude the piece showing a logical progression in attitude.

I was thrilled to notice that writing and dance used similar techniques and methods to convey a message. I am someone who believes that one needs to step out of one’s comfort zone to achieve greater heights. This writing course taught me to understand and appreciate a medium of expression which is so similar yet so different from my dance. I love this feeling of discomfort and look forward to embracing this medium of expression, as I know that it would take me to my bigger goal of completing my graduate studies in performing arts.

The Changing Face of Indian Classical Dance

Indian Classical Dance is rooted in its rich tradition. The content, especially emotive content, has been one of the prime factors to bind the art to tradition. This emotive content is derived from musical compositions the dancer performs to. These compositions have been penned by different composers, from 500 BC till last year (Kokkar 11) But irrespective of the era or the composer, the content predominantly dwells around two themes – one that is religious and the other that reflects a man’s perspective of a woman.

As all forms of Indian classical dance trace their origins to temples, their content revolved around religious themes. Once the temples lost their patronage, they could not maintain the upkeep of the dancers, who then turned to the local chieftains and landlords for support. The newer compositions added then were imbued with amorous overtones, an attempt to please the new patrons. All compositions were penned by men and performed by women, and the themes revolved around what a woman went through in her relationship with her male partner. In the name of tradition, Indian classical dance continues to dwell on these two themes exhaustively.

In the early 20th century the dominance of the “male gaze” and the strong religious content of Indian dance came under critical examination. (Kothari 13). Many dancers started questioning the repertoire and its content which did not keep pace with the social changes. Contemporary choreographers, with their unique creativity, and their varying external influences or exposure, started creating innovative work to address this lacuna in content. However, the experiments of the choreographers with the content drove some changes to the form itself. Thus, through a symbiotic process both form and content fostered an evolution of dance. As a dancer and choreographer myself, I believe that dance cannot be considered an artefact but an evolving entity; both in its form and content. However, given that artists also have a larger responsibility of being ambassadors for a culture, an inorganic shift both in form and content does question this cultural identity.

The starting point of any innovative effort stems from the choreographer’s share of exposure to the world and the influential factors in his or her life which prompts him or her to step out of tradition. One of India’s pioneers in modern dance, Uday Shankar, was born in India but moved to London to join his father at the impressionable age of twenty. (Massey 222,223,224). His stay in London exposed him to ballet. He brought elements of ballet, Indian dance (both folk and classical) and painting to his performances. He broke away from the classical pattern of adhering movement to the metrical cycle (Tala) and aligning emotion to the lyrical word (Sahitya) (Vatsayana 21). His creations brought forth change in both form and content triggered by his western influence.

Another stalwart figure in the history of contemporary dance was Dr. Manjushri Sircar. She was influenced by the compositions of Rabindranath Tagore, a poet and a Nobel Laureate. “The rich musical structure of Tagore’s compositions and the depth and subtlety of the imagery of his poetry needed expression in dynamic movements in a style far removed from the classical” claims Dr. Sircar (34). Dr. Sircar formed her own dance called Navanritya , where she imbibed the best from several forms of Indian classical dance including Odissi, Bharatanatyam and Manipuri (Sircar 40). Dr. Sircar’s Navanritya is a classic example of change in content effecting a change in form.

It is also noteworthy that some contemporary choreographers brought out a change in form which had an impact on traditional forms too. Contemporary choreographer Chandralekha was a feminist and social activist. Her ideas had an impact on her works. Her work brought out the superiority of the female energy. Her use of the male and female bodies unsettles the audience with its overt physicality; however it provokes the audience to feel closer to their bodies thereby recuperating their inner energies. This is the sentiment Chandralekha sought to achieve with her creations. Chandralekha used Bharatnatyam dancers to do yoga, dance and martial artists interchangeably in her works. Slow but energized lunges, kicks, stretches and leaps characterized her creative work (Sharira). She retained the purity of the Bharatnatyam line and set it in relation to allied body disciplines like yoga and martial arts (Chandralekha 57).

The form and structure of Indian classical dance in the traditional setting has also undergone changes. Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s national academy for music, dance and drama identifies eight classical dance forms in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_dance). The evidence of the existence of these Indian classical dance forms can be traced back to the Indian scriptures and temple architectures. The temples of India dating back to the first century AD have architectural evidence in the form of stone carvings and scultptures depicting dancing women in vivid poses or Karanas. However, a closer observation of these figures would reveal that over the years the form of the dance has gone through an organic progression. As Chandralekha points out in her essay ‘reflections on new directions in Indian dance’, “History of dance cannot be seperated from the history of various stages of society. The variations in dance are like variations in soil, climate, trees and vegetation.”

By comparing the temple figures with dancers from the last twenty five years, one can perceive a definite change in form. Fluid body lines have been replaced by angular positions; a relaxed pace of the dance has been sensationalized by speed and a minimal usage of space has been taken over by increased spatial coverage. An avid observer of the dance scene rightly describes his expectation from the artist as “I want the dancers to make love to time and space, I get enthralled to see clean geometric lines constructed by the body using the continum of time and space” . Sujata Vijayaraghavan, well known columnist, commented in her article in The Hindu, “In the past few years, Bharatanatyam, one of the most sophisticated and evolved dance forms, seems to have imperceptibly metamorphosed...Perhaps it all started with Chandralekha's ‘Angika,’ which brought back into focus the power, the energy and the lines of body movements in nritta (pure dance)” (Vijayaraghavan, Sujatha).

The form has been evolving either due to the influence of creative thinkers or changes in the audience’s aesthetic perception. The problem surfaces in viewing these forms in its rigid classical boundaries . Merging the synergies of the various Indian dance forms would set it free and packaging them thus would make the vocabulary rich and vast for contemporary dancers. Many contemporary choreographers like Anita Ratnam, Chandralekha synergized many Indian art forms to give creative expression to their ideas.

As a performer in the traditional setting, I have witnessed a gradual progression in the form of classical Indian dance during my performing career. However the question of content has intrigued me. When I shared my mental tribulations with other classical Indian dancers, I found out that I was not alone in my musings. “I enjoy dancing the items presented by the rich repertoire but feel the need to add to the repertoire with items of social relevance” argues Vidhya Subramaniam, Artistic Director of Lasya Dance Company, Cupertino, CA. She also adds, “The implicit faith we had in our teachers and the traditional family settings made it easy for us to identify with the themes of these items. However it does become challenging to pass on the feeling behind these pieces to a student far removed from this traditional setting.”

Ramaa Bharadvaj, the Director of Angahara Ensemble in California, is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and actress with over three decades of creative achievements. Her performances have been listed by Orange County Register as the Most Memorable World Dance event for three years: 1992, 1997 and 2000. In her interview with Nartaki online magazine she says, “There is so much material to draw from in our own tradition. They just need to be reinterpreted with a contemporary flair. For example, the story of Krishna lifting the Govardhana Mountain itself offers a significant environmental concept when Krishna says, “Why do you have to worship Indra? Worship the trees, the mountains, the cows.” But we have to also remember that history has progressed creating new stories as powerful as the mythological ones, complete with the miracles of man’s strength. We have to make room for their portrayal as well.”

Given this paradigm shift in thought, both among contemporary free thinkers and those following the traditional dance, the classical tenets of Indian dance are constantly placed under the microscope. While these changes in form and content are essential for any art form, I believe an inorganic shift in form might shake the identity of the dance itself. In 1993, the same question was raised in a choreography workshop organized by George Lechner, entitled “New Directions in Indian Dance,” and a debate ensued on what constitutes Contemporary Indian Dance (Coorlawala 168). When contemporary dancers address the issue of content using dance vocabularies far removed from the Indian culture, it makes one wonder whether the creation can be called Indian contemporary dance or would it suffice to call it just contemporary dance. Was the word “Indian” used only because the creator was an Indian? Dance, music, architecture and literature act as icons of a country’s culture. In today’s shrinking world, the societal boundaries are blurring but to lose one’s individuality would mean that we have nothing of ours to pass on to the next generation. If the form has evolved allowing for change, then do we need a seperate category of artists called “contemporary dancers?” Can this content be incorporated into main stream dancing itself?

As a performer and teacher, I have often wondered about my conviction in the content of the repertoire. Do I teach my students the same content passed to me by my teachers? How do I make them see sense in the mythological content and its occasional absurdity? As a teacher of an ancient art, I feel I hold both the responsibility of passing on the tradition and inspiring my students to think on their own. Indian classical dance has lived through several social changes; the performers and teachers have been adapting this art to the changing needs of the society. However, with the generations becoming shorter leading to rapid changes in the ideologies of today’s society [audience], a faster rate of adaptation would make the art more appealing to the current students of the art form: the future custodians of the art. These students are clearly a modest representation of the audience. I believe that they are driving the call for adaptation; the need to appeal to both the reason and aesthetics of the students is motivating teachers and performers to actively create avenues for further evolution in the art.

List of Works Cited

1. Kothari, Sunil. Introduction. New directions in Indian dance. Ed. Sunil Kothari Mumbai, India: Marg, 2003. 10-18.

Sunil Kothari is a dance historian, scholar and critic. In his introduction to the book, he has traces the history of Classical Indian dance. He logically analyzes the rigidity that has crept into the dance form over the ages. He sets the context for the rest of the book which is a compilation of essays from different people who have contributed to the evolution of Indian dance. He has drawn attention to important events like the East- West Dance Encounter conducted by George Lechner of Max Mueller Bavan in 1984 and significant contributors like Uday Shankar, Manjushri Sircar, Usha Coorlawala and Chandralekha in tracing the progress of Indian dance. He has however only brought out the evolution of dance in the contemporary realm and not in its traditional setting.

2. Chandralekha. “Refletions on new directions in Indian dance.” New Directions in Indian Dance. Ed. Sunil Kothari. Mumbai, India: Marg, 2003. 50- 58.

Chandralekha is an Indian classical dancer who used the idiom of Indian classical dance and aligned it with other Indian arts like Yoga and Martial arts to create a new dance language. She argues that the evolution of dance is closely related to evolution of societies across the world. She points out several archaic social values inbuilt in Indian dance and thus it becomes unresponsive to the dramatic social, historical, scientific human changes that have occurred around us. She feels it is important for dancers to understand the power of their basic form and explore its close links to other disciplines like martial art. This is a point that interests me as it was closely linked to my thesis. The most important part of the essay for me was her take on capitalizing on her training in a a classical dance form like Bharatnatyam but not get lost in its content. She feels one has to comprehend its inherent energy and see it in relation to other allied physical disciplines in India - like yoga, ancient martial arts and allied life activity with its investment in physical labor. However I feel she doesn’t talk about the emotive content of the dance form which is a very integral and differentiating aspect of the art form. She feels one has modernize tradition through a creative process.

3. Dr. Manjusri Chaki Sircar. “Tagore and modernization of dance.” New Directions in Indian Dance. Ed. Sunil Kothari. Mumbai, India: Marg, 2003. 32-45.

Dr. Sircar is an exponent of Modern Indian dance and formed her own version of Indian dance called Navanritya. She outlines Rabindranath Tagore’s strong impact on her and the entire dance field. She claims that lyrical content and emotive concepts are very unique to the Indian tradition and thus considers it misleading and immature to give it up for only pure dance movements, a step that my further encourage “cultural colonialism” by the west. She however confers that lyrical text is more of an aural support and the dance pieces could exist independent of text as well. I found her essay very useful in substantiating my premise of content influencing structural form and vice versa.

4. Subramaniam, Vidhya. Personal Interview. 25 April 2011.

Vidhya Subramaniam is the Artistic Director of Lasya School of Dance, Cupertino, Ca. She is a classical Indian dancer, instructor and choreographer. She is a senior to me in the field of Indian classical dance and her works display a good mix of traditional and contemporary thought. I have also read a few of her articles. I felt she might be able to offer a teacher and choreographer’s perspective to the future of Indian classical dance. She reaffirmed my personal dilema of teaching traditional content in its original sense to today’s students of classical dance. She showed conviction in the traditional art but also felt the need to add to the repertoire. She also added that younger audiences are more open to changes to content than the older ones who are more set in their ways. The interview with Vidhya was able to bring a more practical approach to my paper.

1. Vijayaraghavan, Sujata. “All leaps and Jumps.” Hindu: Web. 5 April 2011.

This article was written by Sujata Vijayaraghavan, a well known dance scholar and critic in The Hindu, a popular English newspaper in India. She points out the changes that are taking place in the basic form of traditional Indian dancing due to external influences. She argues that dancers are sensationalizing their dance with leaps, jumps and other idioms from contemporary dance forms. She observes the growing need of young as well as senior dancers and teachers to attract the audience with attempts at innovations to the form and structure of dance. Her article brought forth the influence contemporary Indian dances on one hand and the audience expectations on the other had on creating a change in the form of traditional Indian dances.

6. Massey, Reginald. India’s Dances: Their History, Technique and Repertoire. New Delhi, India: Abhinav, 2004. 222-224.

7. Vatsyayan, Kapila. “Modern dance: the contribution of Uday Shankar and his associates.” New Directions in Indian Dance. Ed. Sunil Kothari. Mumbai, India: Marg, 2003. 32-45.

8. Sharira. Dir. Chandralekha. Perf. Tishani Doshi and Shaji Lal. 30 Nov. 2009. Youtube. 25 April 2011.

9. Bharadwaj, Ramaa. Interview. Narthaki online magazine. Chennai, India : July.2002. Web. 26 April 2011 <http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw45.html>

10. Coorlawala, Uttara Asha. “Reinscribing “Indian” dance.” New Directions in Indian Dance. Ed. Sunil Kothari. Mumbai, India: Marg, 2003. 168-176.

1. Kokkar, Ashish Mohan. Bharatnatyam. New Delhi, India: Rupa & Co, 2002. 11-13.
2. "Indian Classical Dance." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 April 2011. Web. 25 April 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_dance>

Being a self thinking woman first and a teacher second I find it a challenge to pass on the dance repertoire to the next generation in the same fashion as it has been offered to me by my Gurus. Broadly speaking the dance repertoire can be classified into two broad offerings, one, based on religious devotion to God or Bakthi and the other dwells on love. Let’s take the former, Bakthi or religious sentiment towards God. As most krithis or songs are composed on Hindu Lords it does become a challenge to take these dance pieces to people of different origins. The art form comes bundled with a free sample of religion. With borders blurring all over the world a strong religious sentiment does distance the art form and reduce its accessibility. Rather than being available to all, it does acquire a ‘classic’ (read rigid) status. Taking a step back and addressing the repertoire challenge at the home front. “Why does Lord Muruga have two wives?” “How can Lord Krishna be blue in color, is he bloodshot?” “How can Lord Ganesha travel around on a mouse?”I didn’t have convincing answers when young shriya asked me these prudent questions while I was teaching her few items from the dance repertoire. Listening to these stories when your mother or grandmother tells them is one thing; it is completely another thing expressing it through dance. One has to believe in them to express the meaning of these pieces as the poet construed it to be. One does face a challenge when the pieces are either morally or practically adverse.
The next is the theme of love or singara. For hundreds of years, it seems poets and painters remained pre-occupied with this theme, subtly and with feeling: exploring psychological states, establishing attitudes. Whole texts - many in Sanskrit, others in Hindi, still more in regional languages, were devoted almost exclusively to the subject. Initially danced by Devadasis, the dance numbers were penned always with the woman as the protagonist. Eight predominant states of mind were classified being ashta vida Nayikas. Briefly listing few of them, Vasakasajja is the one who waits, with the bed and herself daintily prepared for the arrival of her lover, Abhisarika is the one who sets out in the middle of the night to meet her lover at an appointed place, Vipralabdha is, however, the nayika whose love remains unrequited , Proshitapatika, she whose husband/lover has gone away on some journey, Khandita is the angry one venting upon him all the wrath of the betrayed one. Kalahantarita, however, is the heroine who is struck by remorse after having quarreled with her lover
Let’s take a step back and look at the ethos behind the origin of these dance numbers. It was an accepted social custom for a high society male to be married to his wife yet have a Devadasi as a ‘social companion’. It was believed that the Devadasis being trained in music, dance and worldly matters brought the much needed intellectual companionship to these men. Thus in a highly male dominated society, married women were taught to accept this need for intellectual companionship as a societal norm. Husband, wife and the ‘other woman’ was an accepted fact. However, even though accepted at one level, it did not escape its share of brickbats from the wedded wife. Stepping back into the repertoire, we see that most of the popular dance numbers dwelled around the man, woman and the ‘other woman’. There seems to be a very low social status attached to women in these dance pieces. It is interesting to note that even though the Devadasis were the ones showcasing and performing the pieces in front of the audience, these pieces were penned by male lyricists. Thus the Devadasis were merely acting out the ‘female point of view’ of male lyricists.
Now this is a delicate equation to explain to a young teenage student and also self deprecating of our custom when taught to a non Indian. It is difficult to make a probing mind understand the lopsided social conventions hundred years back and expect them to enact or bring out the singara or love, Viraha or separation in these pieces. The pining, longing, seeking of the illustrious male seem to be portrayed in all these pieces. “How come the men don’t seem to pine for their women?” another logical question from another young student definitely makes me share their bewilderment. The rationale of these pieces seem absurd to the current generation who are sometimes appalled by the tolerance of these heroines and many a times aren’t able to empathize with them.
Maybe foreseeing this predicament Rukumini Devi Arundale, founder of one of the premiere educational institution for dance and music had cleansed the dance repertoire of all its singara and transformed it into Bakthi or devotion to God. Singara is known to be the queen of all emotions. The basic stayi Bava or predominant expression of Singaram has the unique ability to transgress into other moods such as anger, surprise, jealousy etc in its portrayal yet seamlessly find its way back into singara. Singaram being a personal favorite, it is difficult for me to not introduce it in my dance numbers. So the issue is not with the rasa but the compositions that use this rasa, the dance numbers are written for a different audience and we are in a different setting now. Popular dance javalis like Indendu vachitivira in Surutii, Adhuvum solluvaal in sourashtram, Netrandhi nerathile in Huseni, Ariven Aiya in atana, vagalaadi bodanache in Behag, Parulanna maata in kapi, all work under the background of the man, wife and the ‘other woman’.
Having said all this I would also lay down a caveat that I completely enjoy dancing these numbers, in fact the humor and wit in these pieces make them one of my favorite. However passing on or explaining the moral standards established in these pieces to both Indian and non Indian students, is the challenge in front of teachers like me. I did not ask my teacher these questions even though I might have had them in my head, going forward one can’t expect such implicit obedience.
Every challenge comes with its set of solutions. The repertoire is no exception. It is true that the traditional repertoire even though widely performed has attained the ‘classical’ status. However as the old adage goes – Necessity is the mother of Inventions. Thematic presentations are one such solution and are becoming more popular. Several performers venture into generic themes and social issues rather than adopt a religious tone. Performance about nature, human struggles and triumphs seem to be attracting rasikas. Rather than picking random songs both on love and religion, weaving these songs around a purpose or theme seem more meaningful to both today’s performers as well as viewers. Many performers are researching and building their own repertoire of dance numbers that are more appealing to the current generation. ‘Nirantara’ by veterans like C V Chandrasekar, ‘Kaavya’ by new dance sensation Mythili Prakash, speaks volumes of how the challenge of the repertoire has been handled by people from both the current and the older generation. Thus for every challenge art has been posed with the same artisitc creativity comes to the rescue and makes art live beyond time.

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