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The Revival of Indian Dance Since Independence

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The Revival of Indian Dance Since Independence The Revivalof IndianDance Since Independence Nilimma Devi On August t5,1997,lndia marls its 50th anni- revival of dance tfuough three phases:how it versary of national sovereignty and indepen- was Fescuedfrom the brink of extinction in the dence. It wears the rich mantle of a 5000year 1900s,how it entered a renaissanceof Indian old pas! even as it has evolved into a modern art after Indian independence, and how it be- nation The world's largestdemocrary, lndia has gan moving out of lndia and into imnigrant entered the twentieth century through a con- lndian communities. The third phasecontinues sciousnessand a culture that coexistsalongside with the establishment of trans-national com- expressionsof modernity. With its quixotic em- munities in the United States,Canad4 Europe, brace of the past and present, Indian danceof- Africa and Australia. Indian dance has gone fers a fitting paradigm for understanding the global and dancers, teachers,and audiences quintessenceof In- bond with India's dian ctrlture. ancient heritage through the vi- The dance traditionsof lndia From modern social not only brancy of dance. scientiststo ancient are visual and aural effectsperformed The Freedom mystics, we have across time and space,they also are Movement and tried to explain the complex symbolic sysfems that link Dance nature of dance. lndian myth, ritual, philosophy, psy- Dance Anthropolo- chology and aesthetics. The revival of gist Miriam P. Alan _ dance in the 1900s declared: "Dance is was closely linked culture and mlture is dance."A Sufi poet said: to lndia's struggle to overthrow British rule. "Culfure is the fragrance that remains after the Through the non-violent, spiritual leadership incenseof life bums away," discerning immor- of Mahatrna Gandhi, freedom becamea reality tality in this most ephemeral art. and democrarybecame the political choice.In- dians increasingly turned from their medieval, The dance traditions of lndia not only are vi- feudal past towards a new national identity. sual and awal effectsperformed acrosstime and space,they also are complex symbolicsystems In the midst of this turmoil, the future of In- that link lndian myth, ritual, philosophy, psy- dian dance was imperiled. In South and East chology and aesthetics.Understanding these India,the devadasitradition (templedance) had traditions is challenging;like unravelling a degeneratedinto de facto prostitution. Like- densetapestry to seethe underlying threads.It wise, in North India, the tradition of Kathak carLhowevel be rewarding opening a window dancehad fallen into disrepute and was re- 'nautch', to an elusive, complex and often paradoxical garded as a dance form that used culture. sexualiruruendo in placeof expressionalor the- matic subtlety.Indian danceno longer embod- To this end, I present a brief ethno-history of ied the melding of sacredand sensualaspects lndian dance.Although folk dancesand'cin- of India; it now was merely profane. ema-inspired' dances represent a substantial part of the dance culture, I will focus solely on The statusof dancehad sunk so low that it in- Indian classicaldance. This overview tracesthe spired little confidencein a public seekinga 42 national orlture. The fust woman legislatorin to study dance.Dance had becomelargely gen- formerly British India, Dr. Muthulaxmi Reddi, der and caste-inclusive. spearheaded an anti-nautdr campaign in Ma- dras.Her effortswere supportedby the British The fust four dassicaldance forms to be recog- goverrrment and members of the lndian elite. nized during this revival were: BharataNatyam from South lndia, Kathak from North India, Advocate E. Krishna Iyeq,a proponent of dance, Kathakali from Kerala, and Manipuri from the of yanipu: stmggled against this social current, and not . Eastlndian state The re-emerglng only spoke out dance also began aboutlrdian dance, to diversify under but performed it for All of these influences tradition, the inflr:ence of re- [devadasi glonal urban audiences. oral tradition, sculpture,and literaryl orltural and linguistic identifi- The presscoverage combinedto lay the foundationfor a his efforts cap- catiory resulting in of of dance,in which the tured the attention renaissance styles such as of local lawyers, essentialkinetic, philosophic, linguistic Mohini Attam writers, artists and and musical qualitiesof lndian dance from Kerala, devadasis.Despite were established. Kuchipudi from all efforts, the legis- Andhra Pradesh, lative decision to Oddissi from make devadasi dance illegal signalled the im- Orissa and Chau from Bihar and Bengal.With minent demise of dance.Yet, during this period, so many classicalforms, each with stellar gu- dance secured a new leaseon life through re- rug performers,and loyal urban audiences,crit- formatory efforts by key social figures - re- ics and scholars,the dance world not only re- spectedmembers of the elite.Meanwhile inban- vived, but thrived. sigent views such as the rules governing caste and genderalso were challenged.For example, Popularity brought with it intensified scholarly the once exclusive guild of male Brahmins in scrutiny that measureddance authenticity as it the South Indian dancestyle of Kuchipudi was wa3 found in the Natya Shastra (2nd Century broken to admit women and non-Brahmin A.D.), the Sanskrit magnum opus of drama- dancers.Similarly, the all-malemembership of turgy. The term'classical' was an appellation the North Indian style of Kathak, was increas- that now carried weighty expectatiorrc.From ingly infiltrated by women. A new urban ln- hereon out, experimentationand changewould dian elite had begun to rediscovertradition on be challengedin the sameway tradition once their own terms. had been. lnstmmental in this revival which took place In spite of the hardening of new standardsof in the 1930s,were perfoilners Uday Shanker, classicism,dancers and teacherscontinued to Rabindranath Tagore (in Bengal)Valathol askquestions and seekto add to or redefinethe NarayanMenon (in Kerala)and SadhonaBose. aesthetic.There were, broadly, three kind of Tagore set up the Institute of Shantiniketan, dancepractitioners: orthodox classicists,radi- Valathol, the Kerala Kalamandalamand cal new pathfinders,and neither classicistnor Shankar, the Almora. By 7935, Rukmini irnovator. This third type belonged to a genre Arundale had founded the KalakshetraSchool known for a while as'oriental,' in which chore- of Danceand Allied Arts. In 1938,Sadhona Bose ographersborrowed liberally from neo-classi- establishedthe Kathak Schoolof Dancein the cal and folk dances.There were new ways of Khandale Hills of Maharashatra.Increasingly, presentingdance, new themes,new meanings, middle-dasseducated women from respectable and new techniqueseven though dance was families ventured to theseand other resources eradicatedfrom temples.Yet, through all these 43 J {u\|r'f iii transformations, the temple was kept in the tumes and the romantic and mystic themes.This dance. Dancers sought to bring the ambience fascination with the exotic appeal of Indian of ancient palaces and templel to the urban' danceimpacted on the developmentof class! stage. cal ballet and modern dance. The Outlook on Dance Europe's fascination with South lndian deva- Indian independence encouraged creative dasis resulted in severalballets or ,,bayaderes,, minds and pioneering (Frenchfor devada- spirits to recreate a na- si) thatused Indian- tional identity lndian independenceencouraged and re- inspired costumes vive an ancient creative minds and pioneering spirits vision and themes. from to recreatea national the threads of identity and Though attracted dance revive an culture ancient vision from the by the novel spirit devadasi traditiory oral threadsof dance culture - devadasi of these themes, traditiorU sctrlpture, and tradition,oral tradition, sculpture,and European choreog- literary work. All of literary work. raphers were less these influences com- affectedby the Indi- bined to lay the founda- an notion of micro- tion for a renaissanceof dance, in which the movementsin isolation.Fokine, a great Russian essential kinetic, philosophic, linguistic and choleographeq,choreo graphed thi classic,,Dy- musical ,,La qualities of lndian dance were estab- ing Swan" for Arura Pavlova in Bayadere.,, lished. Pavlova, a prima donna ballerina, was strong- ly atbacted to Indian danceand commissioned Underpinning the various regional classical Uday Shankar (then an art student in London) stylesare some comrlon modalities:an empha- to create ballets for her in the late 1920sand sis on accepting gravity, the integral role of sung extending into the 1930s.This changed Uday poetry',the use of a hand gesture code,and thi Shankar's destiny irrevocably and hI went on use of delicate micro-movements.Eadr of these t-obecome a pioneer in the dancehistory of In- draracteristics is intertwined to a larger philoso- dia. phy. For example, the cyclic naturi oi lndian music and rhythm is a metaphor for the mystic At.about the same time in the United States, concept of infinity or timelessness.Hasta rebel dancerand choreographerRuth St. Den- mudras, (stylized gestures)express the text and nis took to creating dances with bare feet in- subtext of the poetry involved in dassical ln- steadof point shoes(a balleticconvention). Ruth dian music - and hence in dassicaldance. The St.Dennis effectivelyused Indian themesto c!e. gesture code exptcated in the Natya Shastra, ate sensuousdances such asthe:,The Incense,, but since 'Radha', elaborated and enlarged,not only is and'The Cobras'that uncannily cap- amazingly intact
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