SIFAS Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance Began in 2003, Has Become a Significant and Much Anticipated Event in the Indian Cultural Calendar of Singapore

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Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 35 Bharatanatyam In Singapore

The Early Years 19th Century {Pre-War Year} Singapore has a relatively short history of Bharatanatyam. Between the years 1819 to 1945, Indian workers were brought by the British to Singapore from various Indian provinces like Madras, Bengal, Punjab, Orissa and Gujarat who carried with them their culture and folk songs. There are also early 20th century Tamil literary accounts of courtesans in Singapore. Both Tamil and Telugu-speaking Devadasi-kalavantulu / कलावंतुल ू communities had arrived the region. In the early 20th century, classical dance and music from South India were performed by visiting dance troupes. Temples were the centers of music and dance from the 1920s to 1940s, and provided the artistes a platform for performance, especially during festivities like Navaratri and Mandalabhishekam / मंडलाभिशेकम.

After having self-government in 1959, Singapore formed the Ministry of Culture to encourage the preservation and development of Chinese, Malay, and Indian dances. Bharatanatyam is said to have transmitted as one of the first South Asian Arts from India to Singapore. 1959-1969 are considered to be the pre-professional dance years as the economy was the main concern during that time. Therefore, the dance faced the years of struggle for establishment. The development of Bharatanatyam form in Singapore is based on its

1 social, economic and political development. Although there has always been a conflict and struggle for the acceptance and rejection of influence of western dance style, serious efforts have been made from time to time to preserve the authenticity of the art forms. Singapore, being a multiracial country, provides opportunities for all the cultures to grow simultaneously in harmony.

Singapore built its first National Theatre in 1963. People's Association Dance Company was founded in the 1970s. Indian migrants in Singapore felt the need of teaching Indian music and dance to their children in order to protect their self-identity and culture. This resulted in founding schools for imparting training in Indian classical music and dance during the early years of 1949-1977. In a period where formal performance spaces and organizations such as the Esplanade, the Substation, National Arts Council had yet to established themselves, temples provided the platform for many artistes and students for performance during temple festivals.

PIONEERS AND LEADING INSTITUTONS

K. P. Bhaskar and Bhaskar's Arts Academy A premier academy of performing arts, Bhaskar's Arts Academy Ltd., was founded in 1952 by Mr. Krishna Pillai Bhaskar (1925-2013). K. P. Bhaskar was an award-winning dance artiste, a legend in his own time and dance icon. In his young age he took training from a celebrated dancer Gopinath. He also received patronage from the Maharaja of Travancore. Subsequently he learnt Kathakali, Manipuri, Kathak, Sri Lankan Kandian dance and even ballet. He also had privilege of learning under the famous Uday Shankar. Bhaskar went to Sri Lanka and became close friend of the High Commissioner and received an opportunity to travel to Australia. On the way he

2 stopped over in Singapore and by a strange twist of fate he remained in Singapore only for rest of his life. Mrs. Shantha Bhaskar joined her husband in 1957. Mrs. Bhaskar was trained at Kerala Kalamandalam. Both husband and wife contributed a lot to preserve, promote and propagate Indian classical dance, especially Bharatanatyam and Kathakali. Bhaskar’s maintains a record of the most active, creative and bright career in the field of teaching and performing. The Academy also holds Nrityalaya music and dance classes in collaboration with community centers. The Academy has its own Kathakali troupe, the only one of its kind in the world outside India. It also runs a gallery dedicated to Indian visual arts. They expanded their vision of popularizing Indian dance and music by collaborating with Indonesian, Thai, Malay and even modern dance styles. In December 2004, one of the senior students of Smt. Shantha Bhaskar, Niramala Sheshadri organized an International Dance Conference in Singapore with the help of her Guru and supported by the National Arts Council.

Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society was born in 1949 by a joint effort of S.N. Durai, K.P.A. Menon and R.V. Subban with a thought of providing opportunities to Indian children to attend the performances and expose them to Indian classical music and dance.

In the early years, the Society's main focus was on presenting music and dance concerts by local artistes as well as artistes from overseas. But later on, realizing the need of a formal academy for training in Indian classical music and dance, they concentrated their efforts in forming an Academy in 1956. It began with the staff of 12 and today it has Principal, Academy registrar, 22 full time teachers, over 1500

3 members and 1800 students learning different disciplines such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Carnatic vocal music, Violin, Veena, Mridangam, Hindustani vocal music, Sitar, Tabla and Visual arts. SIFAS follows the Kalakshetra style and curriculum of Bharatanatyam. It hires teachers and examiners from Kalakshetra. SIFAS took initiative to hold a fortnight-long, music and dance festival for the first time in 2003 to showcase talents from Singapore as well as from abroad. The festival has now become a regular feature and has grown bigger and bigger over the years in terms of quality performances by renowned artistes and large audiences from various regions. In the past 66 years of SIFAS’ history, several famous dancers and musicians from India have visited the Academy to perform and conduct workshops and many joined the Academy to teach music and dance. The first full-time teachers were a team of husband and wife, Sankari Krishnan and Vadakancheri Krishnan. Sankari, an alumna of Darpana (founded by Mrinalini Sarabhai) and Kalakshetra, taught Bharatanatyam, vocal music and veena and Krishnan taught mridangam. The syllabus was set for an initial five years and another three years of advanced course. On the completion of 8 years, a student receives a Diploma certificate and ‘Visharad' award is given to a student who receives the highest marks.

Today SIFAS is a biggest institution of Indian Arts in Singapore.

Dr. Uma Rajan Dr. Uma Rajan played an important role in preservation and promotion of art and culture in Singapore. Since mid-1950s Uma Rajan is known for her multiple personalities of being dancer, musician, choreographer, distinguished master of ceremonies,

4 promoter of classical programmes and adviser to cultural organizations including Community Centres, early member of National Arts Council, conceptualizer and first Director of Festival of Asian Performing Arts.

Rathi Karthigesu Another important pioneer figure in Bharatanatyam history of Singapore is Rathi Karthigesu who held center stage from 1950 to 1970. She began her training in dance at the time when dance was not considered as a respectful art form. With strong determination and passion to pursue dance she overcame the odds and took training firstly from K. P. Bhaskar and later from Sankari Krishnan, a Kalakshetra trained dancer in SIFAS. She performed widely in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the United Kingdom.

Apsaras Arts Apsaras Arts was founded in Singapore in 1977 by Shri S. Sathyalingam and Smt. Neila Sathyalingam of Kalakshetra, India. Both husband and wife are of Sri Lankan origin. Neila also learnt Kathak, Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and Manipuri apart from Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra. She taught in Kalakshetra for a few years and married musician Sathiyalingam. In the mid-1970s, Sathiyalingam secured a job as a Regional Manager in a chemical company in Singapore and the couple moved to Singapore. They established Apsaras Arts which started with 20 students and grew rapidly in strength of student numbers and significance. Trained under this institutions, many senior students have branched out in and outside of Singapore (Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, France and United states) under the name of Apsaras. Neila ran classes at Cairnhill and Tanglin Community Centers and was

5 appointed in 1982 by the People's Association (PA) to form a dance group and perform at various community centers. this was in alignment with government's intent to involve people across all strata of society in cultural activities. She has choreographed dance productions for over 13 Chingay parades which take place every year during the Chinese New Year. Focusing on creative productions, Apsaras has groomed into professional dance company since 2007 and participated in many national and International festivals. Recognizing their contribution in the field, National Arts Council, Singapore, have chosen Apsaras Arts Ltd., for major grant for the period April 2014-March 2017.

Temple of Fine Arts Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), also known as Kala Mandir, was founded in 1981 by Swami Shantanand Sarasvati of India. Their initial offerings were student performances and short dance ballets which grew over a period of time into full-length dance dramas and musical productions. The spirit created by Swamiji is continued by TFA where everybody, whether trained or otherwise, joins in during the preparations of stage productions-home grown musical and dance talents, script-writers, painters, backdrop creators, housewives doing make-up and tailoring costumes and even designing and making jewelry, all performed with a strong family spirit and lots of fun. Temple of Fine Arts offers both genres of North and South Indian music and dance. Besides Singapore, TFA has branches in Malaysia (particularly Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, and Johor Bharu), in India (Coimbatore, Pune and Chennai), Sri Lanka, US and in Australia (Perth). Over the past 20 years TFA has presented many large-scale productions like Swan Lake, Madame Butterfly, Legend of Princess Mahsuri, and particularly Ramayana involving Indian, Indonesian and

Thai dance forms. Kamakshi Jayaraman, a disciple of Vazhuvur Ramaiah Pillai, served as dance tutor at TFA from 1984 to 1996. Rajalakshmi Sekar has been teaching Carnatic music for last 25 years at TFA.

In keeping with its objective of offering arts and culture to the masses with less emphasis on financial returns, TFA's approach is not to charge admission fees for public performances, but instead to extend invitations to the public and accept donations to meet up the production cost.

Impact of Bharatanatyam on other communities Living in a multicultural society helps in exploring cultures and traditions other than one’s own. Many distinguished Chinese and Malay artistes have been influenced by the Indian performing arts and Indian culture.

Richard Tan The late Richard Tan was the first Singaporean citizen of Chinese origin to have learnt Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra and performed arangetram. He was enchanted by the beauty of an Indian dance performance by Tanjong Katong Girls School and decided to learn it. In 1960 he got chance to learn from K.P. Bhaskar. He soon mastered simple items and was encouraged to perform. He went on to perform in many variety shows, festivals, temples, and in the prestigious venues like Victoria theatre. He wanted to pursue Bharatanatyam more seriously, so he sought an interview with Rukmini Devi Arundale of Kalakshetra, who was visiting Singapore in the summer of 1963. He was given admission and in 1965 he travelled to Madras to join Kalakshetra. His passion for dance transcended the questions of culture. After training in Kalakshetra he

7 returned Singapore and arranged a programme for Kalakshetra troupe with the help of SIFAS. He left again for India to learn music and trained in Thevaram and Tiruppugazh singing. He performed in the Madurai Meenakshi and Chidambaram temples in India. Multiracial Singapore has many such examples of bridging cultures through the medium of art.

Dr. Chua Soo Pong Dr. Chua Soo Pong, a scholar of Chinese opera, made a mark by adapting Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata into his own artistic journeys. Dr. Chua Soo Pong collaborated and worked with dance pioneers Santha Bhaskar and Neila Sathyalingam for many years, as part of Singapore's early initiatives to build multicultural harmony and a Singaporean identity. In his young age he learnt from K.P.Bhaskar and decided to perform the Ramayana as a Chinese dance production. In 1971, he first staged a puppet show showcasing Indonesian puppets and Chinese dialogues. Almost 20 years later in 1988, he wrote the Ramayana as a Chinese play for children, which he has successfully staged in Singapore and later adapted as Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese and Huang Mei opera. These different genres of Chinese companies have been presented in International Theatre Festivals in 17 countries since its premiere in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1991. He also performed in SIFAS production, The Fifth Lotus in 2002 and Rama Katha in 2009. Dr. Chua Soo Pong's creations are a great example of multicultural experiments that can travel beyond Singapore shores.

Som Sud Som Sud is the founder of Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts Ltd.. A cultural medallion winner, she saw Indian dance in 1965 at the

8 rehearsal studio at the National Theatre Club where K.P.Bhaskar was rehearsing. Som Sud found the dance form so beautiful that she went to Shantha Bhaskar's home to take the lessons. Those 10-12 sessions became a turning point for her to create Indian dance pieces. She continued to learn Indian dance and teach Malay dance. Later she met Neila Sathiyalingam in the 1980s and has continued to work with her in collaborative projects till today.

Sonny Lim Sonny Lim, assistant Director, Arts and Culture, Student and Alumni Affairs Department, Tamasek Polytechnic, had a very distinguished career as a Bharatanatyam artiste. As a young boy he was inspired by watching a broadcast of the South East Asian Festival of Arts on television. He learnt basics of Bharatanatyam at Dr. Chandrabahanu's academy. After two years of break he joined Shanti Rajendra’s classes and performed his Arangetram. After seeing his performance, the president of SIFAS invited him to perform the following year. He continued giving solo performances with live orchestra. Later he collaborated with dancer Sharmila Gunasingham for several productions. He also contributed in writing dance articles and reviews for local newspapers and magazines. He has formed an Indian dance group at Temasek Polytechnic.

Osman Abdul Hamid Osman Abdul Hamid, acclaimed dancer and choreographer, is associated with the People's Association Malay Dance Group and the Sriwana Malay Dance Group. A tutor and choreographer of the NUS Ilsa Tari since 1995, Osman was conferred the prestigious Singapore Youth Award(service) in 1993 and the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council in 1994. He was also appointed as a member of

9 the Board of Directors of the Malay Heritage Centre from 2007 to 2009. Osman has worked with Neila Sathyalingam, Shantha Bhaskar, Madhavi Krishnan, Manimaran, and Dhananjayans. He has played the roles of Jatayu and Hanuman in Ramayana.

Yam Boon Fong Yam Boon Fong, a senior specialist (dance) of the Student Development Curriculum Division, Ministry of Education, learnt Bharatanatyam from Santha Bhaskar and Neewin Harshall at Nrityalaya Aesthetic Society and even performed arangetram in 2011. Before working at the Ministry of Education as a dance education officer, she taught dance in secondary school for more than 14 years. She has developed dance modules for the Programme for Active Learning to engage primary school-children through creative movement and cultural dance, as well as research-led projects on the assessment of dance, dance learning outcomes and safe dance practice.

Low Kok Wai Low Kok Wai was a trained dancer in various styles like contemporary, jazz and western ballet. He was very attracted to Bharatanatyam so he joined SIFAS and started learning under Balagurunathan. He also got chance to perform in some productions. Later, he started learning under Dr. Siri Rama. He was culturally close to Buddhist philosophies and got to participate in a production based on Buddha in Singapore and India with Dr. Siri Rama. Low Kok Wai continued exploring Javanese dance and Indian dance at his Master's programme at the National Institute of Education. He continues his journey by using Indian Dance movements in contemporary performances and theatre.

New venues  University Cultural Centre Hall and Theatre was founded in 2000 at the National University of Singapore.

 The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay in the year 2002.

 Lee Foundation Theatre at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2004.

 The Drama Centre, in the new building of the National Library, which opened in 2005.

 The Concert Hall, Drama Theatre and Studio Theatre at the school of the Arts, founded in 2008.

 The renovated Capitol Theatre opened in 2015.

Festivals of Indian Dance and Music  Esplanade hosts the annual Indian festival called Kala Utsavam in 2002 during the Deepavali festive period. Started as a 3-day festival, it has since grown into a 10-day festival that presents an interesting selection of contemporary and traditional performances by acclaimed Indian artistes from Singapore and abroad.

 The SIFAS festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance began in 2003, has become a significant and much anticipated event in the Indian cultural calendar of Singapore.

 Shrutilaya's founder Gayatri Sriram started the Samarpana Festival of Indian Music and Dance and this year it has successfully completed fourth year.

 Madhuradhwani was started as a celebration of the birth centenary of musical legend G.N. Balasubramaniam in 2010.

Recent institutions

 Alapana Arts was founded in 1999 by V. Raghuraman (mridangist) and Banumathy Raghuraman (Carnatic vocalist and veenaplayer). The institution offers courses in Veena, Carnatic vocal, Violin, Flute, Mridangam, and Bharatanatyam.

 Global Indian Cultural Centre was started in 2004 by Global Indian International School. The school offers Indian dance and music as part of its curriculum until Grade 5 in primary school. The various disciplines which the GICC offers are Carnatic vocal, Violin, Keyboard, Flute, Hindustani vocal, Tabla, and dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak.

 Bharatanjali was founded by a Natyacharya Mani V. Balakrishnan in 1990 and formally registered as an institution in 2007 after he resigned a job. He is an eminent Bharatanatyam dancer and teaches it at his institution.

 Kala Peetham is run by a very senior Kalakshetrian Smt. Sitaravamma Sandrasegaren. Kala Peetham was founded by Seetharama Sharma and it has many branches across the world. Sitaravamma taught in SIFAS for more than a decade and after coming out of SIFAS she started her own school.

 Bharathaa Arts's founders Suganthi Kumaraguru and Jeyanthi Balasubramaniam are also trained in Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam and have so far received many prestigious awards.

 The Soorya organization was registered in 2005 in Singapore, focusing on the Indian classical arts. The organization was started in India 7 years ago by Soorya Krishnamoorthy and it has spread all over India and in over 20 countries.

 Chitrakala Arts was founded by Chitra Shankar, a disciple of Saroja Vaidyanathan and she is also trained in Odissi by late Hare Krishna Bahera and Madhavi Mudgal. She teaches and performs both Bharatanatyam and Odissi.

 Kanaka Sabha is run by a founder Dr. Siri both in Singapore and Mumbai. Dr. Siri is currently a second term president of the Singapore chapter of World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific.

 Chowk was established by Odissi dancer Raka Maitra and later on she moved on to produce contemporary works too.

 Maya Dance Theatre is founded by Kavitha Krishnan, a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. After classical training Kavitha was influenced by contemporary dance and focused on career in contemporary dance and presented many productions under the banner of Maya Dance Theatre.

 Aakash Ganga is founded by Maalika Girish Panicker who is a Kalakshetra graduate and came to Singapore in 1996 as a Bharatanatyam tutor at SIFAS and served SIFAS for fourteen long years before she set up her own institution, Aakash Ganga.

 Art Lahree Rangashala is another recent addition to the Bharatanatyam scene in Singapore. Founded by a Bharatanatyam dancer, Smt. Minal Merai who holds Master's degree in Bharatanatyam from Faculty of Performing Arts, M. S.

University, she served SIFAS from 2001 to 2011. After founding ALR, she presented her first Dance Theatre production 'SHIVOHAM’ in October 2014 with the support of National Arts Council and Arts Funds, Singapore, which won her great admiration from one and all.

In the past years many Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi dancers have come and stayed in Singapore. All of them have contributed to the growth of Indian dance in Singapore. In fact, some of them have made Singapore as their permanent home whereas some of them returned back to their own countries after temporary stay in Singapore.

Today in Singapore, Bharatanatyam dance style has become inextricable part of culture. It has not only gain popularity among all the races in Singapore but has also occupied an important place in the curriculum of International and local schools as well as National University of Singapore as a part of CCA (co-curricular activities). Bharatanatyam is the most commonly practiced dance form in Singapore.

Apsaras Arts presents Dance India’s Asia Pacific Dance, a workshop by internationally renowned dancers of India for past four years. Created by Milapfest, the UK's Indian Arts Development Trust, Dance India is a visionary dance educational programme designed for students, teachers, and performing artists of Indian Classical Dance. Bhaskar's Arts Academy held an international conference on Bharatanatyam in December 2014. Mainstream media that have played an important vital role in sustaining and nurturing Indian arts in Singapore over the last 70 years include print media like Tamil

Murasu, The Straight Times, and Tabla and broadcast media like Vasantham television, Soorya, a Malay channel in Singapore and OLI 96.8 Tamil FM radio station. Even magazines like India se, Vanilla, etc. have been promoting Indian arts and artistes. The High Commission of India, Singapore, has been a great source of support to may event organizers in Singapore by liaising with the Indian Government’s Indian Council for Cultural Relations.