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PAPER: 3 Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists Module 27 Modern Development And Future Trends In Bharatanatyam Present day Bharatanatyam is progressing to a new avatar while partaking of old structure and substance. Each new person, educated, city-bred, global, is trying to infuse new energy and light into this form. Many have succeeded tremendously (as in the case of Malavika Sarukkai) in giving it a new dimension, while others (Alarmel Valli) have retained its classical roots and gone back in time to bring back gems of bygone era (Sangam poetry, etc.). Some have used group works (Leela Samson) to create anew and some have gone beyond the solo structure and infused it with group dynamics (B. Bhanumati). What we see are not new banis but new bodies and groups being created. Bani / बानी is now a reference point. Only few retain and guard it without alloying or diluting. While each one comes with certain historical reference point called bani/training, they have all tried to create anew. Partly due to demands of each season and what new work each capable star dancer can present and partly because of sponsors clamoring for new wine in old bottles or vice versa! But Bharatanatyam remains quintessentially the same. Its structure can be marginally changed but form is same. Bent at knee 1 legs are bent at knee legs because that’s what the style’s structure demands (called araimandi / अरैमंडी). One may make the fan of costume longer so one has to sit less! But the basic position still remains that else it can’t qualify to be called Bharatanatyam. Bharatanatyam as a form allows maximum innovation and interpretation. Its structure, grammar and material are akin to bricks or slabs one can make any house or building or pattern from. It can be a simple hut, a palace or a stadium! The basic bhakti element represents its simplicity. The complex jatis represents tiles and patterns. Varnam / वर्णम represents its architectural plan. Padams / पदम ् and javalis / जावऱी are doors and windows to love and soul. Tillana / ति쥍ऱाना concludes like a roof above head and mangalam / मंगऱम is decorative plants and trees. Thus, how does this traditional material, centuries old, become modern? Modern is a language, not a fashion. Just like in films or clothes, there are new trends and colours, patterns and shapes so also in Bharatanatyam there are modern trends and development. One major development is group work. For over a century, Bharatanatyam was the art of the soloist or at best twins or twosome (to show left and right symmetry in poses and stances). Then came a small group of 3 or 4 to illustrate a theme. Now there is corps de ballet, or a group of dancers, 20-30 in one big production, like Kalakshetra in Chennai, Nalanda in Mumbai or Bhanumati’s dance company in Bangalore. This solo to group work development took place to fill big spaces…stadium shows, film events where classical forms were used 2 and also to dance to large audiences say in dance specific festivals of Khajuraho, Konark or Chidambaram, where thousands sit and watch from afar. If one person is dancing - unless a big star - audiences will not come or become restless. Group work affords variety and opportunity for all. In fact, group works are the vogue because once a solo dancer gets established, she then becomes a star. Secondly, all can’t be stars so groups are a good way to include the good, the not-so-good and the plain ordinary dancer! It also gives students of the institution an opportunity to show their training and accomplishment in the dance. It showcases a style in multiple numbers. It also covers large stages and spaces. If a theme is undertaken say from mythology or modern poets, then it is easy to have many characters. So, one main development and trend, is group work. Second important development and trend is discovering old material and interpreting it, say in way of poetry, or in way of material. Valli uses Sangam poetry and projects some century old verse in new ways on interpretation, sometimes the commentary being in French or English. She uses works of modern poets like Arundhati Subramaniam and the poet recites along. So another development and trend, is supplementing. Dancers with imagination and an ability to reflect upon present day issues, including two world wars, deviated from the traditional margam and from the nayaka-nayika / नायक-नातयका themes. It was inevitable with the rapid shift in the background of the performers that there would be also a shift in the content of the dance. Dancers sensitive to the gap between their own lives and what they 3 performed on stage started questioning the relevance of the nayaka- nayika theme. Mrinalini Sarabhai, trained in Bharatanatyam, Kathakali and Indonesian dances, used the Bharatanatyam technique to tell stories of dowry deaths and suicide, substituting silence in place of music. She handled abstract concepts of Rig-Veda scripture, created dance works on ecology, pollution and extended both the vocabulary of dance and its themes, which showed contemporary awareness of social issues.1 Working with and making a departure from the exclusive classicism of Bharatanatyam, Chandralekha started thinking and experimenting in her choreographic work; how to explore, expand, and universalise the form. She began to see it in relation to other allied physical disciplines in India like yoga, ancient martial arts, and allied life activity. A firm believer in the need for resuscitating traditional forms with contemporary energy, she worked towards exploring the structures and internal strength of Bharatanatyam, martial forms like Kalaripayattu and therapeutic forms like yoga to comprehend and interpret the body in a modern sense. She postulated a new, non- sublimated content of the dance. Her body of choreographic works ranging from Angika / अंगगका (Traditions of Dance and Body language of India, 1985), Lilavati / ऱीऱाविी (1989), Prana / प्रार् (Breath, 1990), Sri / श्री (Traditions of Woman and Empowerment), Yantra / यंत्र (Dance Diagrams, 1994), Mahaka / महाकाऱl (Invoking Time, 1995) to Sharira / शरीर (Fire/Desire, 2001) reveals what new directions Indian dance has taken (Menon, 2005).2 4 Apart from the traditional repertoire of Bharatanatyam, thematic presentations are on the increase. The reason for this is the exponential growth in the number of learners of Bharatanatyam. These presentations accommodate those who just want the performing experience but may not take to full time performing. Group dancing also helps dancers to understand the concepts of synchronization, performing space and sharing the spotlight with others. Alongside these we can also find a growing attraction for another kind of group production based on fusion - where both the music as well as the dancing, are not strictly classical.3 One example is dancer/actor Shobana’s productions that are a mix of everything from rock music, English narration and fusion movements. Some dance gurus excel in their group productions like Sheela Unnikrishnan and Anitha Guha in Chennai, who generally concentrate on mythological themes. Jayanthi Subramaniam has done a production called ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’ where dancers do Bharatanatyam but wear the Odissi hip belts! Lakshmi Ramaswamy works with old Tamil texts. Radhika Shurajit combines cinema songs with Bharatanatyam like in the olden day films. Ananda Shankar Jayant has done a group work on navarasa, one called ‘Ode to the Eye’ and ‘Panchatantra’ on tales for children. Rama Bharadvaj has presented a work on problems faced by immigrants in the US. Savitha Sastry’s solo productions are based on new stories written for dance, where it becomes less of Bharatanatyam and more of dance theatre. A future is not far that there will be many more Bharatanatyam dancers than audience! 5 Apart from the mega productions, small Bharatanatyam groups still delight with traditional themes like Radha Shridhar of Bangalore, Parul Shah of Baroda with her company Anjali Memorial Committee, Geeta Chandran of Delhi to name a few. Current rage is themes on environment, protection of animals, social maladies like suppression of women, rape, suicide, famine, pollution and so on. Late Smt. Anjali Merh, Head of the Dance Department at the M S University of Baroda dared and challenged the traditional beliefs by creating the “Navagraha Kriti-s” of Muthuswami Dikshitar in 1979 in pure Bharatanatyam style in the group. She was trained in Kalakshtra, one of the firsts, and imbibed the best of the creative as well as artistic traditions of her beloved Guru Smt Rukmini Devi Arundale. Anjaliben’s “Shri Chandramaulishwara Kuravanji” dedicated to the Lord Shiva - Chandramauli of Somanatha in Gujarat is a land mark production. Being a proud Gujarati, conversant in both Carnatic and North Indian Music, with a flare of writing she created this production in 1975-76. It was not only performed in the major cities of India, but was specially invited for the 50th year’s celebration of the “Pran Pratishha” of the Somanatha temple by then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. Here was a Kurvanji, written in Gujarati, set to music with 37 ragas / राग and more than 10 talas / िाऱ from the North and Carnatic music, with Bandhani and specially designed costumes and wooden beads jewelry, smoothly blending the classical and folk elements to their best. The dance- drama performed at the Brihad Natyanjali Festival in 2006, made the organizers comment “the dance going from Thanjavur to Baroda is now a complete circle and has completed the cycle”. The trend 6 started by her of using local language, costumes and themes continues in Gujarat by most of the artistes.

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