PAPER 6

DANCE IN INDIA TODAY, DANCE-DRAMAS, CREATIVITY WITHIN THE CLASSICAL FORMS, INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE IN DIASPORA (USA, UK, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, ETC.)

MODULE 29 INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE IN FRANCE AND ITALY

In this module we are looking at the state of Indian classical dance in Continental Europe. While Europe is a conglomeration of many countries, this module does not claim to cover all. However it covers several countries where Indian dance has gained root. These are stories of the success of cultural diplomacy- sometimes driven by state initiatives but more often than not by driven individuals.

FRANCE

We begin with France. Several Indians have settled down there and quite a number of schools and private tuitions can be found. Since the 70's, the interest is more, especially after the French revolution in 1968. There was a flourish in the culture and more Indians moved in. The French know a lot and they expect quality and new presentations. They will be disappointed to see only a Bharatanatyam recital. The presentation and quality is very much in demand. Here Theatre de Ville Paris and the Muse Guimet have long been centers that have showcased Indian classical dance. The Festival of India in France gave a flip to interest in Indian arts including dance.

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Though many French dancers have come to India to learn, the only French dancer to have been awarded a Padmashri is Devayani, born Annick Chaymotty. She was awarded a Padmashri in the year 2009, but she lives in India. Chaymotty trained in Bharatanatyam with Kancheepuram Ellapa Mudaliar and Kalaimamani V.S. Muthuswamy Pillai. Kumari Sawrnamukhi trained her in Karnas, Kalanidhi Narayanan in abhinaya, and Dr. Balamuralikrishna in vocal Carnatic Music.

She adopted the stage name Devayani and was cast in the lead role of the Telugu film America Ammayi popular in India and abroad. France has also honored Bharatanatyam dancer Pondicherry based Bharatanatyam dancer, Raghunath Manet, the first Indian to perform at venues as prestigious as the Opera houses of Paris, Bordeaux and Vichy and the Grimaldi theatre in Monaco, on the occasion of the first Nijinsky award, the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In France, possibly the first and the most significant institute here, for both the showcasing and teaching of Indian dance, is the Centre Mandapa. She came to India in 1964 when she went to Shantiniketan and started her training in Kathakali with Haridasa Nair, son of Kunju Kurup. The same year she met Adyar K. Lakshman in Madras and took lessons in Bharatanatyam for a period of two years. However, Milena's ambition was to concentrate more on Kathakali and hence, after returning to Paris, she secured a scholarship to go to Kalamandalam in Kerala for eight months to work and collaborate with renowned teachers. During the same period she met M. K. Saroja, senior disciple of Kattumannarkoil Muthukumarappa Pillai in Delhi and continued her training in Bharatanatyam with M.K. Saroja.

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Once back in France, Milena collaborated with Jean Louis Barrault to organize a tour for a Kathakali troupe. The UNESCO supported some of her efforts in this direction. In 1974 she married an indophile Roger Filipuzzi and set up centre Mandapa in 1975, shortly before the birth of their daughter Isabelle Anna. Milena and Roger played a decisive part in the UNESCO recognition that came the way of Koodiyattam, as a part of the intangible heritage of mankind. A short film shot by them in 1994 won the CID-UNESCO competition of video dance.

Between 1980 and 1999 Milena organised several productions of Kudiyattam, performed by both Kalamandalam and Margi troupes. She had the opportunity to interact with great masters of Kudiyattam like Maani Madhava Chakkiyar and Painkulam Rama Chakkiyar who came to inaugurate the department of Kudiyattam at Mandapa.

Although Mandapa/मंडऩा has presented Thullal and Kalari, Milena considers Kathakali and Kutiyattam as ‘great art forms having incredible impact’. The “Centre Mandapa” trains around 100 students who are keen on learning and imbibing the scintillating dance forms such as Bharatanatyam and Kathak. She is a great votary of Indian dance believing that more and more dance schools should be established in India and abroad so as to preserve the unique cultural heritage of this wonderful land for the future generations.

In 1985 Milena and Roger adopted a girl from Mother Teresa’s orphanage: Maria Kiran (meaning “ray of light”). Isabelle Anna and Maria Kiran are now on international careers, the elder in the Kathak style and he younger in Bharatanatyam. Milena takes care that

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Mandapa does not become a museum but remains a live place, open to people needing to renew themselves through traditional activities, a creative place. It is located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris and is famous for the fact that it regularly hosts a variety of artistic performances devoted to Indian art and culture.

One of the first Indian teachers of great fame to teach at Centre Mandapa was Guru M K Saroja who started seriously teaching in mid-seventies, basing herself at Mandapa in Paris. Among her principal students were Vidya, Vani, Shalini, Jyoti and Shanti. Vidya has further trained Maria Kiran who now continues the guru's art.

From Chidambaram to Champs Elysees, the art of Bharatanatyam travelled, thanks to Centre Mandapa. For her contributions to the arts, Milena Salvini has been honored by the French Government with the Chevalier of Arts and Letters.

Milena’s daughter Isabelle Anna discovered Kathak with Sharmila Sharma, disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, in Paris, at Centre Mandapa. In 1998, Isabelle went on to become an Indo-French government scholar and ICCR scholar. She joined Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, under the guidance of Pandit Jai Kishan Maharaj, and has, since then, performed in various countries at different festivals. In 2007, she formed her dance company, ‘Kaléïdans' Scope. 'In 2009, Isabelle participated in the Bounjour India festival with French dancers Aurélie Oudiette and Hélène Marionneau.

In France the Indian dance scene is enriched by the presence of dancers like Dominique Delorme and Brigitte Chantagnier. Dominique Delorme is probably the best known French dancer of Bharatanatyam. Dominique had his initial training in Bharatanatyam

4 from Malavika in Paris. Malavika was the stage name of Christine Klien. Malavika was a pioneer of Indian dance in France. Her first guru was Kanchipuram Ellappa. After the passing of her guru she went on to learn from Muthuswamy Pillai. For this reason many dancers from France, including Dominique chose Muthuswamy Pillai as their Guru. Malavika had also learnt some items from Padma Subrahmanyam. On her return Malavika began teaching at Paris and other French cities and even developed a scholarship and cultural exchange programme through a joint effort of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. All of this accounted for the sudden burst of dancers coming to learn Bharatanatyam in India. Most of them have regrettably left dancing.

In 1988, Dominique received this scholarship from the ICCR and the French Ministry of Foreign affairs to continue my training in Madras under Guru V.S. Muthuswamy Pillai. He went on to do his arangetram in 1990. But even before that, in 1989, he represented Guru Muthuswamy Pillai and danced the varnam, 'Adave Arulpurivai / अडवे अ셁ऱऩु셁वाई' at a seminar organized by the Sruti Foundation in Madras. He has also received special training in abhinaya from guru Kalanidhi Narayanan and Anuradha Jagannathan, in nattuvangam from Kamala Rani and in Carnatic vocal from Sulochana Pattabhiraman.

Following his Arangetram in 1990, Dominique continued to perform solo throughout India, Malaysia, Singapore, Western Europe, West Indies and now in the US. He played Narada in ‘Krishnam Vande Jagathgurum / कृ ष्णं वꅍदे जगथगु셁म ’ choreographed by Sudharani

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Raghupathy and Shiva in ‘Natya Shastra Avataranam / ना絍य शास्त्र अवतरणम’ by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam.

His first solo production ‘Nandanar / नंदनार’ toured India and Europe and received critical acclaim and has become his masterpiece. He continued his creative efforts with ‘Seeds of Light’ (1991) with Shakuntala and ‘Skin Deep’ (1995-96) in collaboration with Kalpana, both French Bharatanatyam dancers. ‘Dance with the Gods!’ (1997) and ‘Ardhanareeswara’ (2002) with Malavika were productions that have also toured Europe and India.

In May 1989, he attended a 'Natyashastra Siksha Camp' conducted by Dr. Padma Subrahmaniyam and discovered the possibilities of the body. He participated in the documentary film, 'Bharata's Natya Shastra' directed by V. Balakrishnan in 1991. He developed a special interest in the 'Karanas'. In 2000, he was awarded the 'Villa Medicis Hors-Les-Murs' prize and the Romain Rolland award from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a choreographic project out of which emerged, 'Les Saveurs des Karanas' (The flavor of Karanas). Dominique feels that there is a greater demand for the Padma Subrahmanyam version of the art as the Karanas connect to the ballet movements.

Delorme always wanted to learn from great masters, believing that it is “Only when you learn from great masters can you really grow...Their values stay with us and we have to maintain this and continue to the next generation.” This is how he sees his role.

Seycha Karpagam, disciple of Guru Jayashree Narayanan, attained her Bachelor’s degree from Pondicherry University, a Central

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University of India, and currently performs and conducts Bharatanatyam classes at her institute Bharatanjali in Paris.

Trained since childhood in mime, theatre and contemporary dance, Brigitte Chataignier’s career took a turn when, in 1986, she discovered and fell in love with Mohiniattam, the traditional dance form from Kerala that had come close to being lost by the start of the 20th century. She studied Mohiniattam for seven years in Kerala, most notably under gurus Kalamandalam Leelamma at Kerala Kalamandalam, Kalamandalam Ksheimavathy and Smt. Sridevi Rajan. In 1988, she received a scholarship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and in 1992 under the Cultural Agreements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indo-French Program. Later, in 2001 she was awarded the Sanskriti program from Culture France.

Since then she has divided her time between India and France and founded in 1995 Company Prana, based in Rennes (France). Her approach combines tradition and modernity, and includes research on the conservation of a cultural heritage, as well as new productions. In association with filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan she co-directed the film “The Dance of the Enchantress”.

She has danced extensively Mohiniattam in major festivals in India including the Soorya Festival and Bonjour India, as well as in Paris at the Théâtre de la Ville, the Guimet Museum and the La Villette exhibition centre. She is recognized by the ICCR, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, as an empanelled artist of Mohiniattam, and in November 2012, performed for the Kerala Sangeeth Natak Academy. Brigitte Chataignier is also deeply involved in her own contemporary dance productions as a dancer and choreographer. These include

7 several collaborations with the poet Zéno Bianu, one being Gopika with other Indian dancers in France. “Gangâ”, her latest choreographic project about the river, is touring in several cities for the Bonjour India festival 2013. Nourished by both Indian and Western choreographic influences, “Ganga / गंगा” reveals the essential values not only of the River, but also of water, and women.

Mention has already been made of Sharmila Sharma. Daughter of a well-known folk dancer of Delhi, this disciple of Pt. Birju Maharaj went to Paris after marriage. Initially she taught for many tears at Centre Mandapa, but now runs independent classes in Paris and frequently invites Indian dancers for master classes and workshops.

Other well-known Kathak dancers and schools are run by Aritra Mitra, a senior disciple of Bandana Sen; Jocelyne Fournier, Présidente of Naghma, runs classes all year round except the months of July and August. December and May sees special classes held by her guru Pandit Hirarlal from the Jaipur gharana. Her classes are also held in UK on Saturdays and Sundays; Megha and Kamalkant, disciple of Grdhari Maharaj of the Jaipr Gharana run kathak classes. They are also known for their Bollywood classes. In Marsielles, Kathak is taught by Mahatma Maitreyee, another disciple of Pt. Birju Maharaj.

The flag of Odissi is kept flying high in Paris by Srinwanti Chakrabarti, Artistic Director of Srijati- A Centre for Art and Cuture. Srinwanti has been pursuing the Gharana of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra for last nineteen years and has earned reputation both in India and abroad not only as a performer but also as a dance teacher and an innovative choreographer. Since 2005 she has worked in U.S.A., Canada and United Kingdom as well.

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Barbara Curda of the “Association via Dance”, Paris, has trained since the early 1990s in Bhubhaneshwar, and has also studied at the University of Toulouse-le- Mirail in France for her doctoral degree on the sociological and anthropological aspects of Odissi. She presented a paper on “Odissi in Contemporary Orissa: Strategies, Constraints, Gender," in Dance as Intangible Heritage: Proceedings of the 16th International Congress on Dance research, Corfu. Greece: International Organization of Folk Art.

So vibrant is the dance scene of France that, Ofra Hoffman, born and brought up in Israel, now lives in Paris. Her first encounter with Bharatanatyam was in Paris when she trained with Malavika, the disciple of Guru K.G. Mudaliar and Kalaimamani VS Muthuswami Pillai. Since 2005 she has trained with Kalaimamani Kuttalam M. Selvam and learnt the Abhinya from Bragha Bessel, Carnatic music from Anuja Rajasimhan and the Nattuvangam from her master Kuttalam M. Selvam.

This section on the presence of Indian dance in France would be incomplete if no mention is made of Sattriya’s special connection with Paris.

In 2008, Bhabhanand Borbayan and his team of Sattriya dancers from the monasteries gave 16 performances at six international festivals, held in France and Portugal. In 2009, he demonstrated and taught Sattriya at four workshops in France – in Rodez, Toulouse, Montpellier and Paris – and lectured on Sattriya dance and drama in three discussion sessions, held in Universite De Toulouse, Musee Du Quai Branly, and Centre Mandapa, a cultural centre in Paris promoting Indian dance and art forms.

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Later Bhabananda conducted a workshop and delivered lecture- demonstrations on Sattriya Dance and Theatre Technique at ARTA (Association de Recherche des Traditions de I'Acteur), Paris, which was jointly organised by ARTA, Theatre Du Soleil and the Department of Performing Arts, University of Paris VIII. He also gave four performances at the Festival of Natya Danse Sacrees De L'Inde, organised by Musee Du Quai Branly. The French traveller-writer Nadine Delpech, attracted and impressed by the richness of the Sattriya tradition, wrote a book, “L'ile Aux Moines Danseurs”, based on her visits to the sattras of Majuli in seven consecutive years. Her creation inspired the French film-maker Emmanuelle Petit to make a 52-minute documentary, “Dans Les Brumes de Majuli” (In the Mist of Majuli), which has helped establish a bond between two different cultures, one sustained by the river Brahmaputra and the other by the Seine. Bhabananda has firmed up this bond by sharing his expertise on Sattriya with French artists and art lovers as he teaches a course at the University there.

ITALY

Another classical Indian dancer, the first Italian to have received a Padmashri in dance is Dr. Ileana Citaristi. Ileana learn Indian dance only after coming to India. Today she is a recognized dancer of Odissi which she learnt from Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra and Chhau that she learnt from, Guru Shrihari Nayak.

Tiziana Leucci had trained in ballet and contemporary dance at the National Academy of Dance in Rome. She did her doctoral research on Indian dance at the University of Bologna. She has spent over a

10 decade in India training in Bharatanatyam under V.S. Muthuswamy Pillai, K. Venkatalakshamma, K. Nagamma and K. Pattamal, and with Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra for Odissi.

Carrying the flag of Kathak in Italy is Rosella Fanelli, a dancer of the Lucknow gharana of Kathak and the disciple of Pt. Arjun Mishra. She performs all around the world, and in India. She performed at the Kathak International Festival at University of Chicago. In Italy she teaches at Viterbo a beautiful heritage town. Rosella successfully introduced a full-fledged degree course in Indian Music and Indian classical dance Kathak at Vicenza University two years ago. The university now boasts of imparting lessons to 50 students from Italy and some parts of Europe. “At the end of the three years they will be given a degree in Indian Music-Dance,” said Rosella Fanelli, a full time instructor-professor at the University. Speaking flawless Hindi, Rosella took part in a big drama production on the life of Buddha in which she acted as Yashodhara / यशोधरा. Yoga is her other passion and she was initiated in Ashtang Yoga by Yogi Gyanendraji / योगी ज्ञानᴂद्रजी. She is offering Yoga lessons to a number of students in Italy.

She has commenced work of choreography in collaboration with renowned dance company of Rome, Alleetto ’90. She has experimented and worked with Flamenco dancers.

Lucrezia Maniscotti is a Bharatnatyam teacher in Milan. She is a Bharatanatyam artist, teacher and scholar who has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 10 years first in Italy under students of late Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan, and then from 2006 guidance of Padmasree Adyar K. Lakshman at Bharatha Choodamani in Chennai

11 from where she took her dance Diploma after her Arangetram at Kapalishwara Temple in 2009. She is also adept at Carnatic vocal and nattuvangam for which she trained under Bhagavatulu Seetarama.

Usha Raghavan has been teaching Bharatanatyam since its inception. Various cultural centres in Europe have invited Usha Raghavan every year since 1980 as visiting professor for teaching and performing Bharatanatyam. ‘Centre Mandapa’, invited Usha for eight months in 1980 as their residence teacher and to give workshops and performances all over France. In 1981, Teatro Tascabile Di Bergamo, Italy, the internationally acclaimed premier theatre group specialising in Indian art forms, invited her. It was then Usha exposed to the beautiful world of contemporary theatre while teaching Bharatanatyam to the actors.

Ever since she has toured every year extensively in France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom giving workshops, lecture demonstrations and performances. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations sponsored her dance tour of France. She was invited twice to dance for the International Yoga Conference, an annual event in Switzerland. One of her notable performances was for the then Prime Minister of France,

Mr. Raymond Barre and His Highness the Aga Khan. Usha Raghavan's perfect sense of pedagogy and wide knowledge of Indian dance and traditions have gained her the reputation as a teacher of exemplary talent. She has students not only in India but also in Italy, France, Switzerland, UK and the USA.

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