A Day in the Life of face and eyes, and the graceful, sinuous, triple- sideward curve of the dancing torso. Nritya - Nrityagram gram dancers sustain a fierce dedication to ex - cellence in the practice of their art – odissi dance, a classical Indian dance form derived Karen Greenspan from the sculpted friezes, depicting dance as worship, that adorn the ancient Hindu tem - Like a tribal council of ancients sitting around ples of Odisha (an eastern coastal state in In - a fire, the artists of Nrityagram encircle the dia). empty space in the studio to reenact the alle - The ensemble of musicians from Mumbai gorical tale Dasavataar – The Ten Incarnations has just arrived for a four-day concentrated of Vishnu. The resident statues of Hindu working period. They are much-in-demand deities, adorned with offerings of fresh flow - performers who will not return again until a ers and candles, oversee this assembly as artis - few days before the performance, so the tic director Surupa Sen sits on the floor ges - dancers and gurus (teachers/soloists) are re - turing the story with arms and upper torso as hearsing with them all day and into the night. she narrates from her iPad: The days in this creative community of sweaty saris are lengthy and filled with a rigorous The story of human evolution schedule of classes, rehearsals, and daily Strewn with myth and illusion chores that generate ravenous appetites, de - Comes from the start mand multiple daily showers, and beg for Of the very old part where much-needed sleep. There was neither you nor me, Surupa Sen recalls that when she came to Not even the Big Bang Theory! Nrityagram as its first student, they did not The other two dance soloists, Bijayini Sat - have a single day of the week (or year) off. She pathy and Pavithra Reddy, leap into the space had to negotiate with her guru, Protima Bedi, with superhuman energy to dance the account for that to happen. Bedi couldn’t understand of how Lord Vishnu manifests ten different why one needed a day off from something you forms to urge human development forward on loved. its evolutionary trajectory. The three musi - Founded in 1990 by Protima Gauri Bedi, a cians sit against a wall rapidly making notes wealthy Mumbai socialite turned odissi while playing intricate rhythms and singing dancer, the village was designed by the ac - the devotional reprise, Jaya Jagadisha Hare! (Oh claimed Indian architect Gerard da Cunha on Lord of the universe, all glories to You!), as a land lease granted by the Karnataka state this ages-old Hindu narrative, filled with the government. Bedi described the concept, “It is fire and brimstone of destruction and the hope a community of dancers in a forsaken place and promise of new beginnings, is recreated amidst nature. A place where nothing exists, flush with vivid, new expression. except dance. A place where you breathe, eat, I have arrived at the small, terra cotta-col - sleep, dream, talk, imagine – dance.” ored settlement of Nrityagram, just an hour’s The rustic structures – studios, amphithe - drive from Bangalore, during preparations for ater, temple, dining pavilion, writers’ com - their Annual Day performance that will be pound, office, and cottages – are situated held two weeks hence. Nrityagram, which amidst ten acres of farmland planted with or - translates as “dance village,” is a place where chards of a variety of fruit trees and vegetable the Hindu gods are conjured forth with gardens that sustain the kitchen’s prepara - rhythms slapped onto the floor by dancing bare tions. The grounds, landscaped with colorful feet, intricate gestural designs formed by flowers and graceful trees, create a simple per - speaking hands, nuanced expressions of the fection exemplified by the fallen petals from ©2018 Karen Greenspan 51 a spray of bougainvillea that, by chance, form Nrityagram begins and concludes with the a fuchsia pathway to the entrance of a dance ages-old ritual of the shishya bowing to touch studio, as if to welcome the steps of a bride. the guru’s feet while the guru acknowledges Since Protima Bedi’s untimely death in a the relationship by touching the shishya’s 1998 landslide while on pilgrimage in the Hi - head, back, or shoulder. malayas, the Nrityagram dream has been kept It is before 8:00 in the morning, and my alive by her close friend Lynne Fernandez, who walk to the main dance studio is accompanied serves as executive director and lighting/tech - by a multiplicity of sounds floating on the nical designer, and Bedi’s students – Surupa morning air – the insistent call of a frog, a va - Sen and Bijayini Satpathy – now, respective - riety of birdsong, the “caw” of the crows, the ly, artistic director/choreographer and direc - distant “vrrm” of a truck, and the recording tor of dance education. Today Nrityagram of a woman’s voice singing Hindustani ragas flourishes as a modern-day gurukul (residen - (Surupa Sen’s morning music-listening ritu - tial school) for odissi classical dance. It ad - al). The devotional melody playing next door heres to the ancient guru-shishya (teacher-dis - permeates the studio as Bijayini Satpathy leads ciple) tradition, in which the disciple lives the residential students, who have made a with the guru and absorbs the unbroken one-year commitment to gurukul training knowledge of the lineage – about the art form and lifestyle, in a morning conditioning class. as well as life – passed on through a unique They bring their yoga mats and wear yoga mentoring relationship based on complete attire to participate in the session combining dedication and trust between disciple and yoga, modern dance center barre, Pilates mat teacher. In fact, each class and rehearsal at work, and calisthenics strengthening exer - cises. The final traveling sequences of bal - listic flexibility movements are kalari - payattu exercises. This ancient martial arts form that originated in the southern Indian state of Kerala developed from and utilizes conditioning exercises based on movements for warfare. Another morning the class consists of traveling sequences, which the partici - pants perform divided into two groups. One group calls out songlike verses in Sanskrit that narrate the movements while the other performs the exercise. Then they reverse roles. Satpathy ex - plains that these are exercises from the Natya Shastra (foundational, sacred, San - skrit text dated between 200 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., detailing the theory and prac - tice of dance and drama, upon which all of the classical Indian dance forms are based). The exercises are called caris, thirty-two movements of the legs – six - teen earthbound variations and sixteen aerial variations – all performed travel - Bijayini Satpathy and students rehearsing Battu . ing across the floor. (Photo: Karen Greenspan) Each day the morning session closes 52 ballet review Battu . (Photo: Shalini Jain) with two mantras validating self, communi - In contrast, at Nrityagram, Satpathy has as - ty, and the work in which they are all engaged. sembled a physical regimen that develops and Teachers and students sit cross-legged with maintains strength, flexibility, and agility to eyes closed in a meditative posture and chant support the dancers’ ability to perform the together in Sanskrit: technically demanding odissi choreography Om Sahana Vavatu Sahanao . and extend the longevity of the dancer’s ca - (May God protect and nourish us all reer. – students and teachers. After breakfast, other groups involved in May our study together be brilliant the upcoming performance arrive to rehearse. and free of obstacles. The children, ages eight to fifteen, come for May we work together without lessons at Nrityagram every Saturday, and are conflict. not shy as they discuss who has studied there May there be peace.) the longest. They are working arduously on a piece – Vasant Pallavi – that they began a year and ago, and Satpathy is unrelenting in her chal - Om Purnamada Purnamidam . lenging demands. Even the youngest responds (The Almighty is completeness. with unabashed commitment and exactitude We are completeness projected as they run through choreography filled with from that completeness. complex formations and step work, intricate When completeness is added to or hand gestures, and athletic squats and jumps. subtracted from, completeness After a second run-through, Satpathy ap - always remains.) plauds with an affirming, “Good!” As we walk to breakfast, Satpathy clarifies Before leaving, the children perform a that body conditioning is not common prac - danced salutation to the earth and their gu - tice among odissi dancers. An odissi dance rus. The short ritual is performed by students class, or lesson, usually refers to a session de - and gurus together, in which they descend into voted to learning a piece from the repertory. grand plié to touch the earth drawing energy fall 2018 53 from it. As they stand upright, their hands A traditional odissi program follows a spe - trace a circle around the eyes, behind the head, cific order of five dance items beginning with and come to rest at the heart while forming Mangalacharan (Invocation) and ending with the palms-clasped anjali mudra. Mokshya (Liberation). Each dance item is de - The rehearsal after lunch moves to the large signed to manifest glimpses of enlightenment amphitheater, with its red clay stage and stone (at oneness with the universe) that eventual - slab, overhead terrace supported by stone pil - ly lead the audience to spiritual fulfillment – lars. The dancers are now attired in their col - mokshya . orful dance or half saris, which are shorter For the second piece, Battu , the dancers are than a regular sari. The length of fabric is arranged in odissi sculptural poses all about wrapped around the waist in a wide skirt that the stage – under the terrace, leaning against hits just below the knee.