sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bharati Shivaji, Indrani Rahman, Kumudini Lakhia, Leela Samson, Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, Saroja Vaidyanathan

PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND

MODULE 34 THE NATIONAL STAGE AND COMING TOGETHER OF DANCES

As part of the National movement when the arts helped us build our own identity as a nation, the splendid isolation that many of them had experienced till then. Some of the early institutions like the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Santhas focused on the pursuits of single arts, Music in this case, much as the / घराना of music did. There were a few exceptions to the argument of isolation, as in the case the sudden arrival of Bharata Natyam in Vadodara, as part of Tanjore princess Chimnabai’s dowry when she married the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad III, in 1883. There were however, some cultural institutions that were pushing the artistic renaissance- Tagore’s Visva Bharati at Shantiniketan, built in 1921 out of the purse he received as part of the Nobel Prize. Visva Bharati was built as a reaction of the western education that Tagore encountered when he was studying in England. Tagore offered and alternative model in the vision and life of Shantiniketan. A close relationship with nature and the arts was its mainstay. Tagore was a painter, poet and a musician when he came to dance. It was in a way his last engagement with an artistic discipline. Thus he had a mature, open minded and sagacious approach to it. He had already written extensively on it- Chitrangada, Natir Puja, etc. by the time he began the practice of dance. He recognised that it was a very creative way of getting women involved in a public role. Thus for him the spirit was more important that the rules and regulations of any style, as

1 the spirit freed while rules and regulations shackled. That is why the Visva Bharati dancing style does not clearly prescribe to any form, accounting for why the dance of Shantiniketan has a free flowing feel to it. Other institutions that were affecting a renaissance in the arts were Kalamandalam built in 1930 with the poet Vallathol and Manakkulam Mukund Raja as co-founders and Rukmini Devi’s Kalakshetra built in 1936 that were encouraging the arts to come close in a creatively salubrious environment. For instance, in 1940, Asan T.K. Chandu Panikkar joined Kalakshetra and taught many including V.P. Dhananjayan. Since then in the ballets produced by Kalakshetra, one of the flavours is Kathakali. Similarly, in Shantiniketan it was Manipuri Dance that found a new location and left an indelible mark on the dance cultures associated with Gurudev . Interestingly, in the initial years, the Manipuri teachers of Shantiniketan came via the Tripura route and not directly from . Apart from Manipuri, Shantiniketan hosted Kathakali and Mohiniattam from Kerala. As a result of his overseas travels, Tagore was also acquainted with Kandyan, Javanese and Balinese dances, elements of which he was able to incorporate in the Shantiniketan dancing style. The Ceylonese dance was formally taught at Shantiniketan. After travelling the world and having tasted international fame with his Troupe of Hindu dancers that did a hard to pinpoint to any one known dance style, it was in 1938, that he finally made his base, and established the 'Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre', at the Himalayan Village of Simtola, 3 km from Amlora, in what is now Uttarakhand. Here he invited Sankaran Namboodri for Kathakali, Kandappa Pillai for Bharata Natyam, Amobi Singh for Manipuri and Allauddin Khan, his brother’s Guru, known for his catholic approach to teaching, for music. A large assemblage of

2 performers was drawn to this sylvan setting where the best masters came together to create possibly India’s first multi style training center. The center had some commonalities with Tagore Visva Bharati in the closeness to nature and a non-restrictive creative environment. The Uday Shankar Centre, however, closed after four years in 1942, due to a paucity of funds. But its place in history cannot be ignored for it was the first time that different dance forms were living and working so close together. The work that thus emerged was described as a renaissance of sorts and helped free the Indian cultural mind to some extent. It would appear that it was for the churning that was happening at the Uday Shankar Centre at Simtola, that these lines were written: Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action (Taken from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “Where the mind is without fear”) So liberating was the environment in Simtola, that despite the heartbreak of having to leave it, in 1948, Uday Shankar made his magnum opus film- ‘Kalpana” at ’s Gemini Studio, using a dance language that was unique and which many described as being reflective of India, as it captured the diversity of many dance forms in a creative manner. Even as the new nation was being created, this

3 creative language of dance that he was using seemed reflective of the process. Inspired by the idea of a multi-arts center, some of the centers that came up in post independent India took on a multiple arts profile, and became associated with the revival of those arts that were seeing poorer days or were even languishing. Though they picked up such arts in an opportunist manner in the sense when they were provided grants or when a practitioner was available to lead the department, their work soon bore the impress of the many streams of dance. Many of these centers were located in that was fast becoming the cultural capital of the country. The case of Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra is an example. Set up originally in 1947 as Jhankar, it became a formal school in 1952. Under the guidance of Sumitra Charatram it attracted the finest talent. Among those who were associated with the Kendra in the initial years were Pt and Pt. for Kathak, who created some significant work to the music of the Dagar brothers who were also there. Soon the Kendra was to add on a Kathakali, and Mayurbhanj Chhau section. The Kendra takes the credit for uplifting Kathak when it was going through a bad phase, before the Kathak Kendra was established by the . It was also able to give Mayurbhanj Chhau a fresh lease of life and with these diverse inputs ended up creating a series of dance dramas/ ballets that showcased them. The first such major experiment that the Kendra created was Ramlila that is now an institution as it gets performed annually. The first production took place in 1957. The script was written by poet, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, with lights designed by and Inder Razdan. Uday Shankar’s colleague dancer Narendra Sharma was a principal dancer along with his wife Jayanti Sharma. None other than

4 the Prime Minister of India, inaugurated it. Subsequent to the success of the Ramlila, SBKK created a whole range of memorable ballets using the language of Mayurbhanj Chhau in a creative manner. Soon the Ramlila too began to bear the impress of the various departments of dance styles that the Kendra opened. Dance energy and kinetics are contagious after all! In the early years of the nation the arts, particularly dance was used as a tool for diplomacy. Around the same time before visiting dignitaries at Rashtrapati Bhawan a tradition began of showcasing the arts of India, particularly the classical arts of India. Thus ten to fifteen minute pieces were presented by different artistes. Some of the artistes themselves performed more than one dance in an evening as they had taken training for a few items in many styles. , , Bali, come to mind. These dancers would perform at least two if not more styles in every performance. Indrani would dance Bharatnatyam for the first part, and then for the second. Shanta Rao would do Kathakali and then Mohiniattam, Yamini Krishnamurthy had learnt Bharatnatyam, Odissi and . These pioneers of dance did yeoman service to popularize the many dance forms of India, when very few modern educated women were dancing publicly. Slowly the critical mass of dancers, dance forms and dance repertoire grew enough to create a robust dance scene in India that was aware of the many dance forms that existed and that had begun valorizing dance a big change from the days that saw it suffering a stigma. The annual Republic Day Parade showcases India's Defense Capability, Cultural and Social Heritage. This is a rare case of a Ministry of Defence managed endeavor includes so much culture, albeit all moving at the pace of military boots and to military precision. With dancing troupes coming from states, from NCC

5 battalions and from local schools, with fascinatingly imaginative state floats often carrying dancers as signifiers of culture, and the accompanying Republic day folk dance festival with almost a thousand dancers each evening herded in expertly by the baton of a show choreographer, one encounters the Union of India. For years this event has sensitized Indians to the diversity of India’s cultural scape. However, the parade has played an intrusive and transformative role in the dances that it carries along. Firstly, by de- contextualizing them and then by altering the choreographic patterns of the dances into predominantly straight lined patterns as the columns and rows of dancers, all of whom wear shoes, move in step with the soldiers and members of police and paramilitary forces. Still, the sheer the opulence of colours, costumes, dance movements, songs and joy that the dances, all lined up one after another bring makes our chest swell up with pride. This is truly Unity in diversity in play. With the Asian Games of 1982, India developed a culture of presenting herself as a grand spectacle built around almost industrial sized troupes of dancers. The first such experiment was contained in the opening Ceremony of the Asian Games. Classical dance was dismissed immediately as unsuitable. Instead, 7000 folk dancers, for whom an entire town ship with its own post office and police station was set up, had to grip the attention of 75,000 people in a football field 10,000 sq. m. The smaller segments from each state were choreographed separately, each one distinct in its formations, music and concept. None other than Birju Maharaj choreographed Uttar Pradesh’s folk dance around the theme of Holi. Like a patchwork quilt, the whole was woven from the parts into a seamless spectacle in Delhi by Narendra Sharma who had been trained in choreography at the Uday Shankar centre at Almora and then at Russia, a country known for the ease with which it conceives and hosts extravaganzas.

6

Interestingly, it needed the might of the army to put this into place and make it move smoothly, without egos coming into the way, and precisely, so that there were no embarrassing gaffes on field, as the eyes of the world was focused on India. By the time of the Commonwealth Games of 2010, the doubt that classical dance could not make the grade for such a spectacle had long gone and so a segment called “Tree of Knowledge’ incorporated classical dance. Kathak guru, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Manipuri gurus and his wife, Charu Sija Mathur, Bharat Natyam guru, Dr. , Odissi guru dr. Sonal Mansingh, Mohini Attam gurus , Kuchipudi gurus , used as many as 480 dancers to bringing alive India's "Guru-Shishya Parampara" on stage, through classical dance recitals which also depicted the four different seasons of India. The idea was further reinforced by the use of technology as the aerostat (the largest ever helium balloon built for such an event) formed the leaves of the Bodhi tree, while large strips elevated from the ground, made of silk and bamboo fiber, formed the tree trunk. A strange fusion of multiple dances came to the fore as India became MICE destination. MICE stand for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events. This aspect of bringing many classical dances on the same stage with the goal of drawing eyeballs and a “wow” reaction is the work of the Ministry of Tourism and its Incredible India campaign. What could be a more incredible image of the gorgeous splendors of India, than a host of bejeweled and bedecked dancers, representing amongst them the eight classical dance styles of India, configuring in elegant patterns and statuesque poses on one shared stage. Possibly the original inspiration came from the “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara / मिले सूर िेरा तु륍हारा ” a multilingual song video, promoting national integration by featuring the most important of India’s musicians. It was telecast for the first time on Independence

7 day, 15th August 1988 as soon as the telecast of the Prime Minister’s speech from the Red Fort concluded. It was available only on Doordarshan and had a very large impact as Doordarsan was then the only channel available in India. It quickly captivated India, gaining and maintaining near-anthem status ever since. In the same vein, to mark the fiftieth year of India’s independence in 1997 AR Rahman came out with an album called Vande Matram / वन्दे िातरि, which had the title song sung by him. It is the largest selling Indian non-film album to date. It had had a profoundly positive and unifying impact on the nationalistic and patriotic mood of the country. The Videos that Bharat Bala Productions made on them featured maestros like Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra and young dancers like French Kathak dancer, Veronique Azan, along with folk dancers. These vignettes were telecast repeatedly on TV and had a powerful impact. They came across as a continuing ripple of the music video, achieving much the same end, by kindling a feeling of patriotism and nationalism One of the earliest examples of this kind of spectacular coming together on stage is a small work called “Tridhara / त्रिधारा” that originally had Veronique azan doing Kathak, Rama Vaidyanathan doing Bharatnatyam, and Kavita Dwibedi doing Odissi. The three dancers choreographed it together. “Tridhara” turned out to be enduring despite many changes in dancers, over the last twenty-five years. Today only one, Kavita still remains from the original trio. This way of showing the splendid richness of India’s dance traditions became such a hit that many larger, grander and glorious variants of it are in existence, choreographed by different dancers, around different themes, but to the same purpose- that of creating a spectacle, unique to India. Examples of such work include “Vande Matram / वन्दे िातरि’’् , first choreographed in 2008, by Prathibha

8

Prahlad which opened the Festival of India in Manila, earlier this year and included eight classical styles as well as the martial art of Chhau. Another such work is “Charishnu” choreographed by in 2008, for the Ministry of Tourism on the occasion of the opening of its office in China. “Charishnu / चरर�ण”ु included ensembles drawn from five classical dances of India, the martial art of Thang Ta and an array of drummers, taking the total number to 60 performers. For any such effort, it becomes important to know each other’s forms, to know many forms and to be respectful of all. “Saptakam / सप्तकि” was recently choreographed by the doyenne of Kathak and Choreography, , for the ’s group of seven dance forms, that went to China in 2014 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel, which coincided with the yearlong 'Glimpses of India Festival', a cultural extravaganza organized by the embassy of India to mark 2014 as the Year of India- China Friendly Exchanges. Thus the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of External Affairs gave a new and different agenda to dance. This new agenda ascribed to dance is an example of how inter-Ministry collaborations work. One of the finest examples of how the soft power of the arts was used in a hardnosed way to push for an economic benefit was contained in the “Make in India” initiative of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, launched recently in Germany in the presence of Mr. Modi and Ms. Merkel. The incredibly colourful spectacle of dance and exuberance, which opened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at Hannover Messe, the world's biggest industrial fair, was created by dancer-choreographer and Mayuri Upadhyay and her sister Madhuri Upadhya. Mayuri, who is trained in , Kathak, Odissi, Kalaripayattu, folk and modern dance is the principle choreographer of the dance company Nrityarutya dance collective, has also choreographed for the Kannada film industry, and has

9 recently made her debut. She is also a judge on ‘Dancing with the Stars 2’ a reality dance show. Under her baton, ninety-four dancers got to perform together in a suite of 14 different acts, along with multi-media inputs, all worked out within a period of 30 days. Initial work was done independently by each group with virtual supervision, making bets use of modern technology. The chorography interpreted the Prime Minister’s call to “Make in India”. It encompassed the spirit of a young progressive India and simultaneously brought out the heritage of India through a contemporary feel. It incorporated a diverse range of tangible, intangible and lived elements of the culture of the country. It began with Yoga to soothing music, introduced eight classical (dance) forms, puppetry, martial arts, and linked them to the form of rangoli designs. Even the ritualistic practice of the Ganga aarti at the banks of Banaras, with the chanting of mantras was included as an example of living culture. This spectacular optic had a breath stopping moment with the appearance of the 3D tiger – depicting the technological advancement of the country, and bringing in a sense of grandeur.

10