Temple dance & Tantra....

My earliest memory of Malay born Odissi dancer Ramli Ibrahim is of the time when I first saw this attractive dance soaked body giving an interactive lecture demonstration at India International Centre way back in 1994. 12 years later, while witnessing one of his best works yet- Vision of Forever- inspired from the carved history of dance and time on temples on one end and the tantric philosophy on the other- I couldn't help but recollect the strands of past. Ramli, a dancer, a guru and the director of Sutra Dance Theatre, in Malaysia, wowed the audience with his latest production sponsored by the ICCR at Kamani Auditorium recently.
Firm dance bodies-agile and adroit- blessed with a fine balance of vigour and grace, could have been mistook for home grown Odissi dancers. But Ramli's students (none of them first generation Indian)- a mix of Malay , Chinese and Tamil genes- had the panache to imbibe the sentiment of the production- which was nothing but Ananda. The Ananda that sprung from the heart of entranced devotee ( played by Sutra's leading dancer Guna ) conversing, interacting, learning and performing with the sculpturusque poses at the beginning of his journey into the world of divine; The Ananda with which the Gods descended ( Ramli, January Low, Revathi Tamilselvam, Divya Nair and Sivagama Valli) to celebrate the vision of cosmos with their devotee and the Ananda with which the soul traversed the path of birth and death, enchanted by the very experience of eternal joy.
Building on this motif, Ramli went on to explore the concept of Ardhanarishwar, conjoining the nature and the divine in Shiva's manifestation as a half man- half woman. One must admit, that even though Ramli's dance has increasingly veered towards theatre, the basic structure of Odissi has been kept intact. The Chaukas, abhangis, tribhangis were juxtaposed by jumps, leaps and skids- without diluting the aesthetic appeal. This was visible in Rageshwari Pallavi with Kamadev's music strings personifying the raga, as a consort performed by Ramli and Revathi and in the high point as also the only controversial aspect of the evening, was Dasamahavidya- based on the 10 revelations of Kali. Culled from the tantric texts of Karpuradi Stotram, the visions – Kali, Tara, Sodasi, Bagala, Chinnamasta, Matangi, Bhubneshwari, Kamala, Bhairavi and Dhoomwati. A sense of Macabre dominated the segement as the images of Goddesses – Matangi and Kamala- paled before the visions of death and blood personified by a majority of other Goddesses.
This extended piece had a rather repetitive stance to it, which after a few minutes became a bit monotonous given the hyper energy of Guna, who while personifying the devil within, perhaps lost himself in the moment of excitement and started shrieking on stage every time he attacked the Goddesses. ( In lighter vein, one was reminded of Tennis player Monica Seles's legendary war cries every time she took the court! ). However, one must admit that Guna and January are Ramli's best bets right now, for they are trained well in Contemporary styles.
With Panch Bhuta, the impeccable evening came to a dramatic end. One sincerely looks forward to more such productions, where the dancer and dance become one.Vision of Forever had a strong script to bank on and was based on the compositions of Gurus Deba Prasad Das, Durga Charan Ranbir and Gajendra Panda.Last but not the least, the other bewitching part of the production was its magnificent set that was designed by Sutra Dance Theatre. Needless to say, the divine space of temple and the nature's wild found an equal resonance in it.

Shades of Odissi

An email from a friend alerted me about the three day International Odissi Dance Festival (IODF), at Kamani Auditorium. I frowned at the possibility of hearing the same discussions, watching the same dancers ( as often festivals go for the same bulk of popular nee powerful stalwarts) and laughing at same last minute goof ups.
But mercifully, Bansi Bilas ( and its two power ladies- Leesa Mohanty and Leeta Mohanty) , the parent organisation proved that there was more to the festival than the obvious. One would personally remember the festival for its strong attempt at bringing face to face, different strands of Odissi- which in recent years have hit headlines for internal tensions and controversies. Though, Guru Deba Prasad Das's school of thought was behind the festival, it proved to be as much a personal space for the Gurus belonging to Kelucharan Mohapatra's style.
The various other shades- the element of theatre, the influence of the Gotipuas and the Maharis on present day works, the impressions of other classical dances and the chic- contemporary facelift- were all there.
The largest ensemble of second generation Odissi Gurus in the capital, in recent years, IODF had a line up of performances, lecture demonstrations and screenings. The festival scored high on some memorable lecture-demonstrations. Among them, Sonal Man Singh's personal narrative on the exploration of new areas of content and choreography, within the traditional gambit of Odissi, ( with the help and guidance of late Jeevan Pani) made for a very riveting session. The most interesting part of Sonal's talk was her experiences with Buddhist Charyagitis and Oriya narrative tradition of Pala, where (as I understood) a highly stylized , visually and literally rich poem is used to explore different ideas and images. Both, reflected upon the image of the woman, as a Goddess and a bewitcher- who demands complete devotion and surrender from men- the devotees and the lovers. This shade of male-female relationship ( which is generally in opposition to the popular depiction of a rover Lord and a power-less Nayika) also forms the substantive part of Sonal's contribution to Indian dance.
Sonal was at her best as she went on to explore a Pala, Nayana Sunaina Re, delineating on the power and magic of a woman's eyes-that dwarf the alacrity and the sharpness of a deer on one side and a 100 horses on the other. One could easily understand why the dancer has been bestowed with such expressive eyes!
Equally commendable for their dance choreographies, were the demonstrations of Madhvi Mudgal and Ramli Ibrahim. Madhvi's group works- Kalyan and Topoi in particular, which had her locating the angular spaces in former and elements of theatre in the latter. Madhup Mudgal's music, was understandably one of the high points. Topoi, which forms part of the Oriya myth, is a story of a girl by the same name who is considered to be the avatar of Goddess Lakshmi.
Though, Madhvi stressed that she would prefer presenting her works than speaking, one wished, the dancer had shared her thoughts and ideas on what goes into her productions. What are the natural points of departure for her, her favourite motifs, areas of inspiration and the problematics involved in executing a production. There was much to be discovered there and sadly, it remained so even after the commanding productions. Ramli on the other hand, took a balanced approach and while appreciating his training in Bharatanatyam, revealed that for him, the dance form played to the gallery. Odissi for him, is like Lord Jaganath. Ramli's works are a confluence of contemporary, folk and classical dance traditions interspersed with rich theatre tradition.
Apart from the these demonstrations, Guru Dugra Charan Ranbir's demonstration, while scoring high on his performance front, failed to take off when it came to conversing about his work. It would have been more appropriate to allow Guru Ranbir to speak in Oriya so that his views could be known. Instead, all one heard was a peripheral discourse of his journey by one of his senior students, which could never justify what the master himself could have shared.
Guru Gangadhar Pradhan's lecture demonstration was a mix of innocence and sincerity and his performance was a perfect example of how a pot bellied grey haired man can transform into a entrancing nayak or a nayika, just by the power of his dance. Gangadhar Pradhan's take on the need for proper exercise and sadhana and his excited state, was visually entertaining but one would have wished, if he had shared those aspects of his journey from being a gotipua dancer ( in common parlance, pre-pubescent boys performing, dressed as girls) to a professional made dancer. How did he negotiate between the borrowed notion of femininity within himself as a pre-teenager and justified his masculinity in order to be taken as a serious male performer in his adult life? Sadly, there was no word on this.
And there was no word from the veterans on whether or not the lecture-demonstration by the Nrityagram's stars Surupa and Bijoyni, depicting their creative forays in chaukas and tribhangis were influenced by the Bharatanatyam grammar. The duo who stressed on the need to cultivate body, said that they cannot take the borrowed truth of tradition and make it their own. Their work, which is, at present the most enthralling visual experience needs a detailed understanding on parts of dancers, critics and scholars to see whether like with Padma Subrahmanyam's journey from Bharatanataym to Bharata Nrityam, their Odissi too needs a new baptism?
But the word power came back in full force in two seasoned presentations by Shanta Serbjeet Singh and Leela Venkatarman. Veteran culture writer and activist, Shanta's work as a the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Network, has become a precursor to her spell binding research in the realm of healing through performing arts. While probing the inherent link between the arts and the science, Shanta stated that, "All artistic and creative activity happens because of a rare and irregular behaviour pattern in the brain called synthesia. What this does is accidentally crosswire unrelated parts of the brain in ways never before seen." Perhaps this is why most artistes are not normal! Shanta further added that, "Behind the apparent good health, longevity and incredible stamina of most dancers, musicians and visual artists lies the fact that the very nature of the work they do, i.e. sing, dance, paint, sculpt, in short create a work of art, is an endless source of pumping of metaphorical iron, adrenalin, vitamins and nutrients into the body even as they help to rid it of disorders, imbalances and disease. "
Leading dance critic and commentator, Leela Venkataraman, while speaking about dance criticism, chose to spread her presentation on the issues of tradition, authenticity and identity of Odissi. In doing so, she delineated on the need to question the handed down sanctity of tradition and the need to have the freedom to imbibe that tradition within the contemporary time zone of the dancers. Leela expressed her concern over the new found jerkiness, tremendous ornamentation and over arching virtuosity, in Odissi and felt that these serious issues were being relegated to the background while non-issues like the "authenticity" of Odissi dance costume was being given undue importance.
The evening performances, a large chunk of which, this writer could not witness because of bout of cold, had some memorable presentations by Madhvi Mudgal and Kavita Dwivedi.

Perhaps in future...

Critiquing the recital of your own Guru's student, can be an arduous task especially if you have personally known the dancer for nearly a decade. The question of ethics comes into play as you sit down and provide your perspective on the recital, on the items, which you too have performed at some point in your life! However, what saves this writer from much heartache and headache is the belief that one needs to be true to the dance not to the dancer per se.
One of Jayalakshmi Eshwar's talented disciples, Swati Biswas gave a thorough Bharanatyam recital at Triveni Kala Sangam recently. Presented by an NGO, DRONA, the recital had its high points in Tulsi Bhajan, "Bhajj mun Ram saran sukhdayi" and in Padam, Varatum swami, where Swati enacted the role Khandita Nayika, or the jilted beloved who feels neglected by her Lord (the one who is too busy dilly-dallying with other women). Addressed to Lord Murugan, the padam gave Swati an opportunity to explore the finer nuances of love ,betrayal and anger.
However, compared to the last time when one saw Swati perform, this performance of hers fell short on the Nritta front. The dancer must address the issue of Anga Shudham. Feeble hand and leg stretches betray Swati's age and vigour, which is a natural gift to any young talented dancer. The execution of jatis in Krishna varnam looked deliberate in parts, creating an impression that dancer needs to build her stamina. This was worsened by certain slips on part of the dancer while synchronizing with the orchestra.
But not all was lost in the Varnam. The sancharis revealing baby Krishna's divinity and mischievousness were dramatic. Swati could do away with exaggerated expressions while enacting the role of a demon, which shadowed her other fine moments-especially the Yashodha's vatsalya for her child, who is attacked by Putna and Trinarvat. During the depiction of Trinarvat, the dancer appeared tad confused between depicting anger and sarcasm.
A quick word on the delineation of the first line of the varnam, which showed Vasudeva taking Krishna across the Yamuna river. The choreography depicted Vasudeva as being alert and aware of what he was doing, which, as per what one has read, is a wrong interpretation. During the birth of Krishna, Vasudeva was in trance. The prison gates, the rising water level of Yamuna and the appearance of the Kaalia Nag to protect baby Krishna were the creation of Maya, to help Vasudeva.
Swati was assisted on orchestra by her Guru, vocal support was by very talented and upcoming vocalist S Vasudevan. Lalgudi Sri Ganesh on Mridangam, Raghuraman on Flute and Shymla Bhaskar on Veena made for seasoned contribution.
Swati's dance is neat but lacks energy and that is why there is hope that she can pack more vigour in her recitals in future. How about trying some Complan?