The 21st Natya Kala Conference - a report

This is a little late to be publishing a report on last year's Natya Kala conference, held during December 15-21, 2001, at the Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai. However, this is such a thorough and detailed report that we think it is never too late! The report is by A Seshan, Economic Consultant in Mumbai, who was formerly Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Economic Analysis and Policy in the Reserve Bank of India. He is a music and dance enthusiast and writer, who attended and took copious notes on all days of the conference.

Dec 15 Dec 16 Dec 17 Dec 18 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec 21 Wrap-up Gallery

An event that is looked forward to by rasikas in the December Music and Dance Season in Chennai (India) is the Natya Kala Conference held at the Krishna Gana Sabha. This year's gathering was the twenty first in the series. It was devoted to the theme "Choreography: The Art of Making Dances". The sessions were held in the mornings from 9.30 hours till noon December 15 through December 21. Anita Ratnam, the distinguished danseuse-cum-choreographer, was the convener for the second year in a row following the convention Although attendance was thin it was more than made up by the presence of heavy-weights in Bharatanatyam and some of the other classical Indian dances. The discussions and the question-and-answer sessions were lively and produced sparkles besides a bomb thrown by a famous dance maestro!

December 15, 2001

In her welcome address Anita Ratnam pointed out that choreography was not yet given its due recognition in India. One cannot be a fine choreographer just because one is a good dancer. A special approach is required for creating dances. She had benefited immensely as a choreographer in the last ten years.

The opening session was devoted to a keynote address by Kumudini Lakhia on "Choreography in the Indian Context". She pointed out how the preservation of cultural heritage in respect of dance had obviated the need for choreography in India all along and audiences were satisfied with watching classical dance. But we are living in a very different kind of world from when Kathak first took shape and the needs of our society are ever changing. The world is closing in on us, so to speak, and as people from different cultures and religions are interrelating through technology, migration and high-tech communication, dance also needs to be involved in the process. We are no longer living in temples or courts; hence we must make a great leap into the international arena of dance. Beyond this need to expand and explore the world , dance should be able to express one's personal emotions and thoughts. This calls for choreography.

Continuing her keynote address, the speaker said that most of the classical dance forms were choreographed at some time by the great masters and passed on to the next generation in that form thus creating tradition. But modern choreography requires the dance form to be put into a different kind of space. Instead of looking at the past we should look at the vast material available to us for a new approach. For this a base needs to be created in relation to techniques, motivation, concept of design and the dynamics of translating it into the technique. It should contain the rhythm, not just of taal, but of the universe, the rhythm of life. She recalled her pioneering attempts that were traumatic to begin with, dreams turning into nightmares, and how she got over them. She mentioned some of her choreographic works and how they evolved. In "Dhabkar", first performed in 1973, she played with speed and time. When the music was at a fast tempo the dancers were slow and vice versa. She has tried to connect Kathak to painting, architecture, poetry and literature by creating dance numbers, which imbibed the art and structure of those art forms. She pointed out how costumes in Bharatanatyam are very well designed for the body and show each movement of the dance. Unfortunately in Kathak the dancers tend to overdress and wear too much loose fabrics hanging around them posing an obstacle to movements. The role of music has been limited as time-keeper in the form of a lehara played on the sarangi although vocal music is used in the performance of thumri, bhajan or hori, where a dancer could do abhinaya. She has been able to introduce creative music in Kathak with the help of musicians who shared her concerns. The different dance ideologies of the world have started a dialogue and are now keen to appreciate and approach each other's cultural heritage. The time has come to create an international dance forum for the sharing of experiences, which can only enrich thought processes and bring the world of dance closer.

Priyadarshini Govind made a presentation on "Bhava in Choreography". She defined bhava as the physical, emotional and spiritual response to an external stimulus and limited her discussion to its choreography in padam, javali and ashtapadi. It is the manner of expression of bhava that distinguishes one dancer from another - nay, even the same dancer from one moment to another, as otherwise the hasta mudras used by different artistes are the same or similar. The goal of dancing is rasa utpatthi - the birth or creation of rasa in the audience. It is the creation of the mood or sentiment in such a manner that where the audience does not question reality and suspends disbelief subconsciously. The audience is one with the dancer. In India choreography means setting up an item. To get a result, that is anubhava, we must look at the cause that is vibhava which in turn dictates the sanchari bhavas. The vibhavas and sanchari bhavas are the prime concern of the choreographer to arrive at the anubhava of the audience. The first step is to know, recognise and analyse the vibhava, that is, the external stimulus. The following are the ingredients:
1. Poem The complete poem and the context should be known to the choreographer for the interpretations in sanchari bhavas:
2. Music. The raga used can make a difference to the stimulus:
3. The physical ambience of the performance; and
4 The kind of rasikas present.

Each of the nine rasas has different shades. For example, hasya can range from a smile to boisterous laughter. The stayi bhava needs to be established by the dancer from the beginning and remain as the underlying emotion throughout. To establish stayi bhava a complete understanding of the full poem is necessary. She emphasised the importance and power of communication (abhinaya) through eyes. The eyes are the windows to the mind and soul of the dancer. What can be expressed through the eyes cannot be done through any other limb. The rest of the body must be made to move in support of the message conveyed through the eyes. She explained the role of hasta mudras in the context of the delineation of bhava. She summed up her presentation saying that a bhava item is finally judged by its presentation - a nritta item by its choreography and presentation.

Priyadarshini's lecture was supported by excellent demonstrations at appropriate stages. It was obvious that she had completely imbibed the essence of the abhinaya school of her famous guru, Kalanidhi Narayanan. She showed effectively what she said about the importance of eye movements. There is a saying that the absence of eye movements would mean the dance of a headless body ("Kabandha Nrittam"). Her large eyes were fluid enough to convey the emotions without anyone looking at her body movements. This writer saw such beautiful netrabhinaya (abhinaya through eyes) after many years since the time of the legendary Kamala. Incidentally, he was struck at the commonality of many basics in dances of different cultures. For example, the idea that eyes should follow the hand is a cardinal principle in the Hawaiian hula dance also; it is a principle to be followed not only by the dancer but by the audience too!

Navtej Johar was the last speaker of the day. He spoke on "Tradition and Individual Talent". He deplored the erosion of physicality in Bharatanatyam due to the focus on technique. He defined physicality as the body's ability to physically sustain a process of delving deeper and dealing with and unlayering the repertoire within. He has begun to see abhinaya as an offshoot of memory - of personal memory - which holds the key to texture, resonance and meaning. Choreography is not something to be made; it is already there waiting to be unearthed. The immediate interface between the individual and his/her very personal interior is most required; an interface with tradition - with its technique and repertoire of collective consciousness - should be summoned to advantage rather than become a liability. The traditional Bharatanatyam convention has to be made to lose its authority and should be freely and creatively grafted into autobiography. An immediacy has to be established between the tradition and the body. Choreography need not be the structuring of predetermined ideas and images; rather it should be a very physical process, starting at the body level and leading on to an inward journey to jostle with memories and images that may have become opaque, fossilized and selectively eclipsed with time. In this context he emphasised the importance of improvisation. This writer got the impression that he was referring to on-the-spot improvisation by the dancer a la the manodharma sangeeta of an Indian musician. Johar's thesis seemed to be that each dancer makes a personal statement with his or her dance unencumbered by tradition - a point that many purists may not agree with. His statement that whatever he did on the stage, including rolling on the floor, would qualify as Bharatanatyam was too much for some of the natyacharyas who staged a walk-out reminding one of the proceedings in our Parliament! This writer had seen a famous Bharatanatyam danseuse rolling on the ground along with her students at a programme in the Experimental Theatre of the National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai, to portray the movement of waves. It was aesthetic. The natyacharyas who protested could have dispassionately discussed the matter from the angle of lok dharmi versus natya dharmi. Ultimately it is a question of aesthetics. The video presentation was modernistic and interesting with displays of architecture-related movements.

The following question-and-answer session was lively. This writer set the ball of controversy rolling by asking the question whether choreography was really new in the Indian context, as it was being made out to be by some, and whether the traditional nattuvanars had not done it though it was not called so in their time. The distinguished dancer Dhananjayan threw a bomb at the audience. He flatly denied any choreography done by nattuvanars who just followed the traditional route. Kalanidhi Narayanan made a perceptive statement that abhinaya cannot be choreographed. One delegate pointed out the origin of the word in Greek theatre where it referred to someone explaining what was happening on the stage. The word originated from "chorus". This elicited a comment that, if it were so, then choreography is relevant only for group dances and not to solos. One member pointed out that the Tamil equivalent of choreography is "Nadana Amaippu" ("arrangement or organisation of dance"). This did not clear the semantic confusion as the nattuvanars also organise their dance programmes looking at all aspects in presentation. The intensity of the debate indicated the need for another seminar to clarify the issues involved! This is evident from the summing up by different groups of delegates on the last day, presented later.

21st Natya Kala Conference report -> Dec 15 Dec 16 Dec 17 Dec 18 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec 21 Wrap-up Gallery