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

December 19

Veenapani Chawla, one of the famous exponents of experimental theatre, spoke on "Choreography in Theatre". Unlike in the case of cinema, presence is the only reality in theatre. The former accommodates every reality except the presence of the actor. The predominant behaviour of dance is movement. The other arts are conscripted by it only to serve this significant behaviour. In theatre the other arts employed are fundamentally there as signifiers. The moment dance is willing to admit a plethora of other arts as varied signifiers into its behaviour it crosses over into the realm of theatre. She cited the example of the theatre of Koodiyattam where music is the signifier, the most significant element of which is rhythm. Its function is not merely to support the performer but to suggest images, emotions and events that are not conveyed by her movements on the stage. Thus the case for the role of choreography in theatre rests on its being employed as a signifier. Theatre recognises three kinds of spaces - the inner psychological space of the performer, the external real space and a larger cosmic space. Arranging for the performer to relate to these spaces in a meaningful way for a shared experience with the audience is the essence of choreography. Koodiyattam deals with these three spaces through mukha abhinaya, which expresses the most intimate inner space, through mudras, which communicate to the objective space shared with the spectator and through vachika, which fills the cosmic space through sound. The demonstration relating the three spaces in Koodiyattam and Nangiar Koothu was interesting. The fingers of the performers on the panchamukha vadyam and mizhavu literally danced on the drums. The large expressive eyes of Usha Nangiyar clearly brought out the points made by the speaker.

The day's session ended with a talk by Lata Pada on the topic "In the Further Soil: Choreography in the South Asian Context in Canada". ("South Asian" refers to the people and cultures originating from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangla Desh including their diaspora in North America, East Africa and the Caribbean.) She said that the early years of Indian artistes in Canada were devoted to the preservation of cultural identity within the mainstream of a multicultural and pluralistic society. Dance and music were regarded as vital links to a cultural heritage to be guarded and preserved at any cost. Added to this was a sense of nostalgia, on the part of the first generation of immigrants, which encouraged the performance of the familiar traditional dance compositions. Any experimentation was generally not met with enthusiasm as it was seen to dilute the very essence of what they perceived as being classical. Teachers and choreographers who established academies for Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi had to struggle with the removal of the myths and misconceptions associated with what was often termed as "ethnic dance". In a quest for acceptance in a diverse, multigenre dance milieu, practitioners of South Asian dance were often forced to a self-definition, viz., "classical and contemporary". They did not see this as a mutually exclusive distinction; instead they saw their classical traditions as a springboard for innovation and experimentation. While preserving the artistic integrity of their dance styles in thematic content, techniques and choreographic principles, some artistes introduced modifications, incorporating Western theatrical and production values in lighting, set design, etc. There was also a surge in experimentation and inter-cultural works. Fire Dance, in which Kathak dancer Joanna Das and Flamenco dancer Esmerelda Enrique participated, Land of Cards by Menaka Thakkar and a coming together of Indian classical dance, ballet, Afro-Caribbean dance and Chinese dancers, inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's Tasher Desh and Dougla - a collaborative effort by Lata Pada and Trinidadian choreographer Ronald Taylor - are examples of cultural convergences. She referred to the problems faced in earlier years in getting grants for financing choreographic works due to the lack of understanding of the arts by the local agencies . In recent years one has seen a noticeable and positive shift in the support towards the creation and restoration of classical works. Pointing out the critical absence of the artiste as an integral part of society she pleaded for a sense of urgency in integrating the voices of artistes into its fabric. She referred to the pioneering work done by others like Rina Singha, Janak Khendry, Anjali (Ann Marie) Gaston, Jai Govinda (Benoit Villeneuve), Roger Sinha, Hari Krishnan, Natasha Bakht and Nova Bhattacharya. Challenging and abstract philosophical subjects have been explored in productions like Upanishad. Concluding, she said that in the continuum of classical and contemporary dances a distinctly Canadian identity has emerged, infused with confidence and self-assurance. South Asian dance has not only taken roots but now bears fruit in "the further soil".

The video presentations were good examples of the pioneering work being done in Canada. The most interesting item was Lata's autobiographical piece Revealed by Fire dealing with the heart-rending story of an artiste in the bloom of her life experiencing the perishing of her husband and two teen-age daughters in the crashing of Air India's Kanishka in 1985. Having come to terms with the reality flowing from the tragedy after 16 years she sought to demonstrate that dance has the greatest value when it engages, in a deeply personal and meaningful way, with its audience. Based on her life story and the central theme of transformation through tragedy she realised that in the telling of her story lay the key to understanding universal archetypes. Besides being successful with sold-out shows it received critical acclaim by being named as the most important Canadian dance production in 2001 by Michael Crabb, a leading dance critic of Canada. After the horrendous events of September 11 she has had many invitations to speak on the transformative and healing capacity of dance. There was no mushy sentimentalism or self-pity in the production. The moving images as a background to the dances, the scenes of childhood, the enactment of Saptapati ( a Hindu wedding ceremony), etc., were all poignant memories of the artiste and her attempt to establish her identity. One recalled Wordsworth's definition of poetry as "emotion recollected in tranquility".

This writer asked Lata as to whether by undertaking exotic choreographic productions she was in danger of moving away from her classical moorings. She said that it was not so and that she continued to give pure Bharatanatyam dances of the conventional type. Still this writer wondered whether there could be an imperceptible and indirect influence of experimentation on the traditional dance patterns in the case of any classical dancer.

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