Eternal India Encyclopedia

encyclopedia Eternal India

DANCE

Gopinath's Natya Niketan, Rukmini Devi's Kalakshetra, Mri- nalini Sarabai's Darpana, Shanti Bardhan's Little Ballet troupe, Narendra Sharma's Bhumika and Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography in Bangalore are some of the institutions which have made invaluable contributions to ballet. There are some choreographers who have as in the modern dance of the West, chosen the abstract and symbolic media using the 'primary impulses of the body' for the interpretation of themes. Mention may be made of Chandralekha and others. There are some who take the combination of narrative with the extension of the classical dance movements presented with good stagecraft to project their ideas or messages. : Classical dance exponents like Mrinalini Sarabhai, MayaRao, Birju Maharaj, Kumudini Lakhia and exponents of the free dance style like Narendra Sharma, Sachin Shankar and Prabhat Ganguly are some of the choreographers worthy of mention. "Darpana Academy" at Ahmedabad, Natya In- stitute of Kathak and Choreography, first in Delhi and now at Bangalore, Kadamb at Ahmedabad, Kathak Kendra at Delhi are ballet centres to reckon, with in this sphere. THE WESTERN PIONEERS From 1906 there has been an interest among Western danc- ers and choreographers to explore Indian themes and present them in their repertoire. The first who popularised Indian themes were Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Ruth St. Denis presented dances like Radha, The Incense, The Cobras, The Nautch, The Lotus Pond. Along with her husband Ted Shawn she choreographed The Cosmic Dance of Shiva and Radha and Krishna. Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballerina invited Uday Shankar to choreograph a dance sequence called Radha and Krishna and to partner her in the number as Krishna. She was so inspired by India that she visited India along with her company to study more of the country's dance heritage. Ragini Devi, La Meri and Louise Lightfoot also kindled awareness for Indian dance both in India and abroad. Ragini Devi wrote Nrittanjali in 1928, the first book on Indian dance in English. She was also the first lady to join the Kerala Kalamandalam. Ragini Devi chose Gopinath as her partner and both performed outside Kerala. They were hailed as the harbingers of a new era in Indian dance. Ragini also was the first to popularise Kathakali abroad. La Meri, another American dancer, was influenced by Ruth St. Denis and Shankar. She Choreographed a number of full-length ballets and short dances. Louise Lightfoot, a ballet dancer, was inspired by Pavlova. She studied at Kalamandalam and organised a troupe of Kathakali dancers with Ananda Shivaram as the principal dancer. She also included Manipuri in the repertoire after studying the art from Priyagopal Singh. Louise Lightfoot introduced Kathakali and Manipuri princi- pally to Australia, New Zealand and other countries. Many danc- ers evolved a style of their own by drawing upon the rich treasure of Indian classical dance forms: among them are Sadhana Bose and Moni Bardhan. Contemporary Exponents

Among the devotional dances are the Raas and Garbha of Gujarat and the Beesu Kamsale of Karnataka in which the perform- ers dance to the accompaniment of the cymbals (Kamsale ) while singing the praises of Lord Shiva. There are a variety of dances with sticks called Kolata in the south and Dandia in the north. Each dancer holds sticks in her/his hands and wields them dexterously providing rhythm to their dance. Another intricate variety is that of using coloured cords of ropes which are fixed to the branch of the tree or a stand. The dancers hold one strand of the rope in one hand; and a stick in the other, and dance in circles weaving a plait. Then they go counter clock-wise unwinding the plait — this variety is associated with the agricultur- ists and are known in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as Jade Kolata and Pinnal Kolata respectively. In Gujarat it is known as GoufRas. Bhoota of Karnataka, Theyyam and other varieties of Kerala are ritualistic dances performed to appease spirits. The Lambadi dance is performed by the women of a distinct race (originally from Rajasthan settled in parts of Andhra Pradesh). This gypsy race adorn themselves with bright costumes and sing songs in their language, a mixture of Marathi and Rajast- hani. Garudi Gombe (doll) is a purely pro-

fessional entertaining art form of most of the districts of south Karnataka which is performed in open fields in villages during festivals and other occasions, Somana Kunita is performed in the vicinity of the temples. Hejje Mela is a special dance form resembling the Suggi dance, performed on the occasion of Moharram in North Karna- taka. Successful attempts have been made to draw out the best elements from both the classical and folk dancers of India to compose ballets and dance-dramas. A striking feature of the modern ballet is a blending of folk art with classical styles to convey the ideals of life. This is very much in keeping with our tradition set by Nan- dikeshwara that "dance is something more than entertainment... it is a means to fulfill a higher end..." Uday Shankar pioneered the cause of ballet, especially contemporary ballet, bringing everyday life closer to dance by taking up the burning topics of the day for his themes. This gained momentum when celeb- rities like Rabindranath Tagore began pre- senting operas and ballets. Some dancers and institutions took up mythological themes only for portrayal like Rukmini Devi and Menaka to name a few and insti- tutions like the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Natya Ballet Centre (Delhi) etc. BALLET -- DANCE DRAMA

Birju Maharaj

(M.R.)

Uday Shankar