He’s a pioneer of modern dance in the country, and it’s not surprising that Astad Deboo has defied age like no one. At 64, he dances with a chutzpah that even youngsters half his age can’t emulate. With flawless skills and a flaunting elastic body to boot, this twinkle-toed performer unerringly lives up to his reputation of a staunch perfectionist at every concert he choreographs.
Unfazed by a reap of rewards ranging from the prestigious civilian award of Padma Shri to the coveted cultural Sangeet Natak Akademi, Deboo feels time isn’t up yet to hang up his dancing boots. , Deboo has extensive training in both Indian classical forms of Kathak as well as Kathakali styles. Trained in the Martha Graham dance technique, Deboo had an apprenticeship stint under the globally-acclaimed danseuse Pina Bausch of the Wuppertal Dance Company and Alison Chase of the Pilobolus Dance Company. Besides, armed with a series of stints at various dance companies in Japan and Indonesia, this indefatigable master with his magic whirls, arches, pirouettes and expressions has created a dance theatre style of his own.
“Fact is, real art is not massively popular in India. It is confined to a niche circle and caters to only a select few audiences. Trendsetting entertainers are something that cable operators cater to. The indigenous ethnic art forms, be it performing or fine arts, always struggle to find adequate open spaces to expand and unwind along the fringes. They need life-saving oxygen to survive and proliferate. And merging with the mainstream can only help them achieve that goal,” opines the exponent.
Deboo deduces with pity, that there is a definite dearth of enough platforms to be provided for staging a string of both contemporary genres as well as traditional art forms. Tirelessly staging shows, Deboo doesn’t wish to institutionalise his legacy to be preserved for the posterity. When asked if he would impart his craft through a training school or a permanent aegis of his tutelage, to this, the maverick dancer declares, “No I don’t intend to float a school on my brand-value. Period. Probably, my identity will be one day embossed in some dance books.”
One who has been working consistently and wholeheartedly for the last 44 years, regardless of it being unique and unconventional, has never failed to rehearse, redesign and redefine his craft with a painstaking passion each day.
Suggesting that in the kernel of creation, one shouldn’t stop and stagnate himself, the non-conformist further says, “I’m always in favour of lending liberty to new-age thinkers, ideators and choreographers, so that they can evolve, enhance, improvise, innovate and further develop the process of invention. Aping your predecessors and seniors won’t stand you in good stead. Having worked with a group of children with special needs and communicated to them in sign languages or collaborated with martial arts practitioners, puppeteers, actors and musicians with acrobatic adeptness in the last two decades, I am in a way constantly performing, practicing, perfecting, teaching, breaking and reforming moulds along my path. Thus, I’m indirectly passing down my legacy to a batch of next-generation learners.”
Falling in line with the ongoing 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the maestro contemplates a production to interpret the bard’s timeless classics on stage. “Apart from his songs, odes and verses, I would like to render his frequently performed famous dance-drama,” he says.