Yashna is an eleventh-grader in a posh South Delhi school. Three days a week she attends the advanced level of Odissi dance class taught by her Guruma. At a time when salsa, tango and ballet are riding the wave of popularity, how are classical dance forms retaining their position and appealing to youngsters? “Classical dance forms are just timeless. Owing to constant reinvention of content and presentation, they retain their superiority,” says Yashna.
On International Dance Day, we talk to classical dancers on how the tradition of Indian dance has withstood the test of time, and stepped up to suit the new generation.
While the basic grammar is sacrosanct, the presentation techniques in classical dance are being reinvented to keep in sync with the times.
“Lighting is something I have experimented with as early as in the 80s. I remember choreographing a recital that just highlighted footwork through the play of lights. It was experimental, yet stuck to the basic grammar. Personally, I love performing to live music. But many young dancers are performing to recorded music as it is convenient and financially viable,” says Kathak exponent Shovana Narayan. She is confident that a good artiste breathes and lives her art and therefore it is constantly impacted by whatever is happening around.
Pushing the frontiers and juxtaposing modern styles with the classical has always appealed to Bharatnatyam danseuse Geeta Chandran. She informs, “I love including theatre in my choreography. My latest production on Gandhi has a lot of theatre in it to create drama. It helps in enhancing communication with my audience and involves them even more.” But having said that, she is quick to add, “I love to perform the traditional margam in Bharatnatyam completely.”
Dance guru Sonal Mansingh feels that Indian mythology, which appears as the most common theme across all classical dance forms, is relevant in contemporary times. She elucidates, “Radha is a grand image but she’s a personification of love without which there is no creation. In our male-dominated mythology, the image of Krishna at the feet of Radha, begging for her love is quite refreshing in an era when women’s empowerment wasn’t much talked about.”
Young Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Reddy feels that the present generation of classical dancers are equipped to experiment with themes and designing, owing to exposure to various cultures and living in a cosmopolitan environment. “I have performed Kuchipudi to an English song and often experiment with moves to western music. We have even tried using Urdu poetry and music. Traditional Kuchipudi is only performed to Carnatic music. So we have gone beyond the usual,” says Reddy.
Her views on exposure and scope are resonated by young Odissi exponent Shagun Bhutani. “The other day, I found two of my students discussing what they loved about a certain YouTube video of Geet Govinda. I was so ecstatic that they are actually getting to see such things. In an era when salsa, tango, etc are getting most popular, many youngsters feel that classical dance is different and exotic and quite cool,” sums up Shagun.