Imagine pretty Mohiniyattam dancers swaying and dancing to Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake in traditional costume and jasmine in their hair. A far cry from the angelic ballet dancers, who pirouette and cut perfectly straight lines in their tutus and pointed shoes in a classical ballet, Mohiniyattam danseuse Vijayalakshmi made heads turn with this production where she choreographed traditional Mohiniyattam to Swan Lake in 2005. Now, she has another ace up her sleeve with Carmen, a 3D film directed by Sara and Urs Baur, shot exclusively on an Indian danseuse. Another documentary Beyond Grace has been shot featuring the dancer and her mother.
“Both have been such wonderful opportunities. Carmen was an interesting project because I was extremely comfortable with the team and when such a chance came across, I simply couldn’t refuse. It is a contemporary project and the concept is interesting. It is important as an artiste to re-interpret traditions. I’m very ambitious when it comes to Mohiniyattam and this was a unique approach to Indian classical dance. The idea of art meeting cutting-edge technology appealed to me. We’ve set high production standards and the entire production was shot in a day at the Metabolic Studios in downtown Los Angeles,” she says.
The idea of Carmen appealed to Vijayalakshmi, as it shows the dancer going beyond being an object of beauty for man, and finds her own strength. “We also have unique music composed for the film that brought forth another challenging dimension together and tied it all together,” she says.
Directors Sara and Urs Baur have also played an instrumental role in helping Vijayalakshmi adapt to the role. “Sara had made a documentary on my guru and mother few years ago. Before this, she had shot another film on my mother, my daughter and me. It was quite a rare feat then as it was taking three generations of classical dance to the world,” she explains.
The dance fraternity took notice of Vijayalakshmi in 2005 after her classical take on Swan Lake went into production. “I was always fascinated by the original concept and music. In 1987, when I toured the USSR extensively with my guru, I saw the Russian culture and soaked in all the classical traditions, music and dance. In fact, this musicologist who travelled with us initiated me into the Russian culture and that’s how I was enraptured and mesmerised by the ballet. I didn’t realise that 20 years later, I would be choreographing it in Mohiniyattam. Swan Lake is very intense and haunting. It is lyrical and evocative, but it doesn’t have that rhythmic pattern that Indian classical dancers are used to. Since I have been extremely comfortable with its music over the years, it wasn’t much of a challenge to adjust to the music from the West. Moreover, there are similarities between the classical ballet dance and Mohiniyattam in terms of the white costume, the fluidity, the grace and beauty,” she adds.
Initially, Vijayalakshmi met with a lot of criticism and scepticism from people around her, including her own guru Bharathi Shivaji. “My guru was horrified when he came to know what I was attempting to do. Till then, we had done only the usual items from the repertoire. But I wanted to get out of the comfort zone and experiment with something new and Swan Lake was always at the back of mind. So finally I took the decision and decided to face the brickbats and criticism that would come along. By God’s grace, however, it all fell in place and the audience loved it. The high point was being invited to the Bolshoi Theatre and performing it there. So I’m glad we pulled it off,” she elaborates.
With Carmen, she is glad she ventured out to try something new once again and shot a film in 3D. “I’m really looking forward to the response to Carmen. It will hopefully take the story of Indian classical dance ahead in evolving times like these,” she concludes.