Chicken Pox and Dance

This is one of the innumerable episodes from the travails of a misunderstood dance academician.

Researching on a variety of aspects of dance, especially to equip myself to efficiently execute my teaching responsibilities as a guest faculty at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU); I had often relied on videos of various dance forms sourced from across the world through friends and relatives. Being an independent scholar, I cannot afford to travel the world as much as I want to, for the purpose of studying dance. Financing one’s own studies most of the times is not cheap and free lance writing on dance in India barely pays for one's bread.  I wonder if the creed of independent scholars commands any credibility in India; a country whose academic portals at both school and college level reek of sedate and stagnant mindsets. Moreover, applying for grants from various bodies for studies in arts is an art in itself.

Even watching good recordings of dance is a delight; from the most sophisticated Russian folk dances of Moiseyev’s group to the classical ballet of Paris Opera Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet Company; or the Japanese traditional theatrical forms like the Kabuki and No which were rescued from near extinction and are now well preserved; or the most ritual dances of Sri Lanka and of course the innumerable folk and classical dance forms of India; they all constitute a wide variety.

The incident I am recounting here is from the days when I used to teach a subject, “An Overview of International Dances” to the students of Masters in the dance department at the HCU. My young children were quite used to living with a mother who was an avid spectator of dance. They made sure to vanish from the room where I was watching the videos, lest I should decide to introduce them to the forms, in a bid to enhance their cultural awareness.

Many of the dance forms especially the traditional theater, folk forms and some of the classical forms of South East Asia and also of India have their origins in the performance of various rituals and ceremonies; based on the folk religion and beliefs which are centuries old.

In Sri Lanka the pre-Buddhist folk religion was based on the belief that a variety of afflictions and diseases were awarded by certain demons, who had to be exorcised from the suffering patient; and certain deities were responsible for awarding benefits and blessings who had to be propitiated. Exorcism ceremonies and masked dramas of Sri Lanka are replete with dramatic activity that employ mime, song, dance, acrobatics, and bits of prose dialogue. Thovil ceremonies to propitiate and exorcise demons are quite theatrical.  The Ruhunu dances of south Sri Lanka have interesting masks for various demons signifying various diseases which are exorcised in a variety of Sanni rituals. The priest negotiates with the demon to leave the patient after accepting some offerings and the patient is cured once the transaction is complete. (Some of the interesting masks of the demons causing a variety of diseases are illustrated here.) 

Mask of the demon which causes Sleep Disorders

Mask of the demon which causes Stomach Disorders

Mask of the demon which causes Paralysis

Mask of the demon which causes Whooping Cough

Rhythmic and frenzied dancing by the masked demon dancers holding twigs or small branches of trees, making noises, chanting and miming symbolize the exit of the evil spirit from the patient.  

One such video of Sri Lankan dances was quietly observed by my daughter and stored in her memory for future reference. Many years later she was afflicted with Chicken Pox.  In the south Indian households Neem leaves are used in a variety of ways; mainly for their antiseptic properties and especially during the treatment of such diseases.  However people who rely on modern medicine no longer bother with the traditional treatments which have now assumed more of a blind ritualistic/ symbolic status. However when my daughter was ill, the elders at home did not rest in peace till I arranged for some Neem leaves. Our chauffeur obtained some twigs from the Neem tree in the backyard and handed them over to me. Even as I was contemplating on how to make use of the twigs, I entered my daughter’s room with the twigs with the intention of placing them somewhere; and then consult the elders on its utility.

Even though she was running a high temperature, the young lady asked me impishly, “Mother, are you going to perform an exorcising dance to treat my Chicken Pox?”

PS - Even today, in the rural areas of India, Chicken Pox is believed to be caused by the wrath of the angry local god or goddess. Frenzied rhythmic dancing holding twigs or small branches of trees, making noises, chanting and miming is often seen in the little traditions of rural India.