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.

Impaired Vision and Classical Dance

"The distance between Vedika (acting area)- front and the first seat in the Prekshagriha (auditorium) itself was 24 ft. and with the central place where the king or the chief guest sat, it could not be less than 30ft. (Natyasastra XXVII, 74 and 78-79) which was far too great for any subtle expressions to be seen. Bharata's theatre was an intimate theatre and distance did matter much."                                                                                           

Goverdhan Panchal, an eminent interpreter of Natyasastra, the  ancient treatise on Dramaturgy explains why all the important scenes were enacted in an area called the Rangapeetha (the main acting area in front of the vedika which was nearer to the spectator.)

Organizing classical dance in proscenium theatres, at huge festival venues in vast open spaces and even stadiums is like visually impairing a spectator first; and then asking him to appreciate a fantastic  spectacle. 

The chief guest and other VIPs occupy the first 4 rows after which the nuances of the classical dances are perceived progressively less; as we go beyond the privileged rows to the back of the auditorium. 

The ordinary spectator (not by virtue of his understanding of the form but by virtue of his proximity to the performance space) is lampooned for not connecting to the performance. The blame game often victimizes the spectator who actually suffers the recitals; as he misses out on the finer aspects of the dance. The dancers justify their diluted repertoires to the need of the audience which they assume is not very informed and therefore does not connect. (we discount the possibility that the dancer's skills could be suspect.) Organizers are obsessed by numbers and are mostly oblivious to the dynamics/ compulsions of staging classical dances. 

Organizers of festivals at large venues ask for huge dance troupes,  dramatic and racy choreography aided by the multimedia interventions and loud acoustics to appeal to the audiences. Synchronized classical dance movements, formations, acrobatics, the complementing light and sound show can grab eyeballs and hence is the main component of the new genre of classical dance much in demand today.

Solo performances with nuanced abhinaya (histrionic representation) which blend the delicate body language with the evocative singing can make an impact even on an uninformed spectator. He need not always decipher the language of alien gestures (hastas/ mudras) to understand the layered presentation that classical dance is. Classical dance could actually appeal to a wide cross section of the spectators and in fact it should; as rightly propounded by Bharata in his Natyasastra.

A classical dance performance has to be essentially in an intimate setting to generate the desired rasa (sentiment) apart from it being a performance of utmost skill emerging form disciplined and dedicated training.

It may help the organizers and dancers  to be a little sensitive to the spectators' needs, especially when they want to create a newer audience base and not blame the audience disconnect only on the western influences and changing times.

I cannot help but reiterate that SPIC MACAY is the only movement which has understood this basic ingredient of classical dance performances and takes the best of the maestros to youngsters in a simple and yet a comfortable and intimate setting and thus provides them with the profound experience of joy of high art.

Non Violence and Dancers

“In necessary things—unity; in doubtful things—liberty; in all things—charity.” 

Nothing could describe more aptly the need of classical dance today, than Richard Baxter's words as quoted above.

Unity, tolerance, a healthy competition (if at all artists must compete) and above all a collective vision seems to be the need of the hour of the classical dancers/teachers/students.

Bitter rivalries between dancers and gurus which pass on through their students are not new to the minuscule world of classical dance. Dance scholars/researchers today do not see eye to eye with dancers; colleagues in dance departments at universities and institutions do not work in cooperation; and the students suffer the lack of role models in the mediocre departments. Various universities do not cooperate to work for a common vision; musicians and dancers no longer form a progressive team; the divides are too many and too deep to bridge at times. 

The pursuit of the classical arts demands a rigorous discipline from the practitioners. Maybe, it also seeks from the practitioners, liberty in thought and pursuit of liberty through discovery of self. 

Charity in action, word and  spirit do seem to be the most needed. There are dancers past their performing prime (I seek forgiveness for sounding irreverent), reluctant to make way for their own students. They could be the visionaries who could teach and guide an entire generation. They could be the uniting force of the dance fraternity and take the art forward. Alas, they are busy frittering  away their time and the wealth of their art; seeking mere visibility for their unparalleled glorious statures through mere performances on stage; which no longer scintillate. 

At one national festival of dance, the inaugural celebratory dinner party for the participants and guests, saw the most shocking conversations and gossips spewing venom on competitor gurus and dancers; especially after the choicest liquor was consumed. One may accept liquor as an essential on the menu, especially among the elite who are the "karta dharta" and the stars of the classical arts;  but what comes as a surprise is the crass emotions of hate, jealousy, spite and insult. This is the world of performances, awards, titles and honours.

In the context of classical dance, prevalence of such emotions is more crass though. The very perpetrators of the exalted art would be guilty of  what Gandhi would have termed as violence (harsh words and thoughts being equivalent to violence).

Pious mannerisms of the excessive bent of torso to exhibit utter humility, the right hand being placed repeatedly on ones heart proclaiming connection to one's very soul, pulling one's ears in reverence for elders do not impress. Dressing up in regal traditional attires and rattling of sublime verses from scriptures cannot mislead one to charitably accept the shocking behaviors as a part of the mercurial artistic temperament. 

But yes, indeed there are maestros who never require the crutch of greatness to make an ethereal impact. They just touch every heart, even that of a child or an uninformed  lay spectator, that comes in the purview of their divine art into which merge their stellar personas.