An Indian Analysis of Aesthetics- The Dance, the Dancer and the Spectator

Here is a peep into my first ever book.

What is it that makes a dance beautiful and what is the mechanism of reacting to dance in a spectator? Where does the onus for relishing aesthetic pleasure lie and how does it come about? These are the questions, which receive attention in my book.

Some of the best known critical-aesthetic thoughts and theories right from the ancient Greco-Roman philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Longinus, and Augustine, the ancient Indian aestheticians like Bharata, Anandavardhana, and Abhinavagupta to the much later Japanese aesthetician Zeami, and the later European theorists like Kant and Brecht, are discussed in the book and it is pointed out that they all speak of an element of the metaphysical in art.

Indian Dance and Music in the traditional classical format are ingrained in the psyche of every Indian as 'divine'. This nature of dance encompassed the myriad aesthetic theories on the existence of beauty in art, its universal nature and its portrayal that lead the spectator to experience the sublime. The ‘divine origin’ theory of Bharata in the Natyasastrawas propounded as a proof of the divinity inherent in dance. The excessive usage of pious vocabulary with reference to dance by one and all, its metaphysical content and the realisation of bliss as a spectator of dance is not uncommon. The primary Indian aesthetic theory ‘Rasa Sutra’ does not offer any explanation as to how the ‘aesthetic relish’ experienced is next only to the supreme divine bliss, brahmananda. It is also limited in the explication of the process/mechanism of its attainment in the spectator. While it applied to the poet, choreographer and the dancer and the process of production of the theatrical spectacle, the enumeration of the process of the reception of the beauty of the performance and attainment of aesthetic relish by the spectator did not receive much attention.

However, Abhinavagupta in his commentary on Natyasastra, the Abhinavabharati, does offer some insight into the subject. What is it that the spectator undergoes or ought to undergo in attaining the aesthetic relish? Can such aesthetic relish ever be equivalent to the supreme divine bliss of brahmananda, if at all such an experience is definable and is a possibility?

K. VasudevaSastri’s book on SangitaDarpanam, a 17th century treatise on music and dance, in an appealing section—sariraviveka—in its very first chapter, and the SangitaRatnakara  both describe a subtle metaphysical apparatus in the human body in the context of perception of dance and music. This, I think constitutes a theory or mechanism of spectatorship. Sariravivekaboldly proposes the presence of a metaphysical apparatus in the human body consisting of a primordial energy and an assortment of energy centres, which together appear to be an instrument for perceiving the essence of music and dance. This section of SangitaDarpanamaddresses the theory of spectatorship and thus contributes to the historiography of spectatorship.

Sahaja Yoga, a form of meditation propounded by Dr. NirmalaSrivastava, known to her followers as ShriMatajiNirmala Devi, has a vast body of research in medicine on the apparatus similar to the one described in the section sariraviveka in the treatise SangitaDarpanam.The subtle body similar to the one described by sariraviveka in SangitaDarpanam has been amply elaborated by the late U.C. Rai, an eminent physiologist of India in his book “Medical Science Enlightened —New Insights into Vibratory Awareness for Holistic Health Care” is of significance here.  He has explained the working of the metaphysical apparatus in the body and has supported it with research on Sahaja Yoga. Rai’s findings are collated with the apparatus described in the sariraviveka.

The book tries to examine the philosophy wherein the fine art over the ages has been propounded to have a ‘metaphysical’ aspect. An examination of various theories is to suggest that the age-old primary aim of the artistic process is not a mere expression of the self, as is popularly asserted by artists today. It is about relating the artistic process to self and striving for the elevation of the self by both the artist and the spectator. Fine art and its aesthetics have ever been intimately connected  with beauty, morals, ethics, spiritual uplift, education, and daily living. It was not seen merely as a skill or a knowledge intensive entertainment tool that happens to portray higher values and morals or merely as a tool of ritual in its religious context; its core purpose was always the discovery of self through the perception of universal truths.

The book stresses that an aesthetic theory ought not to focus only on the nature of art and its basic and formal principles but should also address the mechanism of the perception of beauty or the attainment of ‘aesthetic relish’ by the spectator.

It is generally argued that one cannot understand the classical arts without being thoroughly educated in the several forms and genres and acquiring a good knowledge of the fundamentals of aesthetics. Without being thus equipped, it is claimed that one cannot know what to look for in the high art of any ‘Great Tradition’. The book accepts this argument in the case of a scholar, teacher, performer and writer of art, but declares it incorrect in the case of a spectator.The book argues that one can lucidly perceive the arts even with a minimum of empathy and open-mindedness to one’s culture and with only a little knowledge about artistic pursuits. The indirect, implicit, and the universal in the arts portrayed successfully can be perceived, appreciated and even understood by the most ordinary of viewers through the innate subtle mechanism with which humans are equipped. This is the thrust of thought contained in the concept of sariraviveka. Thus this book proposes that the most highly encoded art can be perceived and appreciated by the most ordinary of viewers through an innate mechanism that all humans are equipped with.

The book also examines the various classical dance forms of India and dwells on the salient elements in their form, technique, and repertoire and also the content that contributes significantly to the important dimension of the experience of ‘the sublime’ through the art form.