The Pratibha of dance

Have you ever wondered what is it that makes a dancer attractive And when one walks into a room and we look at him or her, how do we know he or she is a dancer What’s the aura all about Well the same questions crossed my mind almost 22 years ago when I first saw renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Pratibha Prahlad.

The doyenne had swayed into the jam-packed Pune Ganesh Festival venue way back in 1990s wearing a simple red and green Kanjivaram saree with minimalistic make up and jewellery. Yet all eyes — including mine — turned instantly towards her. This is when I came to know of the power of a dancer’s personality. Somewhere deep inside I dreamed of being like her — dynamic, powerful, beautiful and, most importantly, charismatic.

I had waited in a long queue like a star-struck person to greet the stunning dancer, but could not muster up the courage to talk when I got closer to her. The aura she carried was so strong that it left me speechless. This year, as my most admired dancer was finally conferred the Padma award, I had to share a few words with her. I connected with the dancing diva, who also has a stamp in her honour on a social networking site. Yes, you read it right; on a social networking site. To my surprise, the moment I introduced myself, she remembered me and said, “It’s been long. When we met you had become a choreographer. Now it’s good to read about you in news.” A dynamic aura topped with an elephant’s memory! No wonder the government of India has bestowed her a Padma Shri, our 4th highest civilian honour. We exchanged numbers and finally, after more than two decades, I had a conversation with Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee, which I had to share with all you wonderful people, so here it is.

Why did you take up Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi instead of other dance forms I grew up in Bangalore in the 1960s, where the only forms one could learn then were Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Near my home was a dancer called Smt. Sunanda, who took dance classes. I used to be at her house everyday after school between the ages of 4 and 8. I picked up Bharatanatyam naturally, and my teacher put me on stage when I was 6 years old. From her, I moved to another teacher and thereafter Prof. and Smt. U.S Krishna Rao, the doyennes of dance in Karnataka. My learning and performing was a happy, organic part of my childhood — I don’t remember what I did before dance happened!

When I decided to become a professional, I was 16 and in college. I used to go to Madras every weekend and stayed with and learnt from Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan, the grand master of ‘abhinaya’. She introduced me to Guru V.S Muthuswamy Pillai, under whom I trained for 10 years. In the afternoons in Madras, I attended the Kuchipudi Dance Academy run by Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, whose choreographies fascinated me. So, in a sense, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi chose me I did not choose them. Who is your dance idol and who do you think is the best contemporary dancer My dance idol will always be Padma Vibhushan Yamini Krishnamurthy. For one, I belonged to the generation that was inspired by her dance. When I was six, my parents took me to see her performance in Ravindra Kalakshetra. The hall was packed and I had to watch her dance perched on my father’s shoulders. My mother remarked then that I should one day be as good a dancer as her and I think subconsciously that drove me to practising like one possessed.

I enjoy watching a few younger dancers like Janaki Rangarajan, Mythili Prakash, Jyotsna Jagannath and others — but I’ve barely seen them perform 2-3 times. What is the story behind the stamp that was release in your honour The stamp story is pretty unique. I got a call from the department of posts & telegraphs one day in 2011 and the conversation was about releasing a ‘first day cover’ (for stamp collectors) with the logo of the Delhi International Arts Festival and it’s mission statement. I was super excited because in so many ways, this was the biggest honour and recognition for a festival, which was now a big brand that I had created and toiled night and day to make a reality. When my colleague went to have a one-on-one meeting with the officers, she was told that she should send a recent portrait photo of mine. She did not realise why and did as was told.

On the day of the release, which was the opening day of a fabulous exhibition of stamps and first day covers, I was told that they had decided to honour me with a special stamp of my own of `5. It took me a while to realise that I could now send letters with my own stamp on the envelope. Of course, it was a limited edition release, and I’ve keep some as a badge of honour and pride. How did you come to found the Prasiddha Foundation, Forum For Art Beyond Borders and Delhi International Dance Festival and how do you manage all of them Prasiddha Foundation started in 1990-91 as a dance organisation. I was teaching, performing and the organisation was my dance school, but it had a destiny of its own. Soon I was approached by a tobacco company to mount huge festivals of classical music and dance. Of course the company was trying to promote itself. But how did it matter when so many musicians and dancers could get a fantastic platform on which to perform So I said yes and put on a historical festival in Bangalore, which had people standing in queues to enter a classical event, hitherto unheard of in Bangalore.

The success of that event led to curating regular annual music-dance festivals ‘Sharad Vaibhava’ and ‘Eka Aneka’ for 12 years. These became iconic festivals and several artistes from Karnataka, who were not recognised at the national level, came to the forefront. In 1995, the district administration at Bellary and Karnataka Tourism partnered with Prasiddha Foundation to put up the mammoth ‘Vijayotsav-Hampi Tourism Festival’ in Hampi. I did this for three years and handed over the festival to the Karnataka government. Forum For Art Beyond Borders is a Delhi-registered NGO, which was started to organise the Delhi International Arts Festival in 2007. FABB so far only does the Delhi International Arts Festival. Though the trustees are very different in both these organisations, the office works for both as both are involved in promoting arts and artistes and preserving our heritage.

Why did you shift from Bengaluru to Delhi I decided to become a mother in 1998 and have lovely twin boys. The move to Delhi was to protect the children from unnecessary and unwanted attention and to bring them up in a conducive, normal environment.

Do you think the Padma award is long overdue I certainly do. Thank you for saying that. In fact, thousands of messages, letters, and emails I have received from people from all over the world said the same thing. It was overwhelming to know that so many people, be they high ranked bureaucrats, politicians, spiritual leaders, artistes, gurus, the artistic and journalistic fraternity and so many members of the audience that I never knew of, cared about me and my art and followed my artistic journey. I am very grateful. For me, the Padma Shri has come as a people’s award as all of them are genuinely happy and relieved that the nation had finally recognised my contribution.

You have always been in controversies, owing to your dance and connections. What do you have to say about this I try to ignore controversies. People who are small-minded or jealous tend to knit stories and controversies around a person only to undermine them and gossip. I have never had the time or the inclination to be playing small, dirty games. I wish more and more people would be straightforward and decent and stop fishing in slush and use their time creatively. I have lived my life openly and frankly and have nothing to hide. I take ownership for my decisions in life and will continue to live on my terms and conscience. Vandemataram, one of your most talked about choreographies, where all classical dance forms come together, has made headlines. How did you conceive it and why The first huge multi-style production that I had choreographed was in 2002, called Panchajanya — sights & sounds of India. It was for the first time that I worked with multiple dancers from five different dance styles and wove these styles between rhythm and melody. I worked very, very hard on the concept and the artistic direction. We had a 40-member choir conducted by Madhup Mudgal and a percussion ensemble of 30 members, conducted by Sri Ganesh. Between the melody and the percussion ensemble came the five major dance styles of India.

Strangely, some of the dancers, who had lent their students to me and who closely watched the manner in which it was done, broke away in 2004, when the government changed and did their own choreographies, imitating mine. Those were really just each dance form doing a number from its own repertoire in groups and all of them coming together on stage. I thought this was unethical and not special, but these groups managed to get prime performances and travel to many places in the world, courtesy the UPA government. So, I decided to choreograph Vandemataram — with all the 8 styles of classical dance plus the martial art Chhau. Vandemataram got a standing ovation on its debut. Never had people seen all the dance forms individually and collectively knitting a beautiful kaleidoscope of India.

We have performed quite a bit, but again several dancers and teachers have copied, imitated and done smaller versions of Vandemataram, calling it different names, and to this day perform everywhere.

Which brings me to the question of patenting and IPR of artistic works in India. We have no laws and no protection of creative works — especially in classical dance and music. Those who are ahead of the curve always loose out to others who copy and re-do the choreography. Honestly, all this pains me. You have been on the CBSE board for creating a dance syllabus, setting papers etc. Do you think India is only looking at Indian dances Today we have loads of international dance forms in our country. Should they be introduced in the syllabus The problem with India is that we have not been able to successfully teach our culture and art forms to our children. The result is obvious lack of interest and knowledge about our traditions, culture and art forms. Moreover, we have two generations now that worship anything that is western and in the movies. It is almost as if the culture of India is Bollywood.

I feel pained that we are unable to bring into the curriculum studies on art history — be it ancient, middle or contemporary. Arts management is not yet a coveted management programme or job. I strongly feel that knowledge of our art forms gives us a firm base and understanding of the diversity and plurality of our people. This should be the foundation or base.

Once a student is sufficiently informed about this, history and practice of art forms from other parts of the world can be introduced.

The student will then be able to make comparative studies and bring new and path-breaking knowledge and work into the field. But all this can happen only if people revere their cultural traditions and arts and heritage.

Pratibha means talent and undoubtedly Pratibha Prahlad’s parents named her aptly, because the Pratibha and knowledge of this vibrant dancer is totally unmatched. I would thank Pratibha Prahlad for being my Dronacharya.

I want to tell you all that I feel glad and extremely fortunate that when I was maturing as a person and a dancer, God made me bump into a person such as her, who unknowingly influenced me and helped me develop a personality that describes a dancer perfectly.

Sandip Soparrkar can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com