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Sarukkai makes Devi relevant today

Amrita Jayakumar

It was considered a huge risk, but eventually paid off. Last week, the Mumbai audience was brought to its feet by "Week of Dance", held at the Tata Theatre, NCPA. The brainchild of NCPA dance head Arundathi Subramanian, the event was "designed to rejoice in the art of dance in all its forms". With performances ranging from contemporary to classical, it was an intensive exploration of the many facets of dance. Speaking about the inspiration behind the occasion, Ms Subramanian explains, "The main idea was to give a spotlight to city dancers, which is why we had a smaller event in April to commemorate International Dance Day. That was well-received and so it seemed like a good opportunity to expand the idea. It was also about time that more vitality was infused into the dance scene here."

A unique addition to performances by celebrated artists Astad Deboo, Birju Maharaj and Malavika Sarukkai was a two-day discussion by eminent art historian Prof. B.N. Goswamy. One of his talks explored the theme of "Devi" as portrayed in Indian paintings, which preceded a performance by renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Sarukkai. Touching upon the countless aspects of Devi, from Shakti to Tripurasundari to Kali, the discussion and performance centered round the fact that She is ultimately Unknowable.

For Sarukkai, the event was significant for a number of reasons. "Firstly, I felt privileged to be part of the evening with Prof. Goswamy. Coming back to familiar territory was also good", she says about performing in Bombay. "Having danced at the NCPA when nothing but the Little Theatre existed, it felt nice to return after such a long gap." The audiences were evidently glad to receive her, judging by their reaction. "As a performer, you can tell five minutes after walking onto the stage whether your audience is with you. And they completely were," she says.

More importantly, she had never choreographed a piece on Devi before, and found the experience "overwhelming". "What I discovered during the process of making this piece were the different levels of energy required to invest in it. To embody, envision and create Devi was a physical, emotional and spiritual process. And being able to bring that energy through to the performance stunned both the audience and me!"

Sarukkai considers the art history discussion a step forward in the right direction in terms of dance appreciation. "What I would ideally like as an artist is a space to have some audience feedback. For those who are really interested in the thought process behind a performance, there should be an opportunity for interaction with the dancer after the concert. For example, in the case of Devi, the main concept behind the piece was that She is the manifested world and everything within it. Killing Mahishasura the demon can be interpreted as killing the demons present within our own minds. I would love to have shared that with my audience and hope to see such forums in the future at the NCPA."

Describing the research and effort that goes into creating a dance item, Sarukkai equates it with giving birth. "The process of choreographing and perfecting the item is only completed when the audience finally watches it. These are special moments in an artist’s craft: when you put the dance out to the world for the very first time. You don’t know how it will be received and when it goes down well, you feel overwhelmed. That especially happened to me with Devi."

As a dancer, what matters more to her — when an aficionado appreciates the performance or a novice? "I think that when you put enough passion, conviction and faith into your craft, the person will be moved by it irrespective of their knowledge. The power of art lies in the fact that you can’t help but be impacted by it." Kasi Yatra, Sarukkai’s critically acclaimed production was also performed at the week of dance. "While Devi was mythical, Kasi Yatra was very worldly, giving both evenings a completely different feel. Yet, both were appreciated tremendously by different audiences."

One of the motivations behind dance week, according to Arundathi Subramanian, was to build a classical dance viewership in the city. "For a while now, the classical dance scene in Mumbai has been quite low key. The idea of having leading artists like Birju Maharaj and Malavika Sarukkai perform at the Tata Theatre was to give the audience a high quality experience that they ought to have, and not a watered down version." Sarukkai believes that classical dance forms need to evolve to continue. "To me, Bharatanatyam is a language in the present tense. I will derive the structure from tradition, but I will use it in the present context."

"Week of Dance" hopes to become an annual celebration, riding on the response received this year and as Subramanian puts it, "Serendipity."