Dance workshops can offer a range of experiences from dipping a toe into a new movement experience to intensive, compressed learning of performance pieces up to an opportunity to expand a student’s understanding of dance within the context of related arts. It was a pleasure to step into the middle of Pt. Birju Maharajji’s Kalashram collaboration with the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s recent Sadhna workshop and find that it was all this and more.
This first time co-sponsorship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, for the annual Kalashram Kathak workshop was a well-timed addition to their support activities for the performing arts. This annual workshop had outgrown the rented space at the premises of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. SNA facilities took the scope of offerings to another level with three venues and excellent space for lecture-demonstrations with projection facilities, good sound and room for floor-seated packed audiences. More significant is that SNA co-sponsorship meant that the teaching process of one of India’s great living treasures, Maharajji, had professional documentation from start to finish. This archival material is invaluable. One sees how he engages with each dancer individually, irrespective of the huge number of students in class, to fine tune each nuance.
One thing I loved about this workshop was the effort taken to push Kathak dancers out of a narrow focus on footwork and chakkars. This was both spoken about, eloquently of course by Maharajji, but also modeled by carving out time during the workshop for presentations relating the other arts, artists, and performance formats. The well-crafted schedule facilitated the over 100 students at all three levels: children, adult juniors and seniors, all being able to sit in on each other’s classes. The energy was palpable as students learned by watching others learn. There was even a delightful quiz programme on dance general knowledge. Alongside the dance compositions and basic training were much needed supplementary sessions on Tala (rhythm), Lehra (musical refrain marking the tala length) and Vocal (raga and poetry used). All classical dances of India integrally connect poetry with music and rhythm. A balanced understanding of these elements is essential. We all see that some teachers and students lean too far to an emphasis on footwork, which is a disservice to their disciples. It was good to know that up to 100 students made it a point to attend these sessions.
Guest speakers included Gurus Madhavi Mudgal, Shashidar Acharya and Kamalini Dutt. No one on the planet could give a better insight into Odissi dance viz-a-viz Kathak than Madhavi. Her elegant Kathak performances are etched in my mind from the days she danced with Pt. Durga Lal. I have never seen a more ethereally beautiful costume than her gossamer pink over green, introducing subtlety in Kathak costume aesthetics. With practical demonstrations using two Odissi and two Kathak students, she pointed out the core principals in all forms of dance use of body geometry. She communicated to a packed audience that, though the classical dances evolved separately, the key components are shared.
The eminent Seraikella Chhau guru, Shashidar Acharya, provided an introduction to the three major styles of Chhau, the masked Seraikella and Purulia forms of Jharkhand and West Bengal and the non-masked Mayurbhanj Chhau of Orissa. It was quite an eye-opener to the students at this well-attended presentation to learn of these genres that have evolved from paika (foot soldier) training to a sophisticated dance form, are traditionally performed by men only, and can use masks. What was simply labeled as “a talk about presentation” by Kamalini Dutt provided insights that could enable students to understand the thinking necessary, both practical and metaphysical, to rise as individual artists. She models the direct transparency we need from all gurus in sharing knowledge simply, clearly and without obfuscation. Her Doordarshan National Programmes of Dance produced and directed from the inception of the Central Production Centre are legendary archival treasures from her many decades with the national broadcaster. After articulating how much more there is to classical dance beyond displaying technique, she explained succinctly the different parameters of performing in different media, i.e. stage or television. The inverted V of the frame of vision of a camera is opposite to that of an auditorium. Awareness of which camera is recording long, mid and close up shots is also necessary. Careful planning of entering, leaving the camera’s field of vision in the lit space is critical.
Among the video clips shared was one of our CPC productions. She used this to show the advantages of television media for highlighting the abhinaya in close-up shots. Instead of bringing stage choreography straight to the television (or film) studio, we had choreographed for the camera. This meant that the trembling fingers of Malavika for a tight shot would need to have a variation created if the dance were to be repeated on the stage. Kamaliniji added that these five heroines of Kalidas were recorded over five months as we worked on ideal conditions for both indoor and outdoor shoots.
Saswati Sen, secretary of Kalashram, set up the entire workshop to provide a well-rounded experience to students and moving them toward knowing the crafts of their craft. I believe she also fitted in yoga classes, a Kathakali demo, archival films of Begam Akbar and the inimitable Kathak legend Sitara Devi as well as performances by upcoming artists.
A memorable conversation with Shekhar Sen, Sangeet Natak Akademi chairman, brought out the wonderful anecdotes of his garana history and the devotional aspect of his art to a totally packed audience. Saswati had made a point of inviting the Delhi performing arts community to the entire workshop which was made it comfortable for gurus and dance students to benefit from the discussions and demos, irrespective of style or garana.
All of this was around the core learning under the great maestro Pt. Birju Maharajji. He taught two compositions, one a beloved classic, Guru Charanam, and a new choreography for the seniors, Shri Krishn Niratat, describing Krishna’s dance lila with Radha in Brindavan. In composing the music, poetry and talam for this choreography, he chose to keep the pure dance Gat Nikas portion in the same seven beat (Rupak tal) rather than switching to the usual eight beat (Ektal). This was a nice challenge for the seniors.
Maharajji told me what he felt was different about this workshop, “Students came from near and far, Bengal, Maharashtra, many, many places, Nepal, Japan and they want to understand how the rhythm travels through your body: in your eyes, in your centre, in your neck; how the rhythm is working. I was feeling very comfortable to teach in the Sangeet Natak Akademi premises, thanks to the suggestion of Shekar Sen.”
India has many fine gurus, musicians, music composers, dancers, and choreographers, but combining so many elements, each at the highest level, is extremely rare. Besides Maharajji, my late guru, Kelucharan Mohapatra, also a Padma Bhushan, was similarly unique. Though I am not a Kathak artist, I am grateful to Shekhar Sen and the Sangeet Natak Akademi for documentation and facilitation of this very, very special workshop.
Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of Michigan. She can be contacted at sharonlowen.workshop @gmail.com
