Having devoted her life to dance and music, Geeta Chandran is an inspiring danseuse, who was recently conferred the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award for her contribution to Bharatanatyam.
Geeta says she wouldn’t trade her profession for any other, “I think in next life, I would still want to be a dancer and do a lot of things that I didn’t do in this life. Maybe hip-hop or ballet,” she laughs.
But it has been a long journey that brought her so far. The dancer started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of five. Talking about the challenges in her journey, Geeta says, “A lot of patience is required in dance because it doesn’t have a very structured ladder. You can’t tell where you would be in two years or four years. You have to make your own road. To stay on course, not compromise and practice resiliently, with values has been the biggest challenge.”
Counting her blessings, she adds, “My gurus, my students and my family have been a great support in this journey. Firstly, my parents who initiated me into this art and took me forward. Then, my in-laws and my husband who never batted an eyelid when I had to wake up in middle of the night. They accepted all the madness and the vagaries that came with this profession. The travel and the long hours of physically exhaustive work which I had to do, didn’t leave me much time. So I obviously didn’t have the energy to pitch in for many of the family events. But they were really patient and it has been remarkable in terms of family. My students inspired me constantly to teach better and to be more of a friend than a guru.”
In the era of the Web, where cultures and art forms have become melting pots, Geeta explains, “There are two things. One is we all try to maintain the purity of the art form, in terms of teaching it and in terms of practicing it. But at the same time we also like to experiment with the style. To see what happens to it when you push the boundaries, is an inner quest. The problem is arises at the point when you step out and decide to experiment. If you are not fully entrenched in your own genre and you start innovating — fusion becomes confusion. The point is to be deeply rooted in one art, then whatever you do will have a certain aesthetic quality, which will be worth watching.”
She adds, “Of course, some experiments work and some do not. You also take that risk because you want to. I would say that only at a point when your body and mind are entrenched in a style, should you really move out of it. You should know it at the back of your hand, to take it forward.”
Apart from dance, Geeta also loves nature. “I love to go for long walks, and I read a lot, specially philosophy, mythology, poetry and feminist literature. They all inspire me”
Sending a message to dancers, she says, “It is a great time to be in dance and there is an audience that is waiting for good work. So stay on track, don’t try to do too many things as that will only divert your attention and keep striving.”
