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Spirit of exploration

Interpretation
Last Updated 02 June 2012, 13:36 IST

Kathak exponent and choreographer Aditi Mangaldas is better known for infusing contemporary idiom into traditional Kathak. She tells Rashmi Vasudeva about her efforts to make Kathak relevant to the present world.

Articulation is what Aditi Mangaldas does best. Be it conveying power through her intricate footwork or grace through her fluttering hands or yearning through her wide almond eyes, Kathak dancer and choreographer Aditi excels at it all.

Little wonder then that she is equally articulate when she speaks about her passion and her art.

In a freewheeling interview with Sunday Herald, the artistic director of Drishtikon Dance Foundation spoke lucidly about the roots of her creativity, what it means to be a classical dancer in India today, her approach to experimentation and how imagination and innovation must go hand in hand for traditional dance forms to survive.

Despite her extensive training in the classical form under leading exponents like Kumudini Lakhia and Birju Maharaj, Aditi is better known for infusing contemporary idiom into traditional Kathak and using her artistry and technique to break some boundaries and build new bridges.

But mention the phrase ‘contemporary Kathak’ and Aditi’s hackles go up. “The phrase ‘contemporary Kathak’ has never sat well with me. We use it only because of a lack of terminology. Kathak is a form that has imbibed several influences from the time of its genesis… it has travelled from temples to Mughal courts to the present-day stage.

In that sense, Kathak has always been a contemporary art form; what I or others are doing now is imbibing it with newer nuances to make it relevant to the 21st century and globalise its essence,” she explains.

Her passion for what she does makes me curious about what Kathak really means to her. “I think of Kathak as a huge, revered, ancient tree with branches spread miles wide and roots embedded deep in the earth.

I think of myself as one of several gardeners who is nourishing this tree with water from different lands, thus providing it with new energies. I have watered it with yoga and Kalaripayattu and tried to give it a thoroughly modern rigour.”

Natural performer

She denies that such experimentation is a conscious decision and reiterates that an artiste cannot experiment for the sake of novelty. “An artiste is not being true to her self if she sits down one day and decides to ‘experiment’. The fakery will then show up clearly on stage.”

But when Aditi is on stage, it is not fakery but genuine skill and technique that is clearly visible. But Aditi is very clear about her goals regarding her art and emphasises that she was never satisfied with merely learning the technique of Kathak and showcasing her much-lauded footwork.

“I have always wanted to explore, use the skills I learnt to paint a larger image, fill it with colours and ultimately transform my thoughts into movement. I look at experimentation as sitting in a room with five windows surrounding me and letting the wind, the rain, the light, myriad fragrances and unheard voices in.”

I wonder whether such a free run of the imagination will hinder or help a structured project.

Does it ever happen that she is forced to rein in her ideas? “Yes, once a concept is formed, creativity has to be fine-tuned and narrowed down. For instance, in my production ‘Uncharted Seas’, we began with the idea of unfettered exploration but the final product encompassed a whole range of ideas quite removed from the original; it portrayed the search for the unknown and fused it with the search for God, touched upon the search to find love and search for freedom, to mention just a few,” she says.

Varied reactions

Shifting the topic slightly, I ask her how her contemporaries react to her experimental works. Laughingly, Aditi says that while some genuinely appreciate her work, there are others who show their admiration by imitation!

What Aditi is passionate about though is not so much her contemporaries’ reaction as her audience’s. “To be frank, when we perform abroad, the ‘exotic quality’ of India takes us a long way. But that is not to take away from the sincere appreciation we get from international audiences who are undoubtedly ready to accept and embrace Indian dance forms in their modern avatars.”

She believes that if dancers ignore the short attention span and the wide variety of choices today’s audiences have, and fail to evolve, they will be collectively responsible for “the death of a beautiful, flexible form that was always ready to adapt whenever its practitioners wanted it to.”

Aditi firmly believes the only way to evolve is to consider every performance as a journey into the unknown. “If you don’t, even the most creative of art can become a mundane, mechanical exercise.”

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(Published 02 June 2012, 13:36 IST)

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