JOIN USBeing different
An impeccable classical training and a very contemporary sensibility have given dancer choreographer Astad Deboo his unique vocabulary. In Kolkata recently to stage his production, ‘Rhythm Divine’, Deboo — a Sangeet Natak Academy awardee in 1996 and a recipient of the Padma Shri in 2007 — spoke about his concerns regarding contemporary dance in general and dance reality shows in particular.
“Even though contemporary dance has practitioners all over the country, there are few platforms to present it. In spite of a fairly long innings, I still don’t get too many opportunities to present my work in India. As a choreographer, I need an audience to show my work to. Since no one is inviting me, I have had to turn producer. I spend a lot of time trying to raise funds for my productions,” says Deboo.
Underneath his facetiousness lies the anxiety of an artiste who dared to step off the beaten path in search of his own identity and has had to bear the burden of being a pioneer ever since. For Deboo’s journey in dance began way back in the 1950s in Kolkata.
After classes in Kathak under Guru Prahlad Das, as a college student he happened to watch a performance by the American Murray Louis Dance Company in Mumbai in the late 1960s. The experience proved to be a life-changing one, pushing and prodding him till he crossed the portals of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance.
If a stint at the London School of Contemporary Dance and José Limón’s technique further enriched his dance language, Pina Bausch in the Wuppertal Dance Company, Germany, and Alison Chase of the Pilobolus Dance Company, expanded his horizon. But Deboo was not yet done with Indian classical forms, and his quest took him to Kerala on his return to India. It was Kathakali this time, putting its imprint upon his very eclectic style of contemporary dance.
“Most contemporary dancers in India are trained in classical forms. Their training helps them weave their own little webs. I feel that a technique of one’s own gives his or her work a distinctive signature,” says Deboo, whose choreography certainly bears his unmistakable mark, and reflects his own personal concerns. This is perhaps an important aspect of the label ‘contemporary’, which, Deboo says, is often used loosely.
In the four decades that Deboo has worked independently, he has never attempted to explore a mythological theme. Or one that a classical dance going audience is used to. He has dealt with subjects as diverse as a fashion model’s world, problems related to insomnia, drugs. The theme of death has also inspired him to reflect upon its complexity.
A question that never fails to peeve Deboo is one he is often faced with: “What does this or that work mean?” His answer is an unequivocal, “Look at the piece for itself.” He would rather tease the audience into interpreting his work and discovering layers in it than provide a simple narrative with a “meaning.”
But Deboo is also preoccupied with tradition at the same time. His production, ‘Rhythm Divine’, for instance, is his unique dialogue with the Pung cholom drummers of Manipur. Developed in collaboration with Guru Seityaban Singh, it is possible to see the work as a journey towards identity and truth, a passage from uncertainty to self-knowledge.
In the first few segments of the piece, the drummers who don’t have their drums in their hands are forced to reference them in their dance-like movements. The sawal-jawab type of interaction between Deboo and the drummers has the latter speaking the language of traditional bol cholom and Deboo responding with eloquent hand and eye movements.
In the end, there is harmony with the drummers back to their vigorous drumming-and-movement routine. One gets the feeling that a crisis has passed, a resolution has been reached and a happy conclusion has just been attained. But Deboo layers on complexities with the sound scape of ‘Rhythm Divine’ as well. Drum beats, operatic soprano, “industrial sounds recorded at a construction site”, and — most importantly — silence strengthen the narrative, bringing in disturbing overtones of the strife-torn state of Manipur.
Deboo believes that the audience for his kind of work in India is still very limited. But that is not to say that no one watches dance in India. “Shiamak Davar, Terence Hill, reality dance shows on television and Bollywood do find favour with Indian audiences. I categorise their form as entertainment and it does not grab me. On the other hand, I am saddened to see that cable channels never do serious art programmes,” rues Deboo.
In the West, however, the contemporary dance movement has the necessary funds to support experiment. “The problem there is different. The audience has become decadent now and it expects to see something new each time. This is why technology has come in in a big way,” says Deboo.
He is hopeful of a brighter future for contemporary dance in India, and recognises Aditi Mangaldas, Nrityarutya and the Gati Forum as shining beacons of the form.