Dance abounds

When Thankamani Kutty, a renowned classical dancer from Kerala, shifted base to Kolkata, she introduced Kolkatans to south Indian classical dance styles, slowly and steadily, writes Ranjita Biswas.

The strains of Rabindranath Tagore’s beautiful composition Eki labanya filled the auditorium of Sree Thyagaraja Hall in south Kolkata where a dance programme was going on. Then followed another of the poet’s well-known songs, Viswa beena robe. And more. While the Nobel laureate’s enthralling Bengali lyrics set to his own music remained intact, the accompanying dances were in south Indian classical style, effortlessly melding into each other.

One of a kind

The brain behind the choreography of Dakhina Pabane presentation was Thankamani Kutty, a household name in Kolkata’s performing art scenario. Isn’t it difficult to adopt south Indian style of dance to Rabindrasangeet? “You see, Tagore’s songs are mainly in lasya ras. I try to incorporate lasya elements in south Indian classical dances, avoiding tandava elements when I choreograph to Tagore’s songs. This is my homage to the poet’s city, which I have made my home for the last six decades,” she says with a smile that lights up her face.

Kutty was recently conferred the Banga Bibhushan award for her contribution to the art of dance in the state. Earlier she had also won the All India Critics award (1998), the Kalaprathibha Puraskaram from Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Academy (2006), among other accolades.

At 70 plus years of age, Thankamani Kutty looks remarkably young. Thankamani says she could hardly imagine that one day she would travel from the shores of Kerala to Bengal to make it her home. “I was a newlywed, 17-year-old bride arriving at Howrah station in the 50s, and I found that young students of my husband were waiting to receive me with garlands and calling me Kutty aunty,” she recalls.

By then, her husband Govindan Kutty, trained in Kathakali in Kerala Kalamandalam, had decided to make Kolkata his work field. This was the first time that the city of culture was introduced to this dance style too. When he thought of settling down, he was searching for someone who could be his consort as a wife and a dancer.

Thankamani Kutty was then a young trainee at Kerala Kalamandalam when a match-maker approached her father to establish an alliance with Govindan Kutty. “But I was too young and busy learning how to dance well to think of marriage and asked my father for some time,” she reveals.

Thankamani’s growing up years were turbulent in many ways. Her father was a staunch Communist. It was a period when the Leftists were not looked too kindly by powers-that-be in newly independent India. In fact, many Communist leaders had gone underground to avoid arrest, as records show.

So he preferred to stay in the town of Manjari though their mother stayed in the village. Belonging to the Nair community this was not unusual for the wife to stay independently. For better education facilities Thankamani and her brother were brought to stay with their father. “Often we went to party meetings and my brother and I sang,” she remembers.

Thankamani was selected to learn dance at the gurukul of Kerala Kalamandalam at the age of 12. She went through rigorous training in Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam and performed in many places of India as part of school troupe. Coming to Kolkata as a bride made a whole lot of change in her lifestyle. She performed to appreciative audiences with her husband and also as a solo dancer. But the arrival of three sons and wifely duties often kept her away from regular performances. She also discovered something about herself — she loved teaching.

Supportive husband

Her highly successful dancer husband encouraged her innate desire and together they established the dance school Kalamandalam in Kolkata in 1968, teaching Bhataratnayam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam.

It was something new in the city and there was curiosity, but Thankamani started with a lone student who was much older than her. The numbers grew in no time as Kalamandalam’s reputation grew. Those aspiring to learn south Indian classical dance made a beeline for the school in Dover Lane of south Kolkata.

Today, there are seven branches of the school spread over the city with her equally gifted sons contributing to the sleek productions with audio-visuals and explaining the roots of many Tagore compositions based on Carnatic style of vocals. Kutty family’s work can be considered as a pioneering effort to introduce south Indian classical dance in eastern India.

Besides dance dramas based on classics like Kalidasa’s works and well-known south Indian ballets, Thankamani has also choreographed Tagore’s ballets like Chandalika and Chitrangada.

A void was created when Govindan Kutty died in 2007 but Thankamani picked up the baton, and the reputation of Kalamandalm has not waned with many students in the faculty of universities like the Rabindra Bharati; troupe performances at home and abroad are going from strength to strength as well.

There are problems of course, Thankamani admits. “When we were taught, we never imagined questioning our gurus even if the training was tough and we had to slog. Making a mistake after being taught twice was unpardonable, and you could expect a whack on your legs. Today, even parents object to a bit of scolding to the erring student. But you have to go on looking for that perfect student while trying to spread the art to your best ability,” she says.

The other thing that bothers her is the rush by many to perform on stage or television even if the preparation is not up to the standard. “Discipline, dedication and respect to the guru were things we learnt; nowadays these elements are often missing.” She also feels that aesthetics are missing in many choreographies today with emphasis on ‘shows’, and it ends up as a ‘circus’.

Her pet dream? To build an institution in Kolkata on the lines of Kerala Kalamandalam about which she had often discussed with her late husband.

Fortunately that dream is in the offing with the inauguration of Performing Arts and Research Centre, spread over 22,000 sq. ft. area in south Kolkata. Spacious classrooms, waiting area for parents, students’ hostel, accommodation for visiting artistes, resident teachers’ accommodation, a sound studio, an art gallery, a library, a museum, a seminar hall, a room for music and instruments auditorium are to be a part of the integrated institute.

“Most importantly, with the residence facility, people in suburbs or in other districts of West Bengal as well as other parts of eastern India wishing to learn the classical dance styles of south India will be able to do so,” Thankamani says.
Her enthusiasm is infectious indeed.