THE ART OF DANCE

Historic India is not a country, it is a culture. And yet it is evident that no single basic Indian Culture has been developed and elaborated through the ages. Instead, successive cultural influences have fused together to form a fascinating country and an intricate way of life; but as Jawaharlal Nehru said ‘The Genius of India consists of Synthesis’. It is this genius, which has created a society with a unique social structure, philosophy, way of life and above all, art!

All arts everywhere is representative of the form that the artist impresses on life. But at the same time in India, creating a work of art itself is a ritual which is drawn from the religion-philosophical thought backing his ethos. By performing the rituals of an art, the artist not only transforms himself but also his material and the idiom. Thus, the form, ritual of performance and the ultimate transformation are simultaneous and inseparable aspects of all Indian art. This art is neither religious nor secular, but is a way of life. Every aspect of this life is incorporated in a predetermined hierarchy in which the physical, the psychological and the metaphysical concepts take their legitimate positions. The unifying force is ‘movement’. This movement is not only of the body but also of the intangible nature; where it is interpreted into measured lines and poised mass. And as is but natural, Indian dance becomes the specific expression of this ‘movement’ and through his movement[dance] the artist conveys his inner urges and deep experiences, detaching himself from his immediate personal surroundings and totally merging with the subject on hand- his art creation, his dance. It is the practice of his that leads the Indian dancer towards two ‘anandas’ [happiness] the spiritual and the aesthetics. 

Through a most beautiful and complex language of movement, Indian dance provides the most concrete manifestation of the inner state and vision and also seeks to convey the universal human emotions through the perfect vehicle of the Indian artist, the human body.

‘Whoever does not dance not know the way of life’ says Curt Sachs in his ‘World history of the Dance’.

According to Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, ‘The Dance is the Mother of Arts’. Music and Poetry exist in time, painting and architecture in space, but the dance lives at once in time and space! The creator and created, the artist and the work are still one and the same thing. Rhythmical patterns of movement, the spastic sense of space, the vivid representation of the world seen and imagined- these things man creates in his own body in the dance, before he uses substance and stone and word to give expression to his inner experiences. Thus dance breaks down the distinction of the body and soul of abandoned expressions of the emotion and controlled behavior of social life and the expression of individuality, of play, of religion, battle and drama- all the distinctions that a more advanced civilization has established. The body in ecstasy is conquered and forgotten and which achieves happiness and bliss in the accelerated movements of a body freed of its own weight, but the need to dance, becomes the thirst of life. The dancer gives himself over to the Supreme Delight of play prescribed by custom, gives himself over to the exhilaration, which carries him away from the monotony of everyday life from palpable reality, from the sober facts of his experience- thither-where imagination, fancy and vision, waken and become creative.

Captivated and entranced he bursts his earthly chains and trembling fills himself in tune with all world. ‘Whosoever knows the power of dance dwell in Gods’ cries the Persian Dervish poet Rumi impulsively. The dance inherited from savage ancestors as an ordered expression in the motion of the exhilaration of the soul, develops and broadens into the search for God, into a conscious effort to become a part of these powers beyond the might of man, which control our destinies. Here dance becomes a sacrificial rite, a charm, a prayer and a prolific vision. It is creator, preserver and guardian! The dance is a life on a higher level.

For traditional Indian artist, artistic relation was the supreme means of realizing the universal being. Art is a discipline[sadhana], a yoga and a sacrifice[yagna]. The spiritual, mental and physical discipline required in the search for complete harmony is ‘Yoga’. Yoga is adeptness or efficiency in any activity undertaken by the individual. This is the ‘Karmasu Kausalam’ of Bhagvad Gita. Yoga is the power of withdrawal of mental energy from all activity not directed towards the single end in view, it is also perspicacity of vision which enables one to see the underling unity of everything.

Accepting this major concept of Hindu spiritual and philosophical thought, the Indian dancer could not possibly regard the problem of art creation as one of giving universal significance to his own subjective experience. He is involved in a discipline for the attainment of the infinite, the Universal being in his individual self. Through his creation he evolves a state of pure joy [anand]. The dancer is indeed like a worshipper, who saw God again and again and who attempted to re-create the ultimate state of his realization through the specific technique of his art. The aesthetic experience is considered second only to supreme experience and thus is termed twin brother [ Brahmananda Sahodarah]. Having conquered all personal suffering and pain and attained this state of complete detached emotion, he presented through age-old symbols the spectrum of life only to recreate a similar state of being in the spectator, a state, in which the latter could experience however transitory the pure Bliss [ananda] of art.

In olden days, dancing was a part of temple worship all over India. Indian dance, at its best, has the most powerful means to lead the dancer, a worshipper to ‘The Divine’. The embodiment of beauty, charm and gracefulness, an artistic depiction of human heart, dedicated to the unique master. Indian dancer is a ‘nayika’- a yearning soul who realizes bliss, as she units with her ‘nayaka’- the supreme lover- the divine Lord.

To a painter and sculptor his hands are more valuable; to a poet, his hands or imagination; to a singer his voice is very precious, but to a dancer each limb of the body is indispensable. All the same, this beautiful body and the sensitive heart of the dancer create as it were an ‘idol’ beautiful. It is this creation of this idol dancer tries to personify. When these subtle emotions of a human heart are dedicated to the ‘Almighty Lord’ the idol beautiful emerges with a touch of divine luster and our feelings of appreciation are mingled with those of devotion. Indian dance especially Bharata Natyam which has originated in the temples of Shiva, in Tamil Nadu, represents India’s typical culture and high spiritualism. Pure devotion ‘Bhakti’ becomes the mainspring of Abhinaya in Bharat Natyam in its experience is ‘Immortal Bliss’. Indian dance is such a sacred art that it is known as the fifth veda i.e. ‘Natyaveda’. Four Vedas are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda, and Lord Brahma prepared the fifth Veda, Natyaveda, which gave immense pleasure to all without any distinction of casts and creed at the time of ‘Tretayuga’.

Dance is an invitation, through its musical rhythms, to the world in time and through its sculptures poses to the world in space, in which the character portrayed is living.

‘Vina tu nrtyasastrena citrasutram sudurvidam’.

In vishnudharmottar puranam saint Markandeya asks king Vajra to study the principles of dance to have the knowledge of painting.

The Hindu mind views the creative process as a means of suggesting or recreating a vision of a divine truth and regards art as a means of experiencing a state of bliss akin to the absolute state of ananda or jivanmukti [release life] whereas in other arts the human being is the subject of artistic treatment, Indian dance treats the human form as a vehicle of artistic expression and synthesizes in itself the content and form of other arts into one homogeneous, beautiful whole.

The Indian dancer is the supreme, the master of all arts, giving physical manifestation by his symbolism to the metaphysical thoughts of creating the aesthetic delight, Rasa in the beholder.

At the visual, tangible level dancing is an arrangement or pattern in space, as architecture, painting and sculpture employs rhythm. And like music, it is an arrangement in time employing rhythm in both the sphere- audible and visual.  

- Dr. Swati Daithankar

   

        

Swati Daithankar is a renowned Bharatnatyam dancer. She is a double graduate from the University of Bombay, in English literature as well as Bharatnatyam. For topping the University with distinction in Bharatnatyam under the able guidance of Dr. Mrs. Kanak Rele, she is honoured by prestigious Sir ‘Nageshwar Rao’ Award and National Scholarship. In 1999, she received “NrityaAlankar” from Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyalay aMandal. For 2000-02 she secured National Fellowship for “Yoga and Bharatnatyam” from Govt. of India. She has performed in major Dance Festivals in India and abroad; namely Europe, USA and Singapore for several times. She is a graded television dancer .HMV Saregama has released her dance VCD- “Rajas Sukumar” based on Marathi Devotional Songs in international market. Her DVD’s “Maargam” is released by Neeelam at USA. Her latest DVD “Dance Dimension” is released by “Fountain Music Company”. She is a recognized faculty of dance in Gandharv aMahavidyalaya, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth and Pune University. “Nupurnad Academy of Music and Dance” is her brain child; which is successfully pursuing the horizons of classical dance,   namely Bharatnatyam!