Attending the Nritya Parva 2018 Festival in Baroda, I was riveted while watching the young Kathak dancer Rupanshi Kashyap, who was totally immersed in the moment.Rupanshi showcased one of the most fascinating aspects of classical dance called manodharma or upaj, where the artist creates new movements or expressions that are inspired by the spur of the moment during a performance. While this aspect has been deeply analysed in classical music and jazz, this is a frontier that merits a deeper and closer study in the Indian classical arts.
Performance of a classical dance requires precision and repeated rehearsals with the vocalist and the musicians—percussionist, the leader of tala (manjira/nattuvangam) and the melodic instruments. Every performance is crafted meticulously with punch lines and is fully rehearsed. Yet, some artists veer off the practised path and create something new on the spot.
How does this happen?
To my mind, there are two aspects to this ability, and both are linked to training.If the object of training under a teacher is to merely learn items and cloned mannerisms, upaj/manodharma will not—in fact cannot—emerge. It is only when the learning is for the sake of learning, when the dance is absorbed in its entirety, when the spine is soaked in the ethos of the dance, that one is able to create impromptu.
The nuts and bolts of manodharma have to be made integral to the learning process. For example, my first teacher Swarna Saraswati never set hands for any of the traditional pieces she taught. While the pure dance adavus were set, the abhinaya kais (contextual hand gestures) were set free. Each time she would perform it, everything would be completely different. So from the very beginning, I learnt that dance can’t be frozen and static, but fluid and alive. Art lay in understanding the essence of the abhinaya and to create it for ourselves.
I had the blessing to have Guru K N Dakshinamurti offer me that freedom in the nritta part of Bharatanatyam. He would encourage me to experiment with movement saying that I should only do movements that I felt comfortable with and those that suited my persona. Change it, he would say encouragingly.It is because of this training that I am able to offer the same flex in learning to my disciples at Natya Vriksha. Now when my group of seniors performs a Varnam in class together, each one meandres to their potential. It is like watching a Varnam through the prism of a kaleidoscope; so many possibilities, so many variations with just a flick of a wrist or brow.
That is the joy of manodharma.
But then there is another requirement. Artists have to be dance-literate in the fullest sense before manodharma magic happens. Their sense of literature, poetry, music and tala has to be expansive. It is only when knowledge is deep, profound and meaningful, that playing with it and flexing the boundary becomes possible and pleasing.And that is the blessing that Rupanshi has received from her Guru, the legendary Kumudini Lakhia. What a joy it was to encounter it live.geetachandran@gmail.com