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NIRMALA SESHADRI
Choreographer and Artistic Director of N Dance & Yoga
Looking back, I do not regret having learnt the dance form and the
question will always remain: If I had not been forced into it, would I
have taken it up willingly? Perhaps not. But the issue I am raising here
is that of choice, or rather the lack of it. This lack of choice I also
experienced in other areas which determined and gradually shaped my
perception of myself and the world around me. There was no question
of a pair of scissors ever touching my hair; long hair was mandatory.
The bindi2 had to adorn my forehead. To marry out of caste, race, or
religion would have required immense strength and courage qualities
I did not possess at that stage. This is not a finger pointing exercise; I
am merely sharing my backdrop and the fact that the system that
governed my early life offered me few choices and, therefore, also
offered little scope to learn how to make choices when required. The
reason I refer to it as a system is that I gradually began to discover that
it was not limited to any one individual or to my personal life alone. In
the sphere of dance too, choices were made externally whether to
dance, how to dance, what to dance, what to wear. Life and dance,
reclaiming my right to choice in both spheres became more and more
intertwined. My understanding of the term patriarchy 3 became
connected to this issue of choice.
She is criticised for being vulgar, laughed at (her art is not taken
seriously and yet the male who wrote the poetry is celebrated for
centuries) or, what can be most dire for an artist, she is totally ignored.
Deviation from the norm by a woman either in her personal or dance
life is not looked at very favourably. Thus, she is never allowed to
express herself freely. This often leads to confusion and repression
and on the other side, the spirit of rebellion.
Outcaste Eternal
Photographer: Sujith Panicker
This was the first time that I was speaking on stage as a dancer. I have
always felt that vachika abhinaya11 has been denied to the dancer and,
in effect, she has been silenced. The work allowed me to explore
another facet of myself - the actor in me. In this experiment, I was
exploring the space in which the abhinaya12 in my dance form
connected with the abhinaya in theatre. In the first act, the spoken word
was used to represent the present moment (the trial) while stylised
dance movements and expressions reflected the past through
flashbacks. The concept of Goddess power and energy was also
represented through dance. Throughout the work, dance was used to
depict the subtler emotions. Seduction, a key aspect of the story, was
also handled through dance. The work addressed the dichotomy that
exists between the worship of woman as Goddess and her actual
treatment in society. My focus shifted from dancing in praise of male
deities to dancing in celebration of the female deity.
In later versions, I began to feel that I needed to delve deeper into the
poetry and its implications. Radha and Krishna have just made love.
Radha does not want Krishna to leave and she finds ways of
prolonging the moment. Reflecting on the sensuality of the verses, I felt
convinced that Radha would ultimately have enjoyed a second orgasm
with Krishna. Wasnt that the purpose of having him touch her in
specific places all over again? So I took the poem to be the interim
between two orgasms. How would I depict the orgasms at the
beginning and the end of the piece? My teachers have told me that in
this verse Radha is Swadheenapatika Nayika,18 the woman glorying in
the confidence of being the loved and desired one. I then chose body
positions and expressions which I felt would effectively convey this
nayika. Reworking this ashtapadi also shifted my style of abhinaya
and the way I taught it to my students. For the longest time, I learnt and
practised abhinaya that placed greater emphasis on the face and
hands. After working on this piece, I began to explore the use of the
entire body in portraying abhinaya without negating the face and eyes.
After all, why would a woman be sitting up immediately after making
love? Rather, it is a restful and languorous moment. After I had first
performed the piece at Krishna Gana Sabha,19 Chennai in 2004, my
daughter came up to me and said, You handled it so sensitively and
beautifully. But this is not the platform. By age 14, she had become
aware of the unwillingness of the audience to view a work with an open
mind especially when it came to sexual themes.
Radha Now was the first work in which I made changes not only in
terms of theme and structure but in the very form. In fact, it was after
Both in life and dance, I have fought one demon at a time and have
emerged stronger and more confident about living my life and dancing
my dance in ways that reflect who I am. Dance has helped give
expression to my thoughts and experiences making the intangible
tangible and gradually shaping me from a girl who did not have the
courage to trim the ends of her hair, to a woman who has found the
courage and strength to make her choices and live life on her own
terms. It has helped me address and highlight patriarchy in a subtle,
stylised and non-aggressive way which is not blatantly message
bearing. Interestingly, the same tool that was imposed on me was what
freed me and empowered me.
However, I must admit it has taken me a long time to move away from
seeking audience approval. Over the years, I have come to believe that
The women that I portray today are quite different from those that I was
taught to portray. In my opinion, the traditional classification of women
into nayikas or heroines in love is one of the most patriarchal aspects
of Bharatanatyam. I consider it an insult to women that not only has it
been assumed that their love can be fathomed and classified by men,
but that the point of reference, the centre of her love has to be a man.
Over the years I have attempted to de-classify her, to move her out of
the patriarchal nayika boxes to portray who she truly is and wants to
be: free, unfettered, intelligent, and empowered.
Acknowledgements
Notes
1. The famous South Indian traditional dance form based on the Natya Sastra, a
nd
treatise on natya (dance-drama) written by Bharata Muni around the 2
century AD. The form can be traced back to Sadir, the dance of the
Devadasi (a hereditary female dancer in a Hindu temple). The passing of the
Devadasi Bill in 1947 abolished dancing in the temples of Tamil Nadu as a
part of temple ritual. Muthulakshmi Reddys (1886-1968) call for a revival
was followed by the non-hereditary dancer/teacher Rukmini Devi founding a
dance school, Kalakshetra (1936) where she improved the dance.
8. Literally translates to You alone are the protector. The Kannada poet
Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) provides examples from mythology of Lord
Krishna (Hindu deity believed to be a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu) coming to
the rescue of devotees in distress who have been abandoned. When
humanity fails to stand in support, divinity rises up to offer ultimate protection.
10. The three Hindu religious paths are jnaana (knowledge), karma (action) and
bhakti (devotion). The bhakti movement affected dance, as bhakti brought
forth a number of poet-saints who wrote simple songs and verses full of love
and devotion to the Lord.
11. Abhinaya, a Sanskrit word, means carrying across an idea, emotion or event
to an audience. Vachikabhinaya refers to the use of words and speech.
13. First performed in Singapore (2002), as the final segment of the work
Moments in Time. Subsequently performed in Chennai. I also attempted to
perform it in Hyderabad (2003).
16. An eight-stanza song from the Gita Govinda, the famous dramatic lyrical
poem. It concentrates on the love between Lord Krishna and the cowherdess
Radha in a rite of spring. Intense earthly passion is the example Jayadeva
uses to express the complexities of divine and human love.
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17. In the ashtapadi, in the 12 chapter of the Gita Govinda, Radha says to her
lover:
18. One whose nayaka (romantic hero) is captivated by her pleasing qualities
and by the intense pleasure of love from her. He is constantly with her and
she has him under subjugation. Bharata classified the nayika or romantic
19. Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Founded in 1953), located in Chennai, is regarded
as one of the leading sabhas (performance spaces). I was associated with
the sabha from 1995 to 2006. Festivals organised at this sabha and others in
Chennai tend to be geared towards maintaining tradition rather than
encouraging innovation and change.
20. Poet Dan Ying received the Cultural Medallion from the Singapore National
Arts Council in 1996. I have presented many versions of her poem
Aspiration:
22. According to Hindu philosophy, Lord Vishnu descends on earth from time to
time, in various incarnations (animal and human) to destroy evil and to
elevate the virtuous.
23. The story of Krishna's love play and amorous dancing with several gopis
(cow herdesses).
24. Carnatic and Hindustani music are the two sub-genres of Indian classical
music. While sharing common elements, Carnatic music focusses on vocal
rendering and improvisation through compositions. Hindustani music appears
to be less tied to the structure of the composition.
26. A piece that comes towards the end of Carnatic music concerts and
Bharatanatyam recitals. It is generally fast-paced with complex rhythmic
patterns. Except for one short verse with lyrics, the rest of the song is a
series of rhythmic syllables.
27. The invocatory piece in a Bharatanatyam recital. It is also said to mean the
flowering or opening of the body and limbs, in preparation for more difficult
pieces to be performed subsequently.
28. A Hindustani raag (musical scale) sung in this work by the renowned vocalist
Bhimsen Joshi. It is a slow and unhurried composition, evoking a sense of
communion, fulfillment and peace.
Rao, U.S. Krishna. (1980). A dictionary of Bharata Natya. (p. 12, 16, 42, 66).
Madras: Orient Longman.
Rele, Kanak. (1996). Bhaava Niroopanna. (p. 36, 45). Mumbai: Kanak Rele.
Biographical Information
Nirmala has served on the Board of the National Arts Council and the
Arts Resource Panel. She also serves on the Arts & Culture Strategic
Review Committee (Ministry of Information, Communication and the
Arts, Singapore). Nirmala is the Artistic Director of N Dance & Yoga.
2011 Nirmala Seshadri In Time Together: Viewing and Reviewing
Contemporary Dance Practice 13