Preview
BELLES
Manu Kala Mandir Indian Dance Academy
Created and performed by Kalpana Chengkalath, Punam Kumar and Joan Miles
Saturday, January 17
University Theatre (U of C)
Apart from the Manu Kala Mandir academy’s annual May production, it’s seldom that Calgary audiences are able to partake in public performances of classical Indian dance. This week, three graduates from the academy may change all that with a Bharata Natyam performance punningly called Belles.
"There is an increase in interest in this tradition," says academy founder and choreographer Sudha Thakkar. "For this production, we have a new concept and interpretation, and the performers are putting all their heads together. I am asking them to use their knowledge – take on the basics, but go beyond (them)."
Thakkar’s Bharata Natyam "basics" are not as simple as one might imagine. Originally a temple dance from south India, the 2,000-year-old ritual is extremely codified from head to foot in terms of expression. It also springs from the philosophies and poetry of the Natyasastra, Abhinaya Darpana’s treatise on dance and drama esthetics. Only after six years of intense study are graduates then allowed a debut performance or Arangetram. Their ankles are encircled with ghungharu – about 50 brass bells, weighing two pounds, which are strapped to each bare foot. As the dancer finally takes the stage (usually in a two-hour solo), the bells carry even more weight in their sound.
"The bells really accentuate the rhythms," says Belles performer and co-creator Punam Kumar. "I thought they were a great inspiration for the title."
Kumar began her Bharata Natyam training more than 12 years ago under Thakkar, who pioneered the art form in Calgary nearly 25 years ago. Kumar’s co-creators and co-performers for this show are Kalpana Chengkalath and Joan Miles. The trio is thrilled to carry Thakkar’s torch by getting more involved in the creation process. For Belles, they combine the traditional solo performance with group work and, Kumar says, the combination is enriching.
"Our training is at this point getting more complicated," she adds. "There’s a maturity now in expression and it’s more rigorous."
Rigorous indeed. Along with creating musical expression through the feet, Bharata Natyam’s intricate body vocabulary extends to various hand and eye expressions that convey human emotion. When performed correctly and precisely, the movement is then enhanced with sung storytelling, usually a legend founded in the complex canon of Hindu mythology. For Thakkar, all that codification is simply "grammar." As Kumar jokes, "It’s like getting a crash course in sign language."
"When I began, I found it challenging to stay with the dance," she says. "I didn’t have the mental capacity to train all day and come home afterwards, and even though I’m Indian, there were cultural differences being raised here (that) I had to overcome. It took me a few years."
Now, having been invited to perform at special events (such as the local première of Deepa Mehta’s film Bollywood/Hollywood last year), Kumar is seeing the fruits of her labours. She is dedicated to touring Belles, expanding Bharata Natyam’s popularity and teaching dance as well.
"There’s more and more dance leaning towards a fusion of styles, and this is such a tradition," says Kumar. "I think the challenge in the future is finding the right balance (between the two)." |
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