When I first heard that Uday Shankar's early dance partner Simkie choreographed the famous dream sequence in Awara (Hindi, 1951), I was quite surprised! That song and dance sequence is one of the most iconic and well-known from the "golden era" of Hindi cinema. But the real eye-opener was seeing that Simkie's choreography is taken straight from the Uday Shankar playbook as evidenced by the dances in his 1948 dance film Kalpana (which we can now watch in fullthanks to Pad.ma!). A few sources had mentioned the influence of Kalpana on Awara's dream sequence before, but now we can see the evidence for our own eyes. And what an influence; it's direct and unmistakable!
Awara's dream sequence is comprised of three segments filmed in three different spaces which Gayatri Chatterjee in her National Award-winning book Awara sees as representing the "Earth-Hell-Heaven triptych." "Tere Bina Aag Yeh Chandni" is the name of the song for the first two segments (earth and hell) though some have listed the second hell segment as a separate song "Mujhko Chahiye Bahar." "Ghar Aya Mera Pardesi" is the song for the last segment (heaven).
The "Earth" and "Heaven" Segments
In the first and last segments, the dancers' graceful side-to-side movements, arm postures and trajectories, and hand gestures are clearly directly inspired by Shankar's choreographies especially Kartikeya and Rasa Leela (click on the links to watch them in Kalpana), and these movements are echoed in the "dancing" by lead Nargis as well. The arm movements the dancers are performing at the beginning of the clip below be seen in Amala Shankar's Manipuri dance, and the spins at 6:24 are also seen identically in Kalpana in a few places.
Left: Awara Right: Kalpana Could it be any more obvious!
Instead of doing a comparison video, I've displayed the dream sequence videos below and linked to or described the inspirations in this post. The first segment runs til 1:07, and the last segment starts at 2:46. Note: The official clip below leaves out the two-minute introduction featuring some imaginative set design and the introduction of the dancers; the whole dream sequence in its entirety can be viewed here.
Now that Uday Shankar’s dance film Kalpana (1948, Hindi) is easily viewable at Pad.ma, Shankar's dance style can be better analyzed and understood. While much has been written and theorized about Shankar’s dance based largely on written and photographic evidence, video is really worth a thousand words and photos! No longer must visual evidence of Shankar's dance be the purview of a tiny sliver of dance scholars (and lucky residents in India!) allowed private screenings while conducting field research. First BritishPathe allowed us glimpses of Shankar's early choreography, and now Kalpana has come to light for the general public to see a wide array of Shankar's works.
After watching Kalpana, I was immediately struck by how varied the dances were: simple folk dance, Kathakali-based creative movement, classical dance, and modern dance based on social themes! I'll be writing more on my overall thoughts of Shankar's dance and legacy as a whole, but in this post I want to focus on the Kathakali-based dances.
I was very surprised at how much Shankar's style was influenced by the postures and movements of dance forms from Kerala, particularly Kathakali. I had read some references to Shankar's connections with Kathakali guru Shankaran Namboodiri and his teaching at Shankar’s dance center, but I didn’t realize the extent to which Shankar's dance style from his middle period was based in the dance form. I also didn’t realize until recently what “pure dance” in Kathakali consisted of given its seeming emphasis on narrative, and I couldn't find any visual teaching resources or books that had something comparable to "adavu" guides for Bharatanatyam.
After consulting Phillip Zarilli's enlightening book “Kathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play,” I learned that among the categories of proper dance movement in Kathakali there are two lengthy “pure” (non-interpretive) dance pieces traditionally performed “as part of the preliminaries before an all-night performance,” the Totayam and the Purappatu. The Totayam “includes all the basic non-interpretive elements of performance techniques, including foot patterns, body movement, use of the hands, and keeping time to basic rhythmic cycles,” and the Purappattu is more advanced in terms of technicality and hand gestures. Clips on YouTube of these dance pieces make evident the similarities to many of Shankar's dances in Kalpana; here are clips of portions of a Thodayam and Purappadu.
It wasn't until I made an additional awesome discovery that I really understood the connection between Kathakali and Shankar's dance. First, I found this four-part Kathakali lecture-demonstration hosted by the Keleeravam Kathakali Association as part of its “Kathakali For Youth” series. While the lecture portions are in Malayalam only, I found the dance demonstrations by Ettumanoor Kannan mesmerizing especially when the camera focuses in on his abhinaya and the careful attentiveness of the musicians. The facial control in Kathakali seems unparalleled!
But it was the videos at Mudrapedia that were a goldmine find! Much like the Indian Classical Dance videos produced by InvisMultimedia, Mudrapedia features seasoned Kathakali dancers in practice costume front-lit against a black background for clear viewing. Most of the videos are short segments of hand gesture usage in pure dance segments that seem broader than my understanding of the term "mudra" and closer to the unit of dance known as an "adavu" in Bharatanatyam. Zarilli notes that mudras in Kathakali are highly codified and while many are "purely decorative" while dancing, others are used to "literally speak the text" and "some patterns, like descriptive mudras, involve considerable movement through space." Unfortunately the videos do not have descriptive titles or information (the Mudrapedia website appears to but I don’t understand how to navigate it), but I still had an enjoyable time browsing through them and getting a better sense of the "canon" of a part of Kathakali dance movement. What a rare visual resource, and finally something for those of us who are outsiders to the form! There are a few lengthy videos posted, such as the solos Keezhpadam Ashtakalasham and Sari Nrittam (the "Sari Dance" that Zarilli notes is used for the entrance of female characters), and the group dance Nisacharendraa Vaada. I hope that the videos become better organized with explanatory information in the future.
As I was browsing through Mudrapedia I kept saying to myself “Hey! That’s like the move Uday Shankar did in Kalpana!” so I gathered these examples together and used YouTube’s video editor to join the clips (Mudrapedia has posted its videos under the Creative Commons license, just like Pad.ma, yay!). Here’s the compilation for your viewing pleasure! Note: The Kathakali portions are a bit loud, so make sure your volume isn't turned up too high.
Kathakali Inspirations in Kalpana – A Visual Comparison
My impression from watching Kalpana and making the compilation above is that Shankar took generalized movements and postures from Kathakali but did not incorporate any of the specific, stylized and codified features: facial and eye movements, sharp movements and powerful jumps, or the characteristic side-of-the-feet stance or raising of the big toe (edit: I see that Shankar does raise his big toe!). I definitely did not see, at least in Kalpana, that characteristic back-and-forth mudra that I always see in films whenever a "Kathakali" dancer is present (it's the same one Vyjayanthimala tries to evoke in the Hindi film Prince). Shankar softened Kathakali into graceful curves and expressions reminiscent only of the shadows of their origin.
While browsing through the rest of the Vedhala Ulagam videos after my post about Kamala's peacock dance, I noticed that tucked in the middle of the clip "Sarangapani Sees Maharaja's Statue" was a classical-esque dance by a woman I did not recognize. Rereading Randor Guy's write-up of the film revealed that in addition to Kamala, Lalitha, and Padmini, Tara Chowdhary also had a dance sequence. I knew I recognized that name from past researching but I couldn't remember why. Another Randor Guy article revealed that Tara was "a classical dancer who was active in the field and danced in quite a few Tamil films of the bygone era. Today she is hardly remembered even by the dancing community in south India!" I was initially going to do a post just on this (for my research on Tara see the section "More on Tara Chaudhury" near the end of the post), but then I made an awesome discovery!
As I googled different spelling variations of Tara Chowdhary's last name (which I'll use throughout this post), I found another rare discovery: footage not only of Tara Chowdhary but also Guru Gopinath dancing in the Soviet Union in 1954! And the video also features a young Ravi Shankar! Further searching of the site also turned up additional footage from the same 1954 event as well as 1967 footage of Indrani Rehman dancing! Holy cow!!
Guru Gopinath was originally a Kathakali dancer who created the dance form "Kerala Natanam,"
a simplified and more accessible style of Kathakali with many
innovations. He and American-born dancer Ragini Devi formed a touring
duo that "was the first professional effort in India to popularize Kathakali outside its home state or setting." While I once posted about Gopinath dancing in the Telugu film Mayabazar, I don't think video of Gopinath dancing outside of films is easily available, so this is quite a rare find. And the footage of Indrani Rehman is a coincidental find because she was the daughter of, guess who, Ragini Devi!
The website that houses all these treasures is Net-Film, an online "professional digital footage archive" of the "Russian Central Studio of Documentary Films, the oldest documentary film studio in Russia." The archive contains "21,000 items of documentaries, newsreels, arŅhival footages, rough shootings etc." from the late 1800s to today, and the descriptions are available in English. Basically, it's the Russian version of BritishPathe! Given India and Russia's history of friendship and exchange (previously discussed in my post about Indo-Soviet cinematic ties and coproductions) and the interest Russians still maintain today in Indian dance, it is no surprise that the Net-Film archive has some fantastic and rare footage of Indian dancers visiting the former Soviet Union!
Masters of the Indian Art (1954)
Before I discuss the video footage below, here's a link to the webpage it is housed on (or click image below) so you can get it playing. The site is a bit finicky; sometimes the net-film graphic shows instead of the video even after hitting the play button. If you have any trouble, simply scroll to the bottom, click on "download links," and click on the .mp4 file to download the video for free!
Click image to link to video page
What rare footage this is! This 39-minute video documents the Indian Cultural Delegation of musicians and dancers sponsored by the Government of India who visited and performed in the U.S.S.R., Poland, and Czechoslovakia in 1954. According to a government report, the 1954-55 year saw a number of cultural and scientific exchanges between India and the U.S.S.R. as part of an effort to develop "cultural and economic relations with the countries of Eastern Europe" and "promote understanding at a popular level in both countries of each other's achievements." The Delegation was headed by Mrs. Chandrasekhar, India's Deputy Health Minister, and according to the video's description included the dancers Guru Gopinath and Tara Chowdhury, singers Asa Singh Mastan, Mira Chatterjee, and Surinder Kaur, musicians Ravi Shankar, Gian Ghosh, Keeshan Maharaj, and All India Radio Director Mallik. It is clear from the video that other unnamed dancers (Manipuri, Naga) and musicians were part of the Delegation too.
The Indian dances in the videoare (most take place in the famous Bolshoi Theatre):
7:11-9:07: Guru Gopinath performs three short mimetic dance pieces which the description identifies as "water," "elephant," and "combing the hair."
11:04-12:55: Tara Chowdhury performs a Bharatanatyam Alarippu.
18:50-20:12: Dance demonstration exchanges. Russian ballerinas perform first, then at 19:22 two female Manipuri dancers perform and at 19:29 Tara Chaudary gives an abhinaya demonstration.
22:38-23:42: Naga tribal dance by four dancers.
32:18-33:47: Manipuri Pung Cholom dancers who end with an exciting rhythmic interplay.
34:09-36:10: Tara Chaudhury performs a Bharatanatyam Thillana.
Note: According to a glowing Soviet review of Chaudhari's performance, she also danced a Kathak number, but it is not found in any of the event footage (though she can be seen in her Kathak costume).
Screencaps from the dances (and Ravi Shankar in sunglasses :D ):
But the most exciting random find was a new Kamala dance I've never seen or read of before: her four-part sculptor-deer-PEACOCK-dancer extravaganza in the 1962 Tamil film Sumai Thaangi! Yes, the Kamala peacock dance that a commenter had mentioned a while back exists! Many a dancer in Indian cinema has done a signature "peacock" dance (see this post/comments at Richard's blog for a great collection), but until now I never knew that Kamala had one as well.
Sumai Thaangi (aka Sumaithangi, 1962, Tamil) - "Malaiyai Padaithavan" - This is not your standard Kamala dance number! Kamala's dancing portrayal of a male sculptor is brilliant and lifelike, and the rest of the number supposedly depicts the effects of the enchanting deer and peacock sculptures on Kamala who reacts with a joyous dance. It's the most unusual and quirky of Kamala's film dances that I've seen, especially as she jumps, prances, and rapidly spins in deer costume (with deer mudra) to sound effects! The peacock dance is introduced with a beautiful shot, and the musical orchestration is appropriately splendid. What a dance number! According to online folks, in this song Gemini Ganesan is trying to win his female companion (Devika)'s affections—I wish the song spent less time cutting to their annoying banter and stayed focused on the important part, Kamala! The camera gets quite shaky at times too, but the print is so lovely and well-preserved. Good job AP International for actually knowing how to properly encode and size video uploads! 1962 was the year that Kamala's big dance film Konjum Salangai released, and it was also the same year she divorced her first husband R.K. Laxman at age 28, so in adding this dance number to the mix 1962 was quite a year for Kamala!
Yes, us wee Intermountain West inhabitants don't get to see very many live performances of Indian dance, especially of the caliber of Nrityagram, so this was quite a treat! On March 14, Nrityagram performed in Provo at Brigham Young University (BYU) as part of its Performing Arts Series this year. I was initially stunned to hear Nrityagram was coming to BYU, a private religious university owned and ran by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the LDS or "Mormons" - remember Romney?) and located in a conservative and religiously-homogenous area. While Utah isn't the most hip and happening place overall, there are some trendy and diverse areas and offerings concentrated in Salt Lake City proper and the University of Utah which is a respected, public research university. But Provo, and BYU, down to the south is a different story!
BYU library's Music and Dance entrance
But now I know better than to be surprised by BYU's snagging of Nrityagram. For one, BYU seems to have a great dance program and regularly hosts diverse visiting performing artists. BYU's Contemporary Dance Theatre has even visited and performed in India, and their International Folk Dance Ensemble has performed Indian dances/music. But here's the real reason: Over the past year I have uncovered a little secret. BYU has a surprising collection of Indian dance materials in its library! The dance collection contains rare pamphlets and booklets like a 1965 booklet on Kalakshetra, a 1963 pamphlet on Balasaraswati, and a 1949 program for Uday Shankar's American tour! A limited-edition original of Ragini Devis' 1928 book Nrityanjali is there as are a number of titles by Indian dance scholars Sunil Kothari and Mohan Khokar. Of more recent dancers, Padma Subramaniam's three-volume set on Karanas, Jayalakshmi Eshwar's pictorial guide to
Bharatanatyam adavus, and VP Dhananjayan's book on Indian dance are in the collection. There's even a small set of volumes from the amazing Sruti magazine published in India! And tons more!
Clearly this collection indicates acquisition policies supporting detailed and authentic Indian dance materials and also the support of Indian dance enthusiasts who have donated rare originals. Or maybe one of the librarians there is an Indian dance nerd! The collection is likely driven by course offerings given that BYU offers a number of individual classes on ethnic dance techniques around the world, Indian included. Nrityagram's visit and lecture-demonstrations are the cherry on top this year! I hope the students know how lucky they are!
Thoughts on "Samhara" and Kandyan Dance
So back to Nrityagram! Images of Nrityagram dancers were among the first things that drew me
into Indian classical dance forms years ago when I first discovered
them. I specifically remember gazing at images like this one
over at Flickr. The simple, cotton practice saris and absolute joy of
the dancers is so engaging and led to my love for performances in
practice saris as collected in my post on classical practice dances in
Indian cinema.
The performance on March 14, "Samhara," was a collaboration between the three Odissi dancers from Nrityagram (Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, and Pavithra Reddy) and two female Kandyan dancers from the Chitrasena Dance Company, Thaji Dias and Mithilani Munasingha (and of course five live musicians!). Kandyan (or “up-country”) dance is one of the three main dance forms
identified with the majority Sinhala ethnic community in Sri Lanka and
is considered Sri Lanka’s national dance.
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