When you are five-year-old, born into a Bengali household, you are more likely than not already attending five different extra curricular classes. Needless to say, I was no exception in this case. I still remember my mother sitting me down next to her on the sofa, one fine day, to explain the significance of dance in building “human character.” Obviously, there is not much downplaying you can do to explain the depths of human character to a five-year-old except tell her that dance will make her legs strong and help her stand for a long time especially, if she wishes to become a school teacher one day. So, the next day I was inside a dance class with ten other girls, wearing a salvar-kameez and bindi, with no idea whatsoever about Bharatanatyam and what I am going to learn in this subject.
Now, eleven years later, I sit and wonder how things would have turned out if I never in fact had stepped foot into that class. I recently read a quote by Kumudini Lakhia which said that an inhibited mind and body cannot bring out the expressive abandon of dance. Besides finding your feet, you also should find a voice and vision. Whilst dance continues to be one of the best stress-busters amidst the daily hustle and bustle, the enrichment, discipline, challenge and commitment associated with especially classical dance are the diminishing elements that compel divine art forms like Bharatanatyam to gradually fizzle out.
There is no denying that we live in a fast-paced, digital world wherein we demand activities to be engaging, fun, entertaining and enjoyable- where our attention span is limited to a ten second hook-step on the most trending song and a pun that would barely exceed fifteen words. Albeit dance classes can be enjoyable, they are fundamentally a learning environment where discipline, precision, consistency, focus, and the thirst to learn thrive. Bharatanatyam is a form of classical dance that requires a degree of will-power to pick up challenges and face the monotony and repetition of each class. There is no such thing as “perfect” or “100 per cent” in art. Whether you give it your best shot or not, what makes all the difference in your journey as an artist or a student is your resolve to do better and be better than the last time. As my Guru would repeat in every class, “Classical is the mother of all art forms,” to be able to learn this art is a blessing that transcends the fulfilment of the mind and the soul, and gifts the student with a gravitas that will shine the brightest in every room.
I remember watching a friend’s arangetram the previous year and leaving the auditorium with teary eyes. When I passed my Visharad-Purna examination and walked out of my class, I felt out of sorts and poignant as I had to grapple with my urge to wear my salvar, bindi and retrace my steps to class. It was an unforeseen moment in time when I had to internalize the fact that Bharatanatyam to me is not just an art but an emotion. It gave my imagination, my feelings and my thoughts a voice; alongside learning to let go of my inhibitions, somewhere between the complex footwork and evocative abhinaya I found my real self. Nonetheless, there is no fixed point where your journey ends. My Guru once told us “Ek zindagi kaafi nahi hai,” and through every tiny creek and crevice in my regular schedule as a high-school student, I always find a way back to Bharatanatyam.
So perhaps, the only way to to end this rough scrap of writing would be in gratitude: for being one of the extremely fortunate who gets to resonate with classical art and channelize her emotions through a myriad of divine choreographies and also to form a fragment of the small ratio of classical dancers that find joy in discipline and commitment. It is not easy to stick around with unwavering determination while learning classical dance but for every one who does, it is beyond just the best accomplishment to have earned by the sweat of their brow. Happy International Dance Day to every student, teacher, dancer and five year old who steps into a dance class because their mom said so.
~ Riddhi Chakraborty
Swan's Labyrinth 