Going back to the roots is young Rahul Acharya’s mission. For, the vibrant dancer-scholar senses that present-day Odissi has lost its originality over time, courtesy theoretical and practical deviations from the prescriptions in the Natya Shastra. Sage Bharata’s ancient treatise on Indian classical dance has prompted almost all top dancers to the form his or her own interpretation, leaving Odissi “rather loosely defined” in the process. It’s against this backdrop that Rahul has been trying to give the dance form its “original fervour”. Consistently rediscovering the dance’s original form through the texts of the Natya Shastra, he has been implementing the basic tenets of the text in his performances—and passing it over to his students.
All of 28, Rahul, who has also done a master’s in biotechnology, has been extensively touring the world for performances, classes and demonstrations. Belonging to the Debaprasad Das lineage of Odissi, he has been studying the scriptures for some time now by visiting places and collecting the original texts. Rahul has been the lone dancer after exponents like Minati Mishra and Sanjukta Panigrahi.
“I am a voracious reader,” says Rahul. “In my quest to find out the original Odissi, I visited places like Vrindavan, from where I have got much of the Natya Shastra texts even in the form of manuscripts. I’ve read them and incorporated into my performances. My guru, Durga Charan Ranbir, resisted my effort at times, but I’ve convinced him by citing examples from the text.”
The dancer is fast to show through demonstration “hasta karana” (a movement of the hand) in its original form as mentioned in the Natya Shastra which is much different from what we see in the present-day performances. “Most of today’s Odissi doesn’t have anything to do with the Natya Shastra.”
The Natya Shastra mentions all aspects of performing arts. “Considered next to the Vedas, the Natya Shastra has clearly demarcated the dance forms of India into four parts and the eastern part has been named the Odra Magadhi—Odra for Orissa and Magadhi for Magadh which deals with the theatrical aspects. But after a certain phase, the Magadhi part gets hazy and what dominates is the Odra or Odissi,’’ Rahul explains.