It is a dual act — the rhythm of a dancer’s body movement and the perfectly pleated fan of her costume that are in sync with each other. A dance costume gives the dancer a unique identity. Designer Sandhya Raman, who began working with dancers to design their costumes almost 25 years ago, has been building a bridge between traditional dance costumes, the dancer and their relationship that develops a different identity. Aptly titled When the Pleats Dance, the exhibition presents the rich and aesthetically designed costumes by Sandhya, inspired by Padmashri recipient Geeta Chandran.
The exhibition is in collaboration with Geeta’s dance school Natya Vriksha, Desmania Foundation and India International Centre, and is on at the Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex, India International Centre in New Delhi. With a firm belief that costumes begin their performance when the dancer steps on to the stage, Sandhya has been creating costumes within the traditional prescription for every dance form. She says, “Each one has its own identity; I believe in working towards maintaining it with a visual vocabulary.”
Collaborating with Geeta for the past 15 years, Sandhya says that the experience has been enriching and delightful. She says, “I began designing for Geeta in 1999. What is interesting is that Geeta has imbibed the understanding of the importance of a dance costume’s perfection in her disciples as well,” she says.
From the experiments with costumes from the traditional paavadai to the cycle-cut pyjama-style, saree and skirt style dance costumes, there are costumes photographed in action, and dance jewellery as part of the exhibition.
An alumnus of the National Institute of Design, she says her love for the art and her design skills have united for a fruitful journey. Designing the costumes for Totanama, an award-winning film directed by Chandita Mukherjee, turned out to be a defining moment for Sandhya. She began exploring the link between fabric and the weaver, before stumbling on the relationship between a costume and a dancer. She says, “Having worked with an export house and then being associated with dance, elevated the work of creativity to a higher level of aesthetics. That was very exciting for me.”
Her first project was for the ballet Moonbeam, for Jonathan Hollander. Working with a number of renowned dancers over the years like Sonal Mansingh, Aditi Mangaldas, Anita Ratnam, Mallika Sarabhai, Madhavi Mudgal, Kishanji Maharaj and Jayaprabha Menon among others, Sandhya has explored costume designs for several dance forms in India.
Sandhya, who is a trained bharathanatyam dancer herself, however, calls bharathanatyam her favourite. Nonetheless, the task of designing comes with a huge challenge — changing the mindset of dancers. She says, “Most often dancers reach the top when they are about 35 or 40 years. Having said that, some forget their body is changing. When audiences watch the performance, it is the visual effect that takes over and a dancer has to make a personal statement. There is a difference between an 18-year-old and a 35-year-old dancer.”