CHENNAI: The beats of ‘ta tei ta ha’, tunes of ‘sa re ga ma pa’, and the unlimited hours of rigorous practice dot the childhood memories of culturally inclined people. While these dance and music classes start as a hobby or skill one wishes to develop, it becomes a passion for some. As a girl in 1968, Geeta Chandran was also initiated into dance and music. Thus began her journey in the classical arts, especially Bharatanatyam. “Dance is everything to me. I breathe dance and I sleep dance,” shares the dance guru, scholar, Carnatic vocalist, and founder of Natya Vriksha, a centre for Bharatanatyam training.
Clocking five decades this year, following her arangetram in 1974, Delhi-based Geeta has another reason to rejoice — Krishna Gana Sabha is conferring the Nritya Choodamani title in December. “I happily accept the title for my teachers and students. The journey so far has been lovely and I would like it to be like that till the end,” she says.
Excerpts follow:
On completing 50 years in dance
It has been fun...I have tried to be as creative as possible within the parameters (of dancing). Sometimes you have to push the parameters with your creativity to see what happens. This journey has been filled with blessings. I had fantastic teachers. My language (body movements), certainly, is one that I have learned from various teachers, and I have made it my dialect (style). I acknowledge my parents who stood by me, and my husband who’s been a co-traveller in this journey. He has been my worst critic and my best creative collaborator.
On the Nritya Choodamani title
An old sabha (Krishna Gana Sabha) is bringing together artistes from all genres who celebrate art to present this award. I am happy and feel extremely humbled to be honoured. Every journey is like a flowing river. We take what we can (learnings from gurus) and give it back (teaching students). So this is something that is an ongoing process.
On her dance journey
My mother took me to my first teacher, Swarna Saraswathi, in 1968. For me, she was never a friend but my amma. I was intimidated initially because she wore huge diamonds on both her nostrils and always wore a Kancheepuram sari. She used to sit and teach with a little thatukali (a wooden block to produce rhythm during Bharatanatyam practice).
I am classically trained in music, too. So, mornings were for music practice before going to school and the evenings were for homework and going either to music class or dance class or to play. I went thrice a week to dance class, while there was a fixed time to go, but never a fixed time to return. We watched our seniors perform and watched how amma taught and created them. She believed every piece was a work in progress. Amma always said, “Your life experiences must reflect on your art and it should evolve with time”. Her goals were also not to create a performer, but to create an artiste.
With this, I earned my degree in Mathematical Statistics from Lady Shriram College. Then post-graduation in Communications from the Indian Institute of Mass Communications. Through all that, dance was my companion. Soon, I got a job and was preoccupied with my work. I would get back from work and my teacher would be waiting. I wouldn’t have the energy to give my best. So one day, I went to my teacher, Dakshina Murti sir — a mridangam artiste who had a unique style on stage — and asked him if I should give up my job.
He said, “Go, resign, and come back”. From there began the journey of processing what I had already learned, looking at it differently, going in-depth, reading philosophy, and spirituality, and understanding the connection between dance and music. I learnt what a jathi (pattern of a thalam and each jathi is denoted by a syllable) is and how to translate those syllables into dance. I was comprehending the meaning of what I was doing and trying to hone my technique.
Then I learned abhinaya from Jamuna Krishnan, a professor of Economics at IB College and a contemporary woman. She gave me new insight into the intellectual components of dance.
To sum up, amma taught me the basics and that dance is never a complete piece. Dakshina Murti sir taught me the stagecraft, how to communicate and catch the audience’s attention. Jamuna Krishnan brought the intellectual and social-political idea of what dance is and what it can be.
On the difference between a creative performer and an artiste
A performer is only worried from piece to piece. Now with the workshop culture, this is happening more and more. But amma created artistes who dealt deeply with a certain piece and stayed in that piece and worked on that for years to see how that piece became your own. Today, I see more and more people cloning senior artistes or somebody else to become performers. Earlier, you stayed in a piece so long that it became second nature for you. Your mannerisms and your body made that piece your own. That is what an artiste is.
On her favourite performances
I love padams, javalis, and varnams. These have so much texture and possibility for you to evolve as an artiste. They give a scope for exploration and cadence in music, and how you connect it with the dance. The techniques are already there and you flow with it.
On her teaching journey
When I was learning under Dakshina Murti sir, he asked me to teach other students. He used to say, “I want to see you teach”. I never had a sense of responsibility and had fun because I knew sir was there behind me, watching. But it was like delivering a child when I had to take on that responsibility with the establishment of Natya Vriksha. I always overthink about what more could be done. So, I read stories, and make my students read mythology to get rooted in the Indian culture. I take them to temples and make them dance there to get a feel of what it is like to go to Vrindavan. The student’s complexion of the dance would change because there’s no audience you are dancing to but for the Lord.
The canvas that I carve out for the students is not dance but a performative art. Dance is catharsis for some, aesthetics for some, a movement for some, a storytelling device, a strong way of abstract movements that you create, and for some, it’s the philosophy of the dance that attracts them. Dance has so much to offer and I see it as an opportunity to bring in life skills. That is when a teacher becomes a guru.
On a memorable moment
When India was celebrating its 50th year of Independence, a dance festival was organised by the Government of India inside Sangeet Natak Akademi premises. Generations of dancers such as Mrinalini Sarabhai and Shanta Rao to Vyjathanthimala performed. Ours was the last generation that got added to that list. It was gratifying to see my name on that poster with these names. The names I grew up watching, appreciating, and loving.
On evolution in practising the art form
The dedication and the passion with which you approach the art form are a prerequisite if you want to become a dancer. Practising should be made a lifestyle, if not, then it shows on stage. These were important then and are now.
The problematic changes include learning with stakes. Earlier, school meant a temple of learning. Today, parents view the practice as something transactional. Their mindset is, ‘I’m giving so much money, you better deliver’. The second is the audience’s attention span. A programme which used to be three and a half hours long is at best two hours now. Most programmes are shared evenings, and the performers get only about 40 minutes to an hour. Those truncated versions have impacted the kind of pieces that are now created. It is a big change, and I find it to be a sad change. The liberty in time and space is not there for the dance anymore.
On exploring dance
In today’s stressful society, children growing up in these big cities are put to test every day. For them to have a safe space, where they come to destress, learn to connect with the culture of rich lands, and learn about the poetry, mythology, music, lyrics, and rhythm is important. Dance has so much to offer with respect to teaching and learning that we have not explored enough. I would certainly engage in widening the parameters within which we teach dance. Everybody doesn’t become a dancer, but the process has to be enriching and stay with them for life.
Padma Shri in 2007
Sangeeta Natak Akademi Award in 2016
Nritya Perunjyoti in 2020 by the Association of Bharatanatyam Artists of India (ABHAI)
Natya Kalasikhamani in 2022 by The Indian Fine Arts Society (Chennai)