Kathak dancer and choreographer Aditi Mangaldas opines that “if you wear blinkers in this amazing world, you are doing a disservice to art forms, yourself, and this planet”. This is also why she believes in imbibing every single experience when she is on an expedition—be it dance-related or for recreation. In this edition of The Morning Standard’s The ‘Bag’packers, Mangaldas talks about why she loves travelling. Edited excerpts from an interview…
On her early travel memories…
My parents loved to travel. So, every summer, they would take us to Kashmir. I have distinct memories of going down on a sledge in Gulmarg.
When I turned 11, my mother and maternal grandmother took me and my brother on a world tour. Basically, it was just called a world tour—we went to Rome, London, New York (because my mother's two younger brothers were studying at Berkeley) and flew back via Japan.
My first solo trip was when I was 16. I did not want to study abroad, so—just to get a feel of school—my family sent me to England. I went to a school run by philosopher J Krishnamurti—my mother’s family was close to him. My father took me to Harvard because he was educated there, but I just said no and returned to Ahmedabad to study dance.
On travelling for dance and recreation…
I love travelling, and because of my dance, I have always had the great opportunity of travelling all over the world. I may have been to more than 60 countries because of dance.
On a personal level, my former partner is German and we were together for the past 15 years. I used to go abroad very often, at least five times a year to Europe, of course, that would also be part of my dance tours. Every second or third month, I have been lucky to travel, mostly because of dance.
Also, during the pandemic, I was fortunate to perform and travel to some amazing parts of this world.
On what travel means to her...
Travel to me is meeting human beings from all over the world, and celebrating the diversity of humanity, human endeavour, and nature. For me, there are two kinds of creativity. One is the amazing natural creations that have evolved, and the other is human-made creative endeavours—monuments, the most fabulous dance and music compositions. So, travel, for me, is about attaining a balance, and [making] human connections.
My travels, as I mentioned, have mostly been dance-centric. So, I do go to a city and discover it, but not as in-depth as I would when on a personal tour. But I still get to meet people and with the little time that I have, I try to imbibe the essence of the city or town I have travelled to.
On how travel helps her better her craft...
Inspirations do not happen directly. You understand this when you stand in front of a beautiful sculpture and just soak in the beauty. Some residue, some resonance always remains; and this is only bound to enhance. I remember going to a concert once where I did not necessarily understand the music except just be part of the immersive process of it. And I came home and it was so meditative and beautiful that one whole piece [of choreography] emerged out of it. There are some examples, which I would not be able to pinpoint because inspirations are such that you string them in your breath. As you breathe in and breathe out, they slowly start becoming a part of your being. Once they become a part of your being, they become a part of your dance, in my case.
Inspirations are all over the world, whether it is Africa or New York or in the hustle and bustle of London or even in some amazing performances I have seen, the people I have met and conversed with, exchanged ideas with… these have made a difference somewhere as it should.
A place that dance enthusiasts must visit...
For me, Kathak is about Delhi-Ahmedabad, because that is where the great Kathak world survives and thrives. But, if you ask me a must-visit place, I would say the UK, especially London. The reason is that many of my collaborators right now are British. I am currently working on a solo and a duet, which are going to be premiered in India and then abroad, and in Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. For that, I have been going to London very often. What I like about that city is that if you want to explore food, you may…. dance, you may… music, art, architecture… etc.
For me, currently, London is the bed of cultural dynamic activity. Museums, galleries, performing arts, even if you want to watch classical, contemporary, African, Japanese, what have you. It is incredible. I just love London.
A destination she prefers to go back to...
Maldives... It is just paradise. I have not gone back there but I dream about it because I was there three or four times about 10 years ago. The colours are beautiful; you can just sit there in awe.
Also, I was recently in Greece. I had 10 days there and I enjoyed the little streets and cafes, and the amazing architecture built all the way down to the blue ocean. I would love to go back there.
In contrast to that, I was in Sweden recently; we went to see the northern lights. We were just lucky that in those three days, the skies opened up to the most amazing choreography of green, purple, and silver lights. Everybody usually says that they go there and wait, but nothing happens. We were very lucky. In fact, one day, we were driving down and suddenly, somebody looked up and there were streaks of colour across the sky; it was the best performance of lights ever.
We also visited the Ice Hotel [in Sweden]. I feel very cold, and I do not have the guts to live there. But, it was an incredible concept. We were having wine in ice goblets. Except the bathroom, every single thing in the bedroom—chairs, table, plate you eat on, floor, walls, ceiling, everything—was ice. And each room was carved out according to a theme; there was also a dance room with sculptures of dancers, etc.
On her travel bucketlist…
There are too many things on my bucket list (laughs). I have been to Italy quite a few times, and I am going there at the end of September; we have a little place in Tuscany. I am going there just to be with my family. Currently in India, Goa is my go-to destination.