Renowned Delhi danseuse Sharon Lowen is one of the leading Odissi performers from the city. Lowen grew up in the US city of Detroit, and was trained in puppetry and ballet very early in life.
Besides Odissi, she is equally familiar with the nuances of Manipuri and Mayurbhanj Chhau. She has dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of these dance forms.
Ahead of her 75th birth anniversary, her disciples and admirers are coming together to showcase her life’s journey and present ‘A Life in Dance’ festival.
Madhur Gupta, a senior disciple of Lowen and festival curator, says: “She truly embodies the meaning of a guru. I owe my life to her as she stood by me at a time when I was in dire need of support. Her 75th birthday is special for all her disciples and it is a small offering to repay our debt to her; something we cannot ever reciprocate in this or other lifetimes.”
Excerpts from the conversation:
On your 75th birthday this year, your admirers are coming together to present ‘A Life in Dance’ festival, which celebrates your life’s work. How do you feel?
I am deeply touched by this heartwarming gesture. Their collaboration strengthens a connection between all my present and former Manasa-Art Without Frontiers students as a community that loves dance.
Please share the story of your travel from the United States to India as a young girl and your emergence as one of the leading stars in the field of dance
I feel incredibly blessed that fearlessly following my passion has enabled me to share some of the intangible cultural heritage of India with audiences across the globe. I owe it all to the encouragement and generous teaching of my gurus.
You were born in Detroit and had a working mother who supported your dancing. Tell us about your childhood.
I grew up attending international performing arts concerts and I learnt from this kind of communication. I believe in the aesthetic nourishment we hope to receive from live programmes. As a child, I understood that one should take every opportunity to discover and learn. Literature, visual and performing arts, social activism, lead to a desire to delve into cultures around the world. After travelling throughout Europe and Mexico, India called next.
You also learned Manipuri under Minati Roy, and then, in 1975, came to India on a Fulbright scholarship and joined Kelucharan Mohapatra’s first workshop. Tell us about the workshop.
The Odissi workshop with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was taken for academic comparative understanding but he said my foundation enabled me to learn faster than any student he had ever taught. After the workshop, he used to teach me mangalacharan, batu nrutya and saveri pallavi.
You are trained in different dance forms, Manipuri, Chhau, and Odissi. What is your favourite dance form and why?
Choosing a favourite style is like choosing which of your children is your favourite. Each has different dynamics and is difficult to master.
Each style has a different energy and technique. I developed the ability to switch my energy, range of movement and projection between each. Much as I loved Manipuri, it was difficult to continue to develop my repertoire without musicians to work with; also, my guru’s focus on his excellent Triveni Ballet led me to concentrate more on Chhau and Odissi.
What were your challenges as a foreigner performing Indian dance in India?
When I came to India, young foreigners were generally seen as hippies, and it wasn’t until I curated six annual ‘Videshi Kalakar Utsavs’ that international exponents of classical dance and music were recognised as artistes and not only as foreign students. This changed the landscape. In a patriarchal and hierarchical society, it was only the merit (of my work) seen by individual rasikas that led to my acceptance and it helped build my reputation. And that has earned me respect for having done all this without the backing of family or community connections.
How does the teaching of dance in India differ from how it is taught abroad?
My teaching process encourages students to see each other and offer suggestions. Egotism, and competition with anyone other than oneself stand in the way of excellence. I also draw on my experience of the effort/shape theories of choreographers Juana de Laban and Alwin Nikolais to enable students to expand their personal space and use of dynamics.
You have seen significant changes in the dance forms of India. Do you think the standard has declined or is it moving in the right direction?
Traditions change organically with time and the contributions of new generations of artistes. When artistes shorten the duration of performances for today’s audiences, they must maintain the power and intensity of the experiences. Group dances give many young dancers stage experience, however, to evoke rasa, a unique quality of Indian classical dance that requires a solo artiste. New directions based on tradition should be applauded if they evolve from thoughtfulness, rather than efforts to please only with novelty.
‘A Life In Dance’ will be staged at India Habitat Centre, 7pm, July 24