Book review | Astad Deboo: An Icon of Contemporary Indian Dance

The author traces Deboo’s career from his stunning solo performances , where he used movement and space as aides to express his physicality and individual approach to dance
Book review | Astad Deboo: An Icon of Contemporary Indian Dance
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2 min read

This is for those who dance and those who watch; for innovators and classicists; for anyone who seeks to venture beyond the safety of what they have learnt. It’s for those who seeks to venture beyond the safety of what they have learnt, risking censure in their search for something new that they can leave behind as a legacy. The writer, Ketu H Kartak, knew Astad Deboo. And that is the strength of the narrative. It follows Deboo closely through his many pathbreaking experimental shows and details the thought behind each show and the daring, unconventional movements, lighting, and sound effects included in these shows.

We also get a mosaic of Deboo, the man. Who even as a boy loved to climb to heights and balance precariously. A proclivity that would transform into performances on the Great Wall of China and the Champaner Fort in Gujarat, on top of a water tank and on rooftops, among others. Through his journeys, Deboo lived the halcyon life, travelling in trucks or getting a lift in a Mercedes; washing dishes, selling his blood for 17 dollars in Greece, sleeping in parks, and getting hauled up by the police. In three years he travelled through Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia, absorbing the pace, movements, and expressions in the dance forms across the nations. He picked up Kathakali in Kerala, José Limón’s modern dance techniques in New York, and the rhythms of Brazilian music and dance in South America, blending it all, to carve his unique dance identity.

Kartak traces Deboo’s career from his stunning solo performances , where he used movement and space as aides to express his physicality and individual approach to dance. He walks us through the evolution of Deboo the dancer, the collaborator who worked with theatre directors, Manipuri drummers, and martial arts practitioners, taught the deaf to understand rhythm to create beautifully synchronised performances, and included street children of the Salaam Balak Trust in his work, teaching them to dance to Tagore’s poetry.

Evocative photographs in colour and black and white illustrate some of Deboo’s daring work. There are stories of his slave-driving avatar as a teacher blending kindness and empathy that he shared with all once the class was over.

Kartak takes us through his shows around the world, one by one. By the year 2019 when he performed Unbroken, Unbowed, the 72-year-old had created a vast legacy that included costumes, lighting, choreography, photography and music that had never been seen before. His quiet support to help dancers during the Covid period is a testament to both his empathy and passion for all artistes.

Everyone he touched has a story about Deboo and that is what teh writer has tried to unravel.

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