The irony couldn’t be starker. The very art form that rose like a phoenix from the doldrums 60 years ago, courtesy a massive revamp conceived and
executed by a battery of gurus and scholars, is today facing a barrage of criticism for its “excessive quest” for innovation. Odissi, these days, is playing to a slew of experimentation and alteration — from its choreography to costumes to audio accompaniment. So much so it has led to bitter divisions among all who are associated with it: practitioners, experts, aesthetes and buffs. Some feel improvisation is a gay abandon process that’s imperative to the enrichment of any art, while others counsel caution in its pace and direction considering it’s a classical art. No one says this dance form should remain untouched; it has, in any case, never been so.
Odissi, whose origins date back to the second century, acquired its present shape some six decades ago from an amalgamation of three distinct dance styles prevalent in the state — Mahari (of Devadasis), Nartaki (of court dancers) and Gotipua (of young boys dressed up as girls). Towards the end of the first half the 20th century, all these streams had decayed to an extent that threatened their complete extinction. It was then, in the 1950s, that Odissi showed signs of revival, thanks to four master dancers: Pankaj Charan Das, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Mayadhar Raut and Debaprasad Das. Using the Gotipua movements and still postures from temple sculptures as models, the gurus got together to formulate a code and grammar for Odissi. Much of it guides the presentation of the dance even today. The repertoire further bloomed through artistes like the late Sanjukta Panigrahi — the first Oriya girl to embrace the art — who applied the written rules of the Natyashastra, studied the sculptures and paintings and drew deeply from her guru, Kelucharan, who died in 2004.
the debate Among the revival-era gurus of Odissi, two had distinct styles. This led to the classification of the dance into two schools: Kelucharan and Debaprasad. Both had their string of disciples. Among them, the first generation on the whole showed a marked reluctance in transgressing the tenets or aesthetic sensibilities of their gurus.
For instance, Kumkum Mohanty, a frontline Kelucharan pupil, has never “dared” to go beyond the established norms of her guru. “Only when I thought I had the conviction, did I give back to the dance form some original creations,” says Kumkum, whose experimental venture includes a dance drama of Shakespeare’s King Lear that won rave reviews.
Kumkum agrees cross-cultural references and interactions with other forms enrich one’s own vocabulary.
“However, I keep the different traditions
intact so that there is no vulgar mix of forms,” she adds. But Kumkum finds many of her contemporaries aren’t like her. “Instead of specialising in what they learnt from guruji, they started their own schools, with their own compositions. And that accounts for the flurry of half-baked dancers today.” form and style Kelucharan himself was a revolutionary of sorts in his arena. He brought characters like Jatayu and Ravana into the Odissi repertoire. “Had Guruji not thought about Ekalavya, martial arts would not have found a place in a purely classical dance,” says Italy-born Ileana Citaristi, an Odissi dancer and choreographer specialising in Chhau.
Danseuse Aruna Mohanty isn’t against changes, but believes they shouldn’t rot the core of the form. “Let the water flow, lest it stinks,” she says. Aruna’s experimental dance dramas include Srusti-O-Pralaya, based on the Orissa super-cyclone, Kanchi Abhijaan, Srabana Kumar and Kharavela — all presented with contemporary music and style.
“There’s nothing wrong in creating something new provided one doesn’t meddle with the basic tenets. Moreover, the audience should be the final authority to decide if the dancer does justice or not.” Kumkum differs on this aspect. “It’s the job of dancers and choreographers to guide the audience, not the other way round.” And the concern reflected in the words of scholar Dhirendra Nath Patnaik, who passed away recently. “Why change a tradition when most of the original compositions by legends have not yet been properly utilised?” Sujata Mohapatra, disciple and daughter-in-law of Kelucharan, strikes a middle path. “A dancer should dare to experiment if only he/she has got a strong foundation.” Ileana believes evolution is a process achieved through innovation. “It is the job of an artiste to add to the dance form,” she notes. She has been constantly doing experimental dance dramas in abstract and philosophical themes with elements of tantra, maya, samay and many other concepts.
voice and looks Deviations in Odissi music have also subtly been intertwined with presentation style. Odissi music plays an integral role in the dance, like the percussion instrument of mardal (drum). However, new-age choreographers have brought in the use of octapads in many of their compositions. “This is inexcusable,” protests Kumkum. “It is a pity we don’t have any provision to book offenders.” No doubt, Odissi has conquered boundaries, but it is not always headed in the right direction, feel researchers and scholars.
“I certainly do not accept (Malaysian dancer) Ramli Ibrahim’s experimentation with the Odissi costume,” said Patnaik. “His troupe, at a Bhubaneswar show, had dismissed the odhni (dupatta), and danced with only blouse and the dhoti. Absolutely vulgar.” business as usual Commercialisation has contributed to the many changes that the dance form has been witnessing. The number of dance schools in the state has gone up to 225 with as many as 150 registered under the Societies Registration Act. “And who are the trainers? Those with a formal training in Odissi sans sufficient experience,” said Patnaik. “This
results in a tampered Odissi that we see
today,” he said, noting that many gurus are busy holding dance festivals.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kumkum says instead of organising a national festival of dance, the government should first chart a teachers’ training programme for those
interested in teaching.
The more innovative Odissi dancers predictably come from outside Orissa. But, of late, even the homeland of this art has ceased to be a bastion of purity.
— kasturi@epmltd.com