Although Bollywood dance is the purview of celebrities, traditional or classical Indian dancing is said to have originated among the gods. Based on archaeological findings of sculptures dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization, the Indian dance tradition appears to be well over 5,000 years old. Although it came close to extinction during British colonial times, this ancient art form had been steeped in the country’s bones for too long to give up easily. The beginning of the twentieth century saw a great revival in each of the many South Asian dance styles, sparking a new era of classical and contemporary Indian dance.
Boasting eight official classical dance styles today, these forms all take root in the Natya Shastra, a scripture written in classical India c. 200 B.C., and mostly focus on topics relating to Hindu mythology. The dance styles generally employ two main facets of dance: nritta or pure dance expression, and abhinaya or facial expression, in order to tell a story. But that’s where the similarities end — each of these dance styles has their own unique music, techniques, and objectives, with roots found all over India. Today, the official styles are Bharatanatyam from the state of Tamil Nadu, Kathak from Uttar Pradesh, Kathakali and Mohiniattam from Kerala, Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh, Manipuri from Manipur, Odissi from Orissa, and Sattriya from Assam.
While classical Indian dance only arrived in Canada in the 1960s, it has had a pronounced impact, vaulting its way to the forefront of Canadian artistic consciousness. At first, there was a struggle to afford Indian classical dance styles the same recognition given to Western classical dance styles like ballet. However, once acknowledged and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, they found new opportunities in cultural hybridization. One company that was instrumental in ushering in this new era was Kalanidhi Fine Arts, a dance company founded by Sudha Khandwani. The company puts together a festival in Canada every year in an effort to disseminate both traditional and contemporary forms of classical Indian dance into the Canadian artistic mainstream.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of Kalanidhi Fine Arts, and the 25th anniversary of its inception in Canada. A three-day long festival, it features local artists as well as dance companies from the United States and India. The lineup on the opening night this past Thursday seemed to encompass this vision, presenting three different dance styles by dancers from around the world.
The night began with an ode to tradition by Sujata Mohapatra, a renowned Odissi dancer from India. Opening with an abhinaya piece describing the god Shiva and his consort Parvati, the work played on the two variations of dance embodied by these gods: tandava, a vigorous and aggressive male dance representing Shiva, the god of destruction, and lasya, the graceful and feminine response of the goddess Parvati. Closing with a traditional nritta piece expressing the joy of pure dance, Mohapatra embodied the vitality of an ancient dance form that is still very much alive today.
The second performance began with a play on conventions generally observed in Indian classical dancing. Presented by inDance, a Toronto-based company that aims to present works that are a synthesis of South Asian and Western sensibilities, this piece enacted the Ramayana, a Hindu epic in a traditional Bharatanyam style. Tradition ended there, however, giving free reign to contemporary expression. Featuring two University of Toronto students as live singers, the dancing duo composed of Japanese artist Hiroshi Miyamoto and local artist Nalin Bisnath, who traded customary dance costumes in favour of a simple black shirt and yoga pants in an effort to pose the question: would we recognize God if he/she walked amongst us today? Although the dance performance fell a little flat with the audience, the live musicians stole the show with their powerful melodies that resonated in the theatre long afterwards.
The final performance was a true testament to the art of hybrid dance, blending aerial dance with Bharatanatyam and Kalaripayattu, a martial art form from the state of Kerala. Performed by Samudra Arts, an Indian troupe, “The Sound of Silence” was a powerful piece that explored the dialogue between movement and sound, body and soul, and of course, tradition and modernity. With feats of aerial acrobatics and complex rhythmic schemes, this dance performance ended off the first evening of the festival with a bang.
The continued presence of the Kalanidhi Fine Arts festival ensures that Toronto remains one of the world’s artistic leaders in the cultivation and growth of diasporic Indian culture, an ever-changing global art form that is climbing to great heights.
