Bharatanatyam is an Indian classical dance form holding its roots in Tamil Nadu and now performed, witnessed, and appreciated across the globe.
The Chennai-based Bharatanatyam exponent and musicologist Vidya Bhavani Suresh was in Mumbai this weekend to see proudly her daughter-discipline Mahita perform in Chembur. During her visit to the city, the 54-year-old expert spoke to Swarna Srikanth, sharing how the classical dance form has evolved through time, the beauty of music that it embraces, and more.
What inspired you towards Bharatanatyam?
My journey started with Kathak actually, when I was a kid… Thanks to my Amma. Amma was a musician herself and very fascinated by Bharatanatyam, which is what actually got me started on this.
With Navratri coming soon, how do you see to celebrate it with Bharatnatyam?
Celebrating a festival by aligning the theme of a Bharatnatyam performance with it is amazing. People are already enjoying the festival vibe and these performances add to it beautifully. For Navratri, on October 6, Mahita and I will be performing Abirami Anthathi at the Kapaleeshwarar temple in Mylapore, Chennai. This would be followed by Tridevi Pushpanjali, my choreographical tribute to Devis Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.
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How do you go about choreography?
My signature lies in choreography. Most of the items that we perform are taken from old texts and tuned for Bharatnatyam. I do the tuning, what God got started with Amma and me has now evolved into my signature style very shortly. So, when I see a text, I think how to visually present this on the stage. I tune it with that in mind, and the music is kept very apt to the dance being performed and the story being narrated.
I give as equal importance to how I dance and the audience watching it. I feel that when we are depicting an ancient text through Bharatnatyam, I never take it for granted that the audience will understand every mudra. It is a very coded kind of an art form, which I take efforts to explain.
One instance where you find the dance form is evolving.
I realized that the themes that we were presenting in Bharatanatyam were very outdated, which is what got me started to choreograph on my own, which was something that was very unheard of in those days. In the late 80s, the thing of presenting the items that your guru taught was like everything, and nobody even questioned it.
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How does it feel to be a musician-dancer?
It’s a proud feeling. My biggest high is when I dance on the stage, and after I finish one item, I announce that the songs that you are hearing on the audio also happen to be my voice.
Zumba, yoga, then why not Bharatnatyam for fitness?
Absoulety! I call Bharatnatyam secret to my fitness and agility. Bharatnatyam is not a routine kind of a physical exercise, but it keeps us mentally and physically fit.
When not dancing, do we see you writing books?
I write on our Indian art and culture, and have come up with 20 major books now. It is something which I enjoy as much as performing. Also being a musician, authoring books on Mela Karthas, the parent ragas of Carnatic Music is very interesting.
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Hobby vs profession: Your advice for aspiring dancers?
Bharatnatyam is an expensive art. From costume to makeup to orchestra, everything comes with a cost. It is draining for an artiste to keep paying the resources every time.
I am a mother of three grown children, and I understand the parent’s perspective too, along with being a dance enthusiast. Honestly, I won’t recommend taking art as a full-time profession because it is a very costly thing to do.
Considering the pressure of academics these days, I am okay with people taking an art form or Bharatnatyam as a hobby. Keep your academics in place, as you need a source of income to keep funding your art form, but opting for it as the only professional life can be draining.