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ANITA SAYS..... Nov 1, 2025 Dancing is like dreaming with your feet. - Unknown Success is not final Failure is not fatal It is the courage to continue that counts. - Winston Churchill  As I stared at the blank page of my Ipad, beginning to process my thoughts for this edition, I heard the rain pouring outside, lashing through the garden and creating a cacophony of sounds on my roof and terrace. October is monsoon for Tamilnadu and every event becomes a hit or miss, with one eye on the sky and the other on the pothole filled roads. This year, I was pensive. Dussera and Deepavali had passed by, firecrackers and celebrations were muted and every second person was bedridden with the newest mutation of the Corona virus. Nothing, however, was stopping dance and music events from unfolding across the city. Rehearsals and shows continued unabated with gusto and enthusiasm. For me, this is the time to drive to the ocean front and gaze at the stormy waves. Ever since the Tsunami of December 2004, the fragile nature of human life when pitted against the giant waters has never left my mind screen. The irony of the most powerful human being on earth appearing ant-sized and vulnerable against a single wave has never been lost on me. No matter how powerful, how famous, how influential - one wave, physical or metaphorical, can wash it all away. A LASTING IMPACT   Panchali (Photos: Iyyapan, A4 Media) October was replete with the ideas of longevity, sustainability and legacy. This has been shadowing me for some time now, my own place in the firmament of modern Indian dance coming into several conversations. That, however, is for another discussion. This past month, I was witness to the remarkable "oeuvre" of two stellar artistes. Both of the same generation and both from different geographies. Guru Chitra Visweswaran celebrated her 75th birthday with a revival of her iconic dance theatre work PANCHALI. With Draupadi, the central character in the Mahabharata as the fulcrum, Chitra's 1996 production was a breakthrough in classical dance on many fronts. It was a major collaboration with the modern Tamil theatre company KOOTHU-P-PATTARAI. Lighting, physical theatre, embodied characters and abstraction of the narrative made a huge impact on audiences like myself who watched the show at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. Chitra as Panchali was superb - controlled and powerful. This revival was a laudable effort with many of the older students travelling to be a part of history. Presented at the large Bharata Kalakshetra auditorium, the packed hall forced the organisers to take the smaller Rukmini Arangam to accommodate the spillover with a giant LED screen projecting the performance. Stealing the show that evening was Anusuya Ghosh Banerjee as Shakuni. Her delightful portrayal of the devious character and the myriad ways of rolling the dice was a theatrical tour de force. Simply Wow! Also notable was Shalini Ravindhran as Panchali, who was returning to dance after 25 years. The evening was filled with nostalgia and Chitra herself watched with a calm equanimity as one of her iconic productions unfolded on stage. She appeared in a brief epilogue with the spotlight upon her, as the crowd rose in unison to salute her distinctive contribution to Bharatanatyam. A huge salute to senior student and current Artistic Director of CAPA, Sukanya Ravindhar. Rarely has anyone seen such dedication, devotion and persistence to bring a guru's legacy into a living, accessible format. With digital archives being managed by Prasad Labs, Chennai, Chitra Visweswaran and her VICHITRA BANI seem to be in safe hands! CANDID CONVERSATIONS  In conversation with Chitra Visweswaran A few days later, I had the privilege of engaging in a one-to-one conversation with Chitra about important markers in her remarkable life. What stayed were not the obvious performances, applause, awards and international praise, but her quiet determination to be the primary caregiver to her brother Arun for 70 years and her unshaken faith in her guru Mataji Vitamma. For dancers, the moment of her being forced to become a choreographer and chief architect of her dance career was a revelation. An unpleasant encounter in the 1970's with the family of her guru Ramaiah Pillai and the impossible choices forced upon her is what became the catalyst. In 17 days, with major performances lined up back to back, Chitra, with the help of many teachers, recreated an entire repertoire and staged it successfully, though not without tension and enormous stress. These nuggets of lived history are invaluable for young students who often tend to look at things as black and white. DID YOU KNOW that while Chitra was carving her space in the staid environment of Madras and Bharatanatyam, the press were unkind and even hostile towards her dance. It took persistence and self belief to overcome every naysayer. DID YOU KNOW that starting in the 1970s and every year for 25 years, Chitra was perhaps the first Bharatanatyam dancer to create a touring circuit in Europe for Bharatanatyam. She went to the smallest towns and villages, dancing in churches, synagogues, temples, schools, universities and summer festivals, charming audiences everywhere, even convincing atheists that Krishna was believable! RADHE RADHE  Radhe Radhe This is the way everyone in Brindavan greet one another on the streets. And this is the title of the new work ideated and produced by Ramli Ibrahim and his SUTRA dancers. I witnessed the spectacular audio-visual premiere of RADHE RADHE at the packed auditorium of Temple of Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, with a spectacular music ensemble from Bhubaneswar directed by Guru Gajendra Panda. For many decades, Ramli, an Odissi student of Deba Prasad Das, has been working tirelessly to promote the GANJAM style of Odissi through his relationship with the late scholar Dinanath Pathy. Ganjam is the southern part of Odisha, closer to the Andhra Pradesh border. This style of Odissi music and earthy dance was discarded by revisionists in favour of centering the rebirth of Odissi around Puri and Lord Jagannath. When I first watched the premiere of GANJAM nearly 15 years ago in Kuala Lumpur, the first impression was "where has this version of Odissi been?" The dancing was joyous, full of verve and pulsing rhythms, devoid of the ultra curvature patina of urban Odissi that we are now accustomed to. RADHE RADHE is a continuation of Ramli's quest to bring another dimension of his beloved dance form to the fore. Senior student Geethika Sri as Radha, brought her maturing elegance to the stage and is a worthy inheritor of the SUTRA legacy. Luminous and charismatic, her dancing was a delight to watch. As always, Ramli's artistic vision brought Odisha's cultural visuals as a cinematic backdrop without distracting from the dancing on stage. DID YOU KNOW that even though he is a celebrated cultural icon in his home country, Ramli Ibrahim was once hounded, accused and his house raided by government officials for being a practitioner of a dance form that was Hindu? Speak of resilience, conviction and staying the course! Ramli is so grounded, realistic and practical that when asked about his enduring legacy, he shrugs and says, "I cannot worry about what will happen after my time!" LEGACY@  Asrani  Satish Shah  Piyush Pandey Legacy is not an easy subject to face. Each artiste and creator has their own version of how Time and memory should serve their work and contributions. When I watched the national outpouring of grief and affection for two Hindi film comedians (Asrani and Satish Shah) and advertising genius Piyush Pandey, I was struck by how universal and far reaching their influence has been. Iconic dialogues, catchy ad tunes, indelible visuals have collectively been embedded into many generations of Indians. Dance does not have that power. Music does. Do we dancers want to be remembered with love, fondness and positivity? Or, like American modern dancer Mark Morris states, "I want to be remembered like a nasty road bump. Every time a car slows down on a highway for a speed bump, I want it to be named after me so people will curse and say "F***k Mark Morris!". Ahem - well, maybe not to THAT kind of memory recall but we all certainly want a small piece of the firmament to shine forth from. AND MORE ON THIS  Martha@BAM - The 1963 Interview Perhaps another way to look at enduring legacies is the way Martha Graham, the American modern dance visionary, is being celebrated and recreated. MARTHA@ is a loving and effective meta-theatrical remounting of the famous March 31, 1963 interview of the choreographer with the famous dance critic Walter Terry. Presented at the 92nd Street Y, the audio recording became the springboard for a series of travelling shows in which the iconic roles and characters created by Graham were recast with a Graham dancer performing excerpts of the roles. Another actor reprises the role of critic Walter Terry. Just concluded at Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC, Martha@BAM has travelled across the world and has very effectively illuminated the process and ideas behind the making of many of Graham's works. What an interesting way of keeping thoughts, intentions and ideas alive! The audience for contemporary and classical dance in the USA is mature and greying. When I visit the JOYCE and CITI CENTER, I look at mostly 45+ in the crowd. Younger audiences are not flocking to the performing arts like before and food/alcohol/leisure seems to be the magnet within which curators are reimagining placing dance. There is a seismic shift in many areas of the Live Arts and dancers have to find a way to reimagine and reinvent themselves. It should prove a challenge and not just something to mourn about! AALAAP CELEBRATES  Karuna Sagari & Bhavajan Kumar  TM Krishna  Poorna Margam  G Ravikiran Just 13 years into its avatar and AALAAP, founded by journalist Akhila Krishnamurthy, celebrated a special milestone with several events across Chennai. Music, dance and conversations were planned and well attended by a large swathe of the city's cultural citizenry. My conversation with Akhila was titled TIME TRAVELLER and as I sat at the small gazebo of the Savera Hotel's Brew Room, I recalled a young woman who started as a writer for Times of India. After wearing several hats over the years, Akhila has found her stride through her boutique arts consultancy organisation AALAAP which is a popular and well-loved brand with young dancers and musicians across the country and even overseas!  With Akhila Krishnamurthy The crowd that had gathered for our conversation had perhaps 6 dancers in all! Akhila wondered how a portal that has encouraged dancers, presented so many aspiring artistes, carries reviews and continues to support several offline ventures did not attract more dancers? For me, it is not surprising. Unless one is a teacher with a student/parent following or a workshop/item teaching artiste, there is no crowd for dance ideas and concepts. At least in Chennai. Besides, I have always been an insider/outsider in the dance world. A space I hold onto preciously. This inside/outside ability is not easy to cultivate - where one is acknowledged, not really liked universally, but never ignored. To have the ability to attend, watch, observe and comment is a huge privilege. Thank you, Akhila, for the time and attention to the story of NARTHAKI, from a phone directory to a multi headed dance portal. AWARD FOR LALITHA VENKAT  Lalitha Venkat (Photo: Srivatsa) Writing every month for 15 years nonstop has brought me some clarity about how vastly changed the Indian dance landscape is. All the rules are being rewritten and every natural impulse is being overturned by technology or shifting loyalties. For this portal to have endured for 25 years is a testament to the amazing team of women who have stood by my side through every challenge. So, it is with great pride that we share the news that our Content Editor Lalitha Venkat is the recipient of a special award SATHYA NARTHAKI VIMARSHAKA SUNDARAM from Anitha Guha's organisation. Bravo and well done, Lalitha! This is for your steadfast loyalty and disciplined engagement with the NARTHAKI brand since 1995. Thank you for your continued efforts from all of us and the global dance community with whom you have engaged with patience and fortitude! KUDOS TO SUBHASRI  Subhasri I also take this moment to applaud my colleague of 30 years, L Subhasri, who first came to me as a Veena player and who has since developed into a competent Nattuvangam artiste and an excellent rehearsal director and tour manager. When I saw her conducting PANCHALI for Chitra Visweswaran's CAPA event at Kalakshetra, my heart filled with pride. Subhasri (Vidhya to her inner circle) has shown tremendous growth and development in critical areas of dance management which are vital support areas for any busy artiste. FRAUGHT WITH TENSION Long term relationships between guru and student are going to evaporate very rapidly. With more and more freelance dancers in the world, weekend gurus and item teaching mentors are going to become the norm. So, when a student left his Kuchipudi guru in a huff, citing "hurt feelings", it did not come as a surprise. Senior teachers have to watch every step and word these days. However, apart from these ruptures, what needs to be addressed is the rights to the music and choreography that has been learned over years of classes. Do today's students have the courage to start from scratch like Chitra Visweswaran did 50 years ago when she was confronted with a challenge? With YOU TUBE videos and so much choreography already available for FREE online, it is too easy to just cut, copy and paste content and pretend that it is original. What about the ethical dimensions of these actions? Clear written agreements have to be put in place by gurus about these possible scenarios that may arise more and more often. Here, I must also mention how blithely phone cameras are used to record full performances without permission and upload the same onto YouTube channels without any prior permission. Again - there is no apex body to monitor, complain to and force these "thieves" into taking down these videos! Only in India do we disrespect dance so much! And we then uphold the art as a shining example of INDIA'S SOFT POWER! Hypocrisy! RETURNING TO A BELOVED CLASSIC  A Million Sitas (Photo: Raja Ghosh) 13 years ago, A MILLION SITAS was created for the EPIC WOMEN conference in Chennai. Since then, the show has toured the US three times and also had successful tours of Malaysia and across many cities in India. In five star hotels, parks, gardens, salons and museums, SITA has stirred many hearts and given the audience so much food for thought. As I return to revisit the production for Chennai and Mumbai, my collaborator and co-actor Uma Sathyanarayana has also grown into her role. With percussionist Ashwini Srinivasan joining our team, I am even more excited at how the eternal story continues to accommodate modern political and social events into its circle. Unrest in neighbouring Nepal (former kingdom of Mithila - Sita's birth place) and a newly restored Ayodhya - there is always something brewing about THE RAMAYANA that is worth exploring and sharing. That is the power of ancient stories. This ITIHASA is a lived memory for India and for much of South East Asia. As I add more costume accoutrements from Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere, A MILLION SITAS continues to carry the umbilical cord of ancient memory through time. The script, staging and choreographic direction has changed significantly since December 2011, but the heart of the story remains firm. With the temple of AYODHYA becoming larger with more shrines and dedications, it is heartening to know about special spaces for AHALYA DEVI and SABARI, as well as several Rishis and sages. There is always a fresh angle to enter this timeless story which is rightly called India's ADI KAVYA, the original great epic! IT'S ABOUT TIME!  We live in an age when our social media following dictates our level of success. For those of us who grew up without META, YOUTUBE or TIK TOK, we know the value of long term friendships and associations that have been nurtured outside the unforgiving glare of these visible platforms. The extensive and long term mental health damage caused by incessant "doom scrolling" has just begun to emerge. So, when news arrived that New York City has sued META, TIK TOK and GOOGLE for causing irreparable damage to an entire generation, I could not help but say "It's about time!" Already the attention spans have decreased drastically. My own Instagram "insights" are calculating how many views past 3 seconds!!! We are certainly smack inside the blur of the digital superhighway where nothing lasts and everything is forgotten! And yet, fortunes are being made by the brave who can ride the waves, read the algorithms and translate human value into digital and economic capital. And on that note, I bid you all adieu. Keep healthy, keep dancing and keep believing and remember to smell the flowers! Until next month! Anita R Ratnam Traveling across continents! anitaratnam.com Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook     Post your comments |
