Article - INDIAN BALLET (1975 -1989) - Achievements, problems and growth

INDIAN BALLET (1975 -1989) - Achievements, problems and growth
- Bharat Sharma
e-mail: bhasha.dance@gmail.com
From Narendra Sharma Archive

February 13, 2025

(Lecture delivered on 3rd September 1989 as the first Shanti Bardhan Memorial Lecture at Kala Parishad, Bhopal.)

To start with, this phenomenon of which I am going to talk about has so many names that I myself have got confused. I may mention here, very humbly, an instance from Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography 'The story of my experiments with Truth'. This was in South Africa where he was experimenting with his ideas on passive resistance. He had organized the local Indian population to fight for their rights and live with dignity. This campaign had gone for twelve years and yet this urge and idea did not get its name. After twelve years it was decided that the ideas practiced should have a name to make it easier for people to understand and thus, a competition was held to suggest a name. And that is how the word 'Satyagraha' was born.

INDIAN BALLET (1975 -1989) - Lecture

What I am suggesting here is that there is no point in discussing that this phenomenon should be named Indian Ballet or Modern Indian Dance or Dance-Drama or Contemporary Dance. The fact is that this phenomenon has come to stay, and the emphasis should be on its serious practice. An appropriate name will come to it once its parameters are more clearly defined, and the art form gains more strength. It is true that in the 20th century, all over the world, in remote areas and very ancient civilizations, there has been a tremendous urge to find a language of body that can relate to the excitement and turmoil of the present. Whether it is the contemporary dance scene in the traditional societies of China, Japan, Indonesia or the industrial societies of USA, France and Germany or the growth of Folk Ensembles in communist countries, the urge has been the same. It is from this point of view that the Indian Ballet has to be assessed.

If we have to talk about the history of Indian Ballet in the last five decades, then we have to bear in mind that it grew in the context of Indian Nationalism, as part of Indian Renaissance. Initial stimulation came through contacts with the West and in the course of time, it achieved a unique character of its own. The entire second generation of choreographers of Indian Ballet never traveled to the west and dancers were working towards the birth of a new nation. The concept of Nation-State and Democracy was being introduced over a sub-continent divided by small principalities and monarchies. Naturally there were several art forms that emerged to strengthen this idea of nationhood. Themes and forms emerged which were universal in character, produced by the collective, appealing to audiences cutting across regional barriers and talking of a common cultural heritage. Along with Indian Ballet, Indian orchestral works, chorus singing, protest plays and poetry emerged. Strangely, after Independence all these forms that were in their infancy and needed financial and organizational support were sidetracked. This was partly due to the changed political scenario.

Most of us are familiar now with the extraordinary experiment conducted by Uday Shankar at his Almora School from 1939 to 1943. The second generation of choreographers was born there. It is amazing that in just four years of its existence it inspired a whole movement. The next phase was when prominent products of this experiment joined the Indian People's Theatre Association's (IPTA's) Central Squad in mid-40's. The Indian Ballet got crystallized there. The commitment to work in a collective, artist's role and responses to political and social processes, the spirit to struggle for one's art form were profound ideas which were to inspire the entire second generation through years of trial. After independence, most of the Government agencies took to revival of dying forms. The Central Squad of IPTA broke up due to the changed political stance of the CPI in context of the Indian National Congress's apathy towards the communists. From then on, for almost 2 decades the Indian Ballet survived entirely on its own strength. In retrospect, the break-up of the Central Squad had a silver lining. The participants settled in different parts of the country and carried out their individual struggles for the survival of their art form. Today, when I speak here on Indian Ballet, I only bow in respect to this second generation of choreographers and dancers who succeeded in keeping the movement alive. It's all the more an honor to speak in a festival organized by Rang-Sri Little Ballet Troupe because this organization is a glittering product of that period of trial.

If we have to assess the period 1979 to 1989 in the history of Indian Ballet movement then we have to bear in mind that there is still no comprehensive literature or visual documents available to base one's views on. Thus, I would draw a parameter here where I would like to express views that are personal. I have been witnessing this period as an observer and as a practitioner of the art form. Secondly, since I am based in Delhi, my views and observations from the place where I work. Thirdly, I was born in a family which has been witness to the history of the movement from 40's to present times as artists, and that has a natural bearing on my views. Fourthly, my views are clearly biased because I speak from the point of view of concerns of a contemporary mind and body.

Initially, I would like to speak on the intricate link between the art form and the patronage it receives and how it has affected the Indian Ballet movement, both artistically and organizationally. In 1960's the Government of India finally decided to provide minimal financial assistance to troupes and choreographers to maintain full-time professional artists. This gave the troupes enough breathing space to operate independently and maintain artistic freedom. On the other end of the spectrum were troupes maintained directly by big foundations. In this case, the artistic freedom of the choreographers was limited to the policy guidelines of these foundations. In other cases, there were troupes that went commercial and operated purely on the dictates of the market and became regional in character.

In 1974, an important development took place when under the direct initiative of the Prime Minister's house, an attempt was made to establish a folk-dance ensemble similar to the ones in vogue in socialist countries. Zohra Sehgal, who was a major influence on the pedagogical theories of Uday Shankar at his Almora School, was lured back to India from UK to head the new Folk Dance Ensemble. For one year, it operated directly from the Prime Minister's Fund with an understanding that it would be formalized under any one of the Government agencies. After one year, the Ensemble became a nobody's baby - none of the Government agencies were willing to take care of it. Interestingly, artists from various disciplines got together in Delhi to support for its survival. Perhaps for the first time in Delhi, a vibrant and vigorous artists' movement grew when they demanded the continuance of the Ensemble. The Prime Minister's house was in support of the idea but government agencies and the 'traditional-lobby' said 'No - Folk Culture in danger!'... In any case, the artists' movement got broken up in the Emergency that was declared on the nation and in that big, ugly silence, one year's hard work of a talented batch of young dancers was also silenced. They were, later, sucked into the Song and Drama Division.

The next significant development came in the Emergency itself when the Sangeet Natak Akademi organized for the first time All India Festival of Ballets in February 1976 in New Delhi. This was a stunning success. The choreographers and their troupes responded to the occasion and brought works of artistic excellence. The media, which has been traditionally hostile to this movement, for a change, responded positively. Based on this success, another bigger festival was organized by the Akademi in March 1977. The choreographers and their troupes again responded with exciting new works and made a fervent appeal that the festival should be made an annual event. For unknown reasons, the media's reaction was lukewarm and negative.

Questions were raised in the Parliament over the wasteful expenditure of the Akademi, and especially on the Festival of Ballets. The 'classical lobby' was uncomfortable. By 1977, the Janata Government had come into power and within a few months a glamorous press conference was held in Delhi by the classical soloists to position themselves in the changed political scenario. There was a shrill cry of injustice by these dancers and a charter of demands was put forward - that is, more houses, more foreign tours and perks. Questions were again raised in this press conference on the wasteful expenditure of the Akademi on the Festival of Ballets. This time it was the “classical traditions in danger!” A little later, a few soloists got away with Rs.80,000 per soloist to do a new production. These soloists had nothing to do with group choreography in their entire careers. The second Festival of Ballets in which choreographers brought new works had cost Akademi only Rs, 75,000. Nevertheless, that period saw the expansion of the scheme of financial assistance to professional troupes that was started in 1960's. More troupes were able to get a breathing space to carry on their work in different parts of the country.

The two Festivals of Ballets organized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1976 and 1977 are high water-marks in the contemporary dance movement because firstly, it demonstrated at that point of time that choreographers in different parts of the country, despite working in constraints, were creatively alive and ticking. Once the challenge and opportunity were put forth to them, they responded with great fervor and artistic maturity. Secondly, it marked a clear breaking point in the thematic content of their works. The shift was clearly away from mythology to subjects concerning the immediate life, perhaps, a return to the thinking of the 40's. Thirdly, it brought together all the major choreographers and their troupes on a single forum to confront and to collaborate. This happened 29 years after independence. For the next ten years, the Akademi shelved the idea of having a Festival of Ballets.

For a very personal reason, these two Festivals of Ballets have been dear to me. I saw clearly, some of the finest works of Indian Ballet that are still etched in my mind like Prabhat Ganguly's 'Bhairavi' and Sachin Shankar's 'Waiting'. Secondly, I began my real professional career while performing 'Man and the Masks' and the Ugly Boy in 'Reflections', and later as the 'Wolf boy', all premiered at these festivals by Narendra Sharma.

In November 1982, the IX Asian Games were held in Delhi and India wanted to demonstrate itself as the front-runner amongst the developing nations. The opening and closing ceremonies were slated to display the varied cultural heritage of India. A team of choreographers headed by Narendra Sharma and comprising of Appuni Karta, Bhagwan Das Varma and Tanushree Shankar were asked to execute the event to be danced by 6000 folk performers, classical dancers, contemporary dancers and children. These events needed massive organizational effort and specialized skills that the choreographers successfully demonstrated that they were adept and flexible at handling events of varied nature and dimensions. This event made it clearer that India needed choreographers of varied skills as a complimentary aspect of the traditional dance heritage itself.

I would like to mention here two events that have contributed to the contemporary dance scene from a contrary point of view. They are the East West Dance Encounter held in Mumbai in January 1984 and a sequel in November 1985. This event was representative of the parallel view that was gaining ground that contemporary work should emerge only through classical techniques. The Encounter was jointly sponsored by Max Mueller Bhavan, National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai, and Sangeet Natak Akademi and Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Delhi. A small brochure printed on the occasion noted that the purpose of the encounter was to have a friendly confrontation between dancers of the West and India. It also meant as a stimulus for experiments in dance in India. This pre-supposed that there was no contemporary dance in India and it was to be 'encouraged'. The entire movement of Indian Ballet was wished away by a single word - Uday Shankar.

I was brought in at the last moment more for my studies in 'the West' than a representative of Indian Ballet. Contemporaneity, for the organizers, was either classicism of the Vedic times or modernism of the Western kind where 'the West' itself had grown past its own ideas, in perceived 'new directions'. Nevertheless, these two encounters were a lively gathering of artists and it clearly demonstrated that India badly needed a vibrant contemporary dance heritage. Two important choreographers emerged on the national scene through these encounters who were later invited to perform at the third festival of ballets held by Sangeet Natak Akademi in November 1985.

A very significant event took place in April 1985 when Sachin Shankar organized a festival of ballets in Mumbai. This was a very daring step that an artist's organization was trying to determine a movement's history through its own resources and private finances collected through a fund-raising campaign. He was able to organize yet another festival this year in February where the two choreographers projected during the two East-West Encounters were also invited. These two festivals had a sense of nostalgia because the movement had returned to Mumbai, that was a center of major artistic activity in late 40s and early 50s.

Another facet of this period has been that most of the troupes and choreographers have been creating at least one new production every year. Some productions have survived through time and some are not performed anymore because the dances were created around specific dancers; the dances disappeared once the dancers disappeared. Since there are no organized performance circuits in the country, most of the troupes have preferred to go in for fixed-sum performance fee shows (sponsored shows) which have been very erratic in nature. Sponsored shows are a major source of income to most of the troupes managed by artists themselves. There have been instances where few troupes with efficient business managers have been able to organize series of sponsored performances through small towns and cities to create circuits specific to their own style of dancing. Lately, few state Governments have been offering series of performances to troupes within their respective states while some have got benefit of the Inter-state cultural program scheme. There are troupes that have catered to seasonal performances based on mythological themes like the 'Ramlila' and 'Krishnalila.'

On a different plane the financial assistance by Government of India to choreographers and their troupes has turned out today as the lifeline of Indian Ballet. Choreographers are able to maintain a staff of permanent dancers to keep their productions alive. But contrary to this, other Government agencies have marginalized this trend by not offering enough performances. One has to only take into account the performance list of last six years of bodies like the Festival of India, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Spic-Macay, State Akademis, Tourist Departments and also private foundations like National Center for Performing arts and Indian Tobacco Company, who again voice the concerns of Government agencies. All of them work from a uniform premise that there has been no contemporary dance. The same agencies, on the other hand, leave enough room for the classicists to fiddle with their own forms to cater to a sudden demand of ballets on national and international forums. This is a classic case of creating art forms by administrative fiat, despite tall claims of non-interference in the arts by government agencies.

In November 1985, Sangeet Natak Akademi again decided to have a festival of dance-dramas. Along with five troupes of Indian Ballet, three from the East-West Encounter and two gurus were invited to present new trends in Indian dance. The response of the audience and the artists was enthusiastic, but the media was calculative. Only the classical aspect of the festival was projected, and an impression was created that Indian Ballet was dead. I think the very idea of having a festival as an important forum for witnessing new trends and also as a stimulus to artists and audience, was killed in that festival.

This was evident in May 1987 when on the 125th birth anniversary of Tagore, a combined festival of dance-drama and theatre was held in Delhi. All the troupes that were invited were commissioned to create new works. The idea of having a combined festival of theatre and dance was unique and successful but Indian Ballet movement was marginalized by inviting only one troupe. There was a welcome addition of a troupe from Calcutta working on consolidating Tagore's ideas on dance. Four classicists brought absolutely average works and the media and Sangeet Natak Akademi were very apologetic about it.

This period 1988-89 is very significant in the history of Indian Ballet. On July 8,9,10, 1988 the concluding event of the Festival of India in USSR was held at the giant Olympic Stadium, Moscow viewed by 20,000 people on each day. For the first time, contemporary performing artists/groups were asked to project India's image abroad. The event was not a major artistic achievement but a great spectacle on the celebration of India. This was obvious because of the political nature of the event. Five contemporary choreographers (Prabhat Ganguly, Sachin Shankar, Tanushree Shankar, Bharat Sharma and Narendra Sharma) and two from classical techniques (Kumudini Lakhia and C.V Chandrashekar) demonstrated that they had talented organized troupes behind them and they had the ability to respond to challenges of contemporary world. Along with them worked five music composers (Sushil Das Gupta, Vijay Raghav Rao, Anand Shankar, Atul Desai and Bhaskar Chandavarkar), designers (Bansi Kaul), technicians (Tapas Sen), administrators (Urmila Jain), under the producer (Narendra Sharma).

A body of 250 dancers from India and another 400 dancers from Soviet Union collectively danced to this overture of friendship. There was a heartwarming coordination between troupes and the standing ovation that the artists got is a memory to be cherished for long years. That it was a grand success can also be gauged from the fact that the media and official circles talked about it in hushed whispers and there are no good documents surviving on it.

There are 2 observations I would like to make here in context of this event. Firstly, we have to get over this idea that organization in performing arts of a collective nature needs no support, and this organization cannot be handled by the artists themselves. Secondly, in relation to the existing organization of performing arts in India it is difficult to put Indian Ballet in a bracket. It has shown remarkable flexibility in adapting to diverse performance situations. Thus, the belief that organized giving to performing arts would always straitjacket the artists does not apply to Indian Ballet, because there is already a creative flexibility within the art form itself to adapt to its given contexts.

In December 1988, Delhi's Sahitya Kala Parishad organized its first major Festival of Ballets for troupes within Delhi. Most of the productions had been seen before but by bringing them together on a single forum, clearly consolidated the movement in Delhi. The media blacked out the festival. In February this year, as I had mentioned earlier, Sachin Shankar Ballet Unit again organized a ballet festival in Mumbai that rejuvenated the movement there.

In March this year, the Trade Fair Authority of India organized a seventeen day festival of ballets as part of an agricultural fair held at the Pragati Maidan. This was a very significant happening, and as usual the media and the 'official' dance world took care not to notice the event. I made it a point to see the entire festival and it became a happy occasion of seeing a panorama of Indian Ballet. I would like to mention some artistic features in context of this festival.

The ballets brought by 6 dance troupes from different parts of India ranged from Shanti Bardhan's 'Ramayana' created in early 50's to the premiere of 'Derby' by Sachin Shankar. The 50's and 60's was definitely a phase where themes from mythology dominated Indian Ballet. There was Shanti Bhardan's 'Ramayan', Sri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's 'Ramlila' that was first choreographed in 1957 and subsequently from 1961 to 1965 by Narendra Sharma, Natya Ballet Centre's 'Krishnalila' choreographed for many years since its inception in late 60's by Bhagwan Das Verma.

Now, the question arises, why did the choreographers turn to myths for thematic content in the 50's and 60's. After all, most of them had experimented most radically during their presence at the Almora School from 1939 to 1943 and later participated in the vital IPTA movement. They also interpreted in dance Nehru's modern classic 'Discovery of India' from 1948 till 1952.

I can only offer some conclusions from conversations with seniors. As I have mentioned earlier, Indian Ballet got connected with the political process of the country. These choreographers had identified themselves with the nationalist struggle. IPTA was perhaps the only cultural movement in late 40's, with its broad cultural perspective, which provided a basis for these choreographers and dancers. There was a clear historical perspective of mankind in social milieu and artistic expression.

After independence, politics took a radical change. A phase of revivalism started with active participation of government agencies. For strange reasons even the left disassociated itself in supporting Indian Ballet. Since the mythological themes had a ready market, they provided necessary resources to maintain troupes and practice their kind of art form. But even in this, their 'contemporaneity' was intact - their 'modernism' was projected through the interpretation of the myths - they brought the Gods down to earth. In all the productions, there was a sense of earthiness and a strong influence of folk tradition. There was an absence of other worldliness around the super heroes when they were projected in absolute humanly forms.

There was a clear breakthrough in thematic material in 70's and 80's and the shift was clearly in the direction of the immediate; there were anti-heroes, episodic situations and contradictions in daily life and themes from history. This was evident in Narendra Sharma's 'Wolf-Boy', 'Conference-79' and 'Prarthana', Mamta Shankar's 'Ajker Ekalbya' and 'Vilaap', Sachin Shankar's 'Derby' and Guru Krishna Chandra Naik's 'Khajuraho'. It reminds me of Prabhat Ganguly's 'Dayaram Ki Antim Iccha' which I saw at the first ballet festival organized by Sachin Shankar in Mumbai where the central character was one of the endless people we meet daily in the streets. I still remember the brilliant performance of Madhav Barik of LBT. This shift to 'modernity' or rather the return to 'modernity' can be attributed to a few reasons. Firstly, the troupes were able to stabilize themselves in their operational matters by 70's. Secondly, the spirit of the 40's was not altogether dead in the choreographers and they themselves had grown tired of their 'mythological' burden. Thirdly, it was a definite reaction to the culture of 'pristine purity of classicism' that was being super-imposed from the top. The element of a rebel still lurked fearlessly in most of these choreographers.

The 70's and 80's are definitely a phase where forms and styles of each choreographer and their troupes have undergone profound change. This is perhaps the most significant development in the recent history of Indian Ballet. There has been a tendency to use expansive and spatial body movements and a consequent intricate usage of performing space. By 70's there was a qualitative change in the spaces available for performances and that had a bearing on the minds of the choreographers. Mechanisms of creating variations in movement patterns in space have been expanded resulting in a more elaborate use of movements for theatrical situations.

Here, it would be appropriate to mention the contributions of Guru Krishna Chandra Naik of Mayurbhanj Chhau style to Indian Ballet. It is necessary, now, to emphasize one of the foundations of contemporary dance and that is the direct relationship of the content to the form. Each idea, thought or theme has an intrinsic shape or form that has to be discovered through trial and error. Forms are made, broken and re-made to get closest to the idea to be conveyed to the viewer. There are concrete and comprehensive methods for this 'trial and error' to discover the ideal form. The content is found through internal, social and political commitments while the form is discovered through an encounter with the body and its contexts / environment.

Since each troupe and choreographer has a particular style and body mechanisms, each troupe has its own method of training. In most cases, dancers have been trained around the production oriented activities of the troupes. The working methods are from the standpoint of crisis management rather than success management. This is due to the lack of a good professional school to train dancers. But within the training for specific productions is the flexibility and malleability to adapt to new forms because forms change with each new work.

Each troupe and choreographer have a clear understanding of the science of ensemble work. This was evident from the varied usage and organization of space through bodies, a clear sense of perspective and its relation to light and décor and the relationship of space to thematic content.

A beautiful aspect of most of these troupes is the kind of people who work in them. The composition is inter/multi-cultural in nature and most of them come from middle or lower income groups. Quite a few speak different local languages within one troupe and at times communication becomes difficult. But this diverse cultural composition of troupes is Indian Ballet's greatest strength. It speaks the language of the ordinary, not the elite. This was obvious at the TFAI Festival at Pragati Maidan. They had a floating audience of agriculturists and rural folk. They would only sit for performances that held their attention - most of them sat through all the performances.

And now, in September 1989, the first Shanti Bardhan Memorial Lecture, seminar and festival has been organized as homage to the great pioneer. Events like these would be long remembered in coming years because an artists' organization has taken up the cause to determine the history of an art form through its own effort, its own resources and its own goodwill. Secondly, by remembering Shanti Bardhan, emphasis would shift to the second generation of choreographers - that is, what happened between the 50's and the 80's. Thirdly, by having one section of the event for young choreographers, a beginning has been made to prepare a new generation of contemporary dancers.

Looking to the future, I would like to point out a few things. Firstly, there is an urgent need for a School of Contemporary Dance. This is very critical in order to strengthen the movement. I have mentioned earlier that Indian Ballet has virtually perfected crisis management. One has to only go through endless episodes within each troupe when people were gathered from unlikely corners and made to dance in shortest possible time. This philanthropy has to stop; there has to be a clear demarcation between the training period of a dancer and their performance period. While the students should devote all their energies to learning and experimenting during their training process, the choreographers should have highly trained dancers to work with in their troupes. There is already a great demand for teachers of Indian Ballet in pre-college schools. There is already enough room for dancers in all the troupes operating in different parts of the country. There is already, now, a hue and cry for innovations in the classical dance world. The only thing that we badly need is a School of Contemporary Dance.

Secondly, there has to be a very concerted, all-round effort to build up audiences because a vibrant audience will keep the movement alive on its own. The fact is, there were audiences for Indian Ballet but they have dwindled through years. Why has this happened? There has to be a very planned approach to create performance circuits of varying nature. Works once created after months of practice within the troupes should be able to reach out and be presented to cross-section of people in small towns and cities. Audiences can be built up by working within the framework of school education. Festivals like these are always vital in building up audiences. Organizations could be set up which specifically deal with audience management.

Thirdly, we have to keep on producing works of excellence. There is no choice to it. Works have to be created which stimulate and perhaps, entertain; works which make people to think through their bodies and their mind. A group of young choreographers would have to come forward to compose with great vigor and single-minded devotion. Only great creations sustain movements and art forms.

Lastly, it is very important, now, to build up a comprehensive history of contemporary dance in India. Visual material and literature regarding its many facets have to be gathered. While writing the history, a meticulous documentation of the experiences of seniors has to be undertaken. Interviews could be conducted on cassettes by young dancers in different troupes. An attempt should be made to put on video as many performances as possible as well as the training and experimental work done in the rehearsal halls. If possible, some of the old classics of Indian Ballet should be revived to understand the evolution of the contemporary dance scene. Video can play a major role in the documentation of the heritage of human body. On the other side, literature should be built-up in context of the related artistic concerns of the movement. Questions of the 'contemporary' and the 'modern' has to be probed in a much deeper way.

Research material has to be built around the actual practice of the art form. Dancers and choreographers have to write on their deeper concerns in practices and how they perceive life through their art form. We have to be critical about ourselves. We have to re-question our heritage to have faith in it once again. It reminds me of another Mahatma Gandhi's dictum that any fight for justice should always be accompanied by cleansing of the Self.

Bharat Sharma's career in dance spanning over five decades is marked by diversity of experiences as performer, choreographer, teacher, writer, composer, film-maker and arts administrator. He currently leads Bhoomika, New Delhi.

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