Curated by noted Bharatanatyam exponent Malavika Sarukkai under the auspices of Kartik Fine Arts at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Natya Darshan was a two-day seminar titled ‘Designing Space’.
Madrasika, a cultural organisation, screened a short film on Aiyyelu – The Master Tailor . An indispensable member of almost every Bharatanatyam artist’s creative retinue, the costumer has rendered decades of invaluable service through his dance ensembles. Starting out in 1944 at Gemini Studios, Aiyyelu was Vyjayantimala Bali’s personal costumer for 20 years before his services became available to the larger community of dancers. Marked by dedication and discipline, his work ethic fetched the octogenarian craftsman a Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Tracing the evolution of the present-day, tailored Bharatanatyam costume, the narrative mentioned its five components, the sari-costume link, its possibilities and variants. While the film’s intent, namely to spotlight behind-the-scenes stalwarts, was admirable, the content threw very little light on the subject, namely Aiyyelu, in terms of insights into his approach and specific innovations.
Sandhya Raman is a recognised name in the field of apparel design. An alumna of NID, Ahmedabad, she is known as a design entrepreneur with a keen eye for texture and detail and has been associated, over the past two decades, with the projects of leading Indian classical dancers whose innovative vision has elicited an answering chord in her costume design. Among her game-changing collaborations are Chandita Mukherjee’s short film Totanama , and the dance productions of Jonathan Hollander’s Battery Dance Company (New York), Mallika Sarabhai, Geeta Chandran, Anita Ratnam and Aditi Mangaldas.
In her illustrated talk on ‘Costume Design’, Sandhya spoke about the viewer’s visual perception of the dancer that exists even before the artist enters the performing space. Appearance is the first factor that contributes to a dancer making a favourable impression, an aspect greatly determined by costume.
An in-depth understanding of silhouette, colour, form, body contours, and nature of fabric and grammar of design as well as a passion for the art form are essential to create an impact and to achieve the ergonomics that will facilitate free movement for the entire duration of the performance. While the traditional Bharatanatyam costume is fabulously structured for a trim young physique, the changes a woman’s body undergoes with age must be taken into account when designing for older dancers.
Proceeding from a dancer’s brief, the designer must accommodate the specifications of the dramatis personae and the movements portrayed, work within a budget, and without any colour bias. The costumer-dancer partnership grows with every show, based on mutual understanding. A dancer must express her views if she cannot relate to or is unsatisfied with any detail in costume, however minute, for instance an uneven stitch or finish. Minimalism and simplicity often effectively convey themes.
Rajkumar Bharati, grandson of Subramanya Bharati, drew upon his rich musicianship of three decades in his lec-dem ‘Design in Music’. A sought-after music composer for dance solos and ballets, the artist illustrated his statements with interesting demonstrations. On the audio-visual axis, he said, music must primarily convey the intention of the dancer. Musical articulation is a fundamental instinct, the earliest sounds being uninhibited expressions of human emotion, while the clapping of hands may possibly have been the earliest physical manifestation of dance. For formally trained musicians, the mind is conditioned in terms of raga scales and patterns. However, by simply following instinct, a composer can manifest emotion through spontaneous musical expression that later, would be found to conform to programmed norms.
Lyrics must have embedded poetry that the composer can be inspired by and effectively communicate. For instance, an audio clip from his recent project ‘Karna’ illustrated how Bharati has interpreted the vivadi notes of the rarely used melakarta raga Sucharitra to convey the menacing drone of the bee and Karna’s agony as he endures its sting boring into his thigh on which Parasurama has laid his head in sleep.
Summing up, the artist mused that, in the universe’s creative space, music already exists, intangible and ever-present. The composer is only a tool through which it manifests itself. Once he surrenders unconditionally to its call, he is freed of all burdens.
