Dedicated to her art

Sharon Lowen explains how India shaped her as a dancer.

February 11, 2016 09:10 pm | Updated 09:10 pm IST

Sharon Lowen Photo S.Subramanium.

Sharon Lowen Photo S.Subramanium.

Classical dance has immense power to make a foreign student stay back in the country of its origin. This is what happened in the case of Sharon Lowen, an American hailing from Detriot, who first came to India under a Fulbright scholarship to learn Manipuri.

She mastered Manipuri from Guru Singhajit Singh yet continued her quest to learn other dance forms. She trained in Mayurbhanj Chhau under Guru Krushna Chandra Naik, Seraikela Chhau under Guru Kedar Nath Sahoo, Odissi under Kelucharan Mohapatra, Manipuri Pala Cholam under Guru Thangjam Chaoba Singh and Manipuri Maibi Jagoi under Gurus Ranjana Maibi, Kumar Maibi and R. K. Achoubi Sana Singh.

Recently, Sharon was in Kolkata to perform at Rabindranath Tagore Centre of Indian Council for Cultural Relations for The Odissi Festival of Shinjan Nrityalaya. Her abhinaya pieces from Jayadeva’s Geeta Govinda and Onkarakarini Moksha were an aesthetic bliss for those who watched. In a very brief informal chat this is what she said.

Which forms of dances did you learnt when you first came to India?

I came in 1973 as a Fulbright scholar to continue Manipuri which I started in 1979 in Ann Arbor Michigan. with Minati Roy. Kelubabu gave an intensive workshop in 1974 and again in 1975 which I decided to take purely to know a bit about another style for Lec-dem. Kelubabu was a generous and wonderful teacher. He said that I learned faster than any student he had ever had and had me help teach the beginners after two weeks. He insisted I get a costume made and record music for the three complete dances he had taught me. I continued in Odissi because of his encouragement and, after some time, because I enjoyed the process of creating and sharing abhinaya with audiences.

It was memorable to dance with Kelubabu at the New York Metropolitan Museum at the culmination of my U.S. tour in which he played mardala, Bhubaneswar Misra played violin, Rakhal Mohanty was the vocalist and Ratikant Mohapatra played manjiras.

I also learnt Mayurbhanj Chhau, which is a martial art tradition. It is performed in honour of Shiva and Surya during Chaitra Parva. I liked the inter-mingling of mythological themes which alternate with village and nature subjects.

Which are some of your memorable performances?

In 1975 Guru Krishna Chandra Naik of Chhau organised a show at Baripada, in which she had performed to prove to others that women could perform this traditionally male form of dance.

It was memorable to perform at the Sankat Mochan festival in Varanasi.

Share with us your experience as a teacher of Odissi?

I do teach Odissi and Manipuri in Delhi. My senior Indian disciple is Viswanath Mangaraj, who has studied for 14 years and performed and taught in Japan and Lithuania as well as in India.

My senior foreign disciple is Silvana Duarte from Brazil, who herself has trained 300 students and helped establish the Indian Cultural Centre in San Paulo for ICCR. In the past I have performed with my disciples in several cities.

What is special about Indian classical dance forms?

Indian classical dances all have different complex techniques, use of body and rhythm, as do other world classical traditions. What is particularly unique is the aim to evoke a meta-physical experience that takes the individual out of themselves to a higher level through evoking rasa through the abhinaya. This objective offers evergreen opportunities to the artist to explore texts, ancient and modern, to offer a spiritual Darshan to the rasikas.

Can you recall some memorable experiences?

I have had so many memorable experiences. And I am grateful to the audiences who have appreciated my art and made it viable to make a career in my karambhoomi (the land where one works).

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