Pali Chandra, the artistic director and co-founder of Gurukul Dubai, a Kathak dance organisation working towards enhancing the practice, understanding and appreciation of Indian art, has been one of India’s avid proponents of the power of classical art forms for many decades. After Gurukul Dubai, which caters to students and practitioners in the Middle-East, Chandra launched its branch in Switzerland, taking Kathak to Europe. Born and raised in Lucknow, she learned Kathak from the late Guru Vikram Singh, Ram Mohan Misra and Kapila Raj of the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi in Lucknow. An award-winning artiste, Chandra’s research in dance education earned her a PhD from the French virtual university, Ecole Supérieure Robert de Sorbon. Before online learning went global during the pandemic, she launched the Kathak learning portal, learnkathakonline, to take the art form to a keen, wider audience. She is also the chairperson and chief mentor of natyasutraonline, which aims to preserve the rich artistic and cultural heritage of India. In the past nearly half-a-decade, Chandra and natyasutraonline have been pioneering a digital compilation of Jayadeva’s 12th-century Sanskrit epic poem, Gita Govinda, in Kathak. Chandra, who divides her time between India, Dubai and Switzerland, talks to Faizal Khan about the making of the digital Gita Govinda, which will be released today, and the poem’s emotional connection with the people today. Excerpts from an interview:
How did you interpret a 12th-century epic poem for a modern-day audience using a digital platform?
Firstly through extensive research to gain a thorough understanding of the text from different perspectives and translations from scholars around the world and drafting our own over many months. Then bringing together people from different parts of the world with different expertise such as dancers, musicians, literary enthusiasts and videographers. In fact, the music was wholly created during lockdown with everyone involved in remote locations. Secondly, how can you do justice to the epic given that it is being adapted into something—a digital platform—that has not existed before? We covered everything from set to lighting and colour to costume besides additional camera angles and frames while staying true to the text. Lastly, the relevance of Gita Govinda in today’s time and space. It is a 12th-century poem that is emotionally relevant today for an audience that is highly digital. Though the literature stays true to the 12th century, the depiction is relatable and universal. It’s a classical text with a solid base on dance and music. As we know, classics are something that can evoke response from art enthusiasts irrespective of its period.
How long is the digital portrayal of Gita Govinda and how many dancers were involved in the project?
The text itself consists of 24 prabandhs or ashtapadis. Each of these has a final performance of around 16-20 minutes musically. All prabandhs have a prelude. The background of the story is described with an introductory shloka, which makes it mandatory to perform the shlokas too before prabandhs. Plus each prabandh accompanies introductions, explanations, videos and step-by-step movement tutorials. Each piece is technically divided into all these segments. The duration depends on the complexity of the content and the choreographic expectation from the student. For example, some explanations can go up to 45 minutes in an intensive conversation between me and my students. In terms of the dancers involved, it was a diverse global group of around 20 dancers who are thoroughly equipped in the vocabulary of Kathak and additionally had specific skill sets pertaining to other areas such as literature, classical music and costume design.
How does Kathak help in portraying the essence and philosophy of the Sanskrit poem?
Kathak is nuanced and subtle when it needs to be and also strong and rooted, encompassing years of history it has seen and incorporated within itself while growing as an art form. It can explore a poem of this magnitude in its entirety. That is, on the surface or the ground level, length and breadth, and at the same time delve into the complexities of emotions while helping shape the characters beautifully. Each character is distinctly different yet at many instances emotionally relevant today. Further, the poem is so vivid that paintings of nature literally emerge from it. Those visuals can be explored through the vast vocabulary, fluidity, grace and stylisation within the dance form. If art forms like Kathak or any other do not relive these epic pieces of work, how will we retain them within our cultures? In its repertoire, Kathak also includes pieces from the land of Braj, the land of Radha and Krishna. It has a piece of its history emerging from this land. So, in a way, one can say Kathak is familiar with these divine entities.
What steps were taken to ensure the choreography suited the poem and its aesthetics?
I have done extensive research on the Sanskrit language, the text itself, the historical context of the piece like the time period, environment and social views. This has helped me better understand the characters as well as the kinds of emotions that they would carry within themselves. I have kept to the poet’s writing, but used sancharis when performing to help the rasik experience each emotion as effectively as possible. To cater to Jayadeva’s imagery, I had to create some new movement vocabulary. For example, the kinds of plants or elements of nature he describes don’t exist today or we may not have witnessed it in this metropolitan world. The elements of natyashastra that Jayadeva has incorporated may not be the norm in Kathak specifically, however, they are a part of our shastriya nritya. I have also created music for the entirety of Gita Govinda, which uses varied instruments in the Hindustani classical music style. I have researched the ragas Jayadeva has suggested according to the relevance to his time period and how people today will relate to it. This helps make the current and future generations relate to it more and connect with the Sanskrit text more. A team of 24 people worked in composing and rendering songs in tune with the demands of Kathak. To ensure the aesthetic quality we had to find a location that matches the 20th-century environment. We shot many parts of the work in actual forest areas in Kerala though it was not possible to record the performances inside forest areas as it wanted a state suitable for dancing. Hence, a stage was created exclusively for this inside an urban Miyawaki forest in Thiruvananthapuram. The forest was also supplemented with as many plants mentioned in Gita Govinda.
How has dance education evolved following the pandemic that brought in new ways of learning?
I have always felt it necessary to archive Kathak and increase its accessibility. Therefore, I started online learning early in my career with DVDs when technology was not as advanced. I have also lived in many countries and have had students who wished to continue to learn with me when I was away. So, I would also conduct remote classes for my students residing in different parts of the world. To meet my objectives of archiving and teaching, I decided to evolve with technology in the context of Kathak through online learning. I find digital learning relevant in today’s world. Distance learning and dancing for the lenses require an in-depth understanding of space, camera and lighting. Experience with lenses and digital platforms play a huge role in ensuring the art is accurately and effectively presented to audiences and teaching students. Providing training in English and Hindi also allows for a relatively larger reach and access to the art form.
Faizal Khan is a freelancer