Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

The Re-creation of Indian Dance

A. Venkataswamy, M. A.

(The Andhra University, Waltair)

It is a well-known fact that artistic India was in self-forgetful slumbers for a long time, till the magic touch of the Poet brought it to life again. The service done by the Poet in this cause will earn the gratitude of generations.

To grasp the secret of the dance as portrayed by the Poet, we must clearly realise the spirit of Indian civilisation. Life is seen as a subtle rhythm, a mystic offering of love to the Divine. The significance of life to the ancient Indian lies in its partaking of the Divine. The half poetic and half philosophic musings of the Upanishadic Rishis point to this. It was this spirit that set aflame the imagination of the Ajanta artists. One who sees the frescos cannot fail to understand the mystic lines of the figures as the last points of corporeality, the soft mellow hues and the subjection of groups to rhythm. The drawings were not copies from life, but an idealistic interpretation of it. The dance inaugurated by the Poet can be fully understood only by bearing all these facts in mind.

Coming to the dance itself, as portrayed by the Poet’s pupils in Shap Mochan, it is nothing but a brilliant interpretation of all the ancient ideals mentioned above. We feel as if the Ajanta figures have come to life again in this drab age. The skill exhibited by the young girls and boys trained by the Poet is remarkable for their age. The dancers move about like lilies swayed by a gentle wind, or like the blue smoke of the altar incense rising in adoration. The rhythm of the hands and the feet captures ‘un-heard melodies.’ The movement of the fingers is exquisitely delicate. There is not the faintest idea of the spectacular, stormy, or cataclysmic. A forgotten world is re-created softly, almost imperceptibly. It is the gopis dancing, in unison with their Lord, the dance of love, not a representation of the world of clash, conflict, and turmoil. The spirit of the dance is entirely Indian, the like of which might not be seen elsewhere. Witnessing it we become mystics, dreamers, in a remote realm of light and love.

The costuming and make-up of the dancers has also been done magnificently and carefully to the last detail, in harmony with the spirit of the dance. They emphasise the postures and movements of the dancers. Though gold and silver have been freely used, the dresses do not appear gaudy. They are thoroughly ancient. As examples may be mentioned the ornament attached to the plaid of hair, and the bracelets on the arms, used by women-folk in villages even today. By all such careful details, time is miraculously switched by hundreds of years.

It is very desirable that our cultured and educated young men and women (not in the sense of knowing a few bits of English and having meaningless degrees) take to the re-creation, of Indian Dance. Our social life will be immensely enriched. Such efforts promise immense possibilities. They are of no less importance than our political and economic strivings.

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