Dance like a woman

Legendary Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Shri Malavika Sarukkai talks about her 'arsenal of technique'

What is your production Ganga Nitya Vaahini about?
I sat on the banks of the Ganga for hours. When you return from Varanasi, you are truly inspired. The piece is about the metaphysical merging of the river into the ocean. The river gives up her identity. Poets and even Advaita philosophy have spoken about giving up identity.

There is also a piece written by my sister, Priya Sarukkai Chabria called the Lament of the Ganga. Another piece that translates into The Sun Has Set is about love, loss and asking the tough questions. Nobody tackles the subject of death and loss in Bharatanatyam; we are extending the boundaries of Bharatanatyam.

And what about Srinkhala that you performed at the Kala Ghoda Festival?
Srinkhala means links the link with nature. It is about the outer and inner environment.

What does your creative process entail?
It is the way my mind thinks. It is also the arsenal of technique without which it is difficult to innovate. There is also an effortlessness of technique and editing. It is a whole sadhan of 20-30 years and deep thinking on dance.

You innovate Bharatanatyam in contemporary ways...
Contemporary is what is honest to me. I am a contemporary woman. I watched a dance performance where the girl was waiting with a mirror and looking coy. Then she picks up her cell phone and switches the microwave on.
Is that contemporary? A wimpy woman is not contemporary. The interpretation of women makes it contemporary, not symbols. Everything becomes relevant when an artiste says it with conviction and it's honest to them and they can feel it. Then it becomes contemporary. Contemporary is a state of mind of the artiste.

What are you most aware of while dancing?
The making of my dance. Then the music and then the audience.

Does the discipline that Bharatanatyam demands extend to other avenues of your life?
It is a mind-body discipline. If you turn professional you have to be in order. It affects your life it changes the way you think, talk and relate to people.

Fusion is the buzzword...
Let's just say I prefer one kind of cuisine. I don't want biryani with my thair-shadam (dahi-rice). There is so much consumerism. Two for the price of one adds to the feeling of greed. But if I find somebody whose mind interests me, whose work I respect; I will do a collaboration.u00a0

Whenever your students have difficulty in dance, you tell them to think about Shah Rukh Khan.
He has great energy and control. But there is something sexual and aggressive about his dance. Some of them do these hip movements; I wonder how their hip does not fall off! Shilpa Shetty did a hip movement and I was struck by her precision.