Just published in India Currents!
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| Illustration & Graphic Design by Eric Parker |
At six in the evening the temperature in the studio is approaching ninety degrees. Pandit Chitresh Das’s senior students, many of whom have been teaching since early that morning, are told to put on their ghungroo. Beads of sweat form as they begin the cycles of intricate percussive footwork, singing, and spins as the rhythmic foundation continually shifts and the tempo steadily increases. The studio transforms into a disciplined flurry of flying feet and swiftly rotating bodies. At the front of the studio, directing from behind the tabla, Das watches his dancers work.
“We will show you something
now from the show. The first part,” explains Das. His dancers seat themselves on
the floor. Although it sounds like they’re reciting mantra, the troupe is
actually working with the mnemonic syllables of bol. Sharply focused, their voices gain volume and intensity. The
atmosphere in the room is as evocative as Rachna Nivas, Chhandam School
Director, had promised. A group of women, assuming the guise of ascetics
practicing austerities at base of the Himalayas, evoke the lord of destruction
and transformation. This October Chitresh Das and his dance company will debut “Shiva”
using strictly interpreted kathak choreography to “enter the mind of these ascetics,
doing these intense practices, trying to find and not finding Shiva” says Das.
“It is about a joining of the male and female. Both are within a person,” Das explains as he describes the creative process of developing this piece with an all-female troupe. “Ultimately it’s about women’s empowerment. Ultimately it’s about love,” says Das. Post-rehearsal, his dancers have gathered as we talk about their work. They speak about the incredible opportunity to dance for Das, the boundlessness of his talent and creativity a constant inspiration for their own development. They also worry that his work will be misinterpreted. “This is tantra” emphases Das, as he swiftly differentiates it from “what is going on in Marin or on Telegraph Avenue.”
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| Rachna Nivas, Photo by Margo Moritz |
Das stands at the intersection
of India and America, two countries that share a history of cultural mingling
and misunderstanding. Although Das notes that “you have to leave one country in
order to understand the other,” in the past thirty-two years he’s had the opportunity
to watch waves of students, American, first, and second generation pass through
his professional dance company as well as his Chhandam Youth Dance Company in
the US. Meanwhile Das runs his own school in India, partners with the New Light
Foundation to teach classes to children in the red light district of Kolkata,
and tours extensively internationally.
In 2009 Das was chosen as a National Heritage Fellow by the National
Endowment for the Arts, the most prestigious of his long list of awards. KQED also
just chose “Shiva” as one of the 10 dance performances to see this fall.
“There are many misconceptions
about guru-shishya. That it’s like being trapped, that it’s limiting. But if
you go deeply enough, if you get to a certain point, you realize it’s a vast ocean.
It’s also an opportunity to create your own vision. I am so thankful to have
that guidance” says Nivas of Das. Nivas’ creation “Bhakti: A Woman’s Liberation Through Love” will open
the October performance. Telling the story of Meerabai, a 15th century
Rajasthani mystic, Nivas is interpreting her bhajans through dance. “We have so
many stories from the epics of Sita and Draupadi, women who have shown great
strength in a patriarchal society. I wanted to look at women who took a
different path, who found liberation through love” says Nivas.
“India is at a crossroads with
violence against women,” says Nivas, explaining why Meerabai’s transcendence of
life circumstances is particularly relevant today. “This is a way to peace for
women. This is a way for them to find themselves. Bhakti is the chance to
discover the divine without need of a priest or a temple.” Current events in
India are on everyone’s mind at the Chitresh Das Dance Company. “What is this
fundamentalism? What is this against women in India? I do not like it,” says Das. Surrounded by
women, Das has developed an interesting relationship to and understanding of
the feminine. Even kathak yoga, which Das developed, comes into play. “The
rhythms are extremely complicated, but he wanted the dancers to be empowered to
dance without musicians and music,” explains Nivas.
“Shiva” is an opportunity to
watch Das solo while working with potent traditional themes in innovative ways.
Opened by Nivas’ work about Meerabai, the October performance promises to
explore both Krishna bhajans and cremation ground practices. “There is birth,
and there is death. In between birth and death there is Shiva. Because we never
know when death will happen, we never know what will happen in life. I want
people to come with an open mind,” says Das.
If his audience does, they will be able to see something quite special. “Dance
is meditation in motion. It’s bhakti. When I dance, nothing else exists,”
concludes Nivas.
“Shiva: Creation, Preservation, Destruction”
Pt. Chitresh Das and the Chitresh
Das Dance Company
Debashis Sarkar vocals,
Jayanta Banerjee sitar, Biplab Bhattacharya tabla
“Bhakti: A Woman’s Liberation Through Love”
Rachna Nivas
October 26th, 7pm
October 27th, 2pm
and 6pm
Z Space, 450 Florida Street,
San Francisco
Tickets start at $28
Kathak.org
