Indian classical dance back in vogue

NEW DELHI: Students curve their hands elegantly before breaking into synchronised footwork at a class here, where growing numbers are signing up for Indian traditional dance classes rooted in Hindu mythology.

Class participants range from preteens to surgeons and marketing managers, but they have all chosen to learn traditional Indian dance, which emerged from the country’s temples centuries ago, over western options, such as ballet, jazz and hip hop.

“Tradition is becoming popular,” said Nitya Pant, a Mumbai-based marketing executive who practises Odissi, an ancient temple-based dance that honours Hindu Lord Jagannath, Lord of the Universe.

“No other form can give you the satisfaction that classical dance gives you,” said the 29-year-old. “You feel like you’re one with God.”

Such is the appeal that Pant flies here, spending 7,250rupees (RM444) every weekend, on flights just to train under acclaimed dancer Madhumita Raut.

India is home to eight major classical dance styles, including Odissi and Bharatnatyam, a genre originating in the country’s southern temples more than 2,000 years ago that tell stories of gods through facial expressions, hand gestures and rapid footwork. They run deep in India’s culture, performed at marriages, folk festivals, school contests, on reality shows and, most notably, in Bollywood films.

While reasons for enrolling vary from exercise to extra-curricular points in college applications, Nabanita Baul Dutta, 23, said dance saved her from depression.

“Dance is happiness to me,” said the housewife, who has been learning Bharatnatyam here for the past year. “After moving to Delhi, I went into depression. Then, I found akka (guru), I came to her and I got out of depression,” said Dutta.

In a cramped living room, Dutta’s guru, Aayurshi Neeraj, recites a sollukattu, a sequence of syllables that correspond to movements, keeping rhythm with a wooden stick and plank. Her students clasp their hands in front of them and stamp out beats with their feet.

“Bharatnatyam is spirituality. It is a meditation and a favourite dance of Lord Shiva,” said Neeraj.

A garage-turned-studio in a upmarket part of the capital serves as Raut’s studio, where she teaches Odissi, a more fluid-moving dance in which face and hand movements are perfectly timed.

Pant and five other students mirror Raut as she forms mudras (hand gestures) to a steady chant.

“My children also learn different forms of dancing. Today, they are learning Zumba-Rumba and last year, it was hip-hop,” said Raut, 47, listing off dance crazes that slipped in and out of fashion.

“They know that Odissi is for keeps,” she said, comparing the allure of traditional dance with the enduring appeal of classic texts.

“There is a difference between literature, a coffee table book and a magazine. Shakespeare will be there always,” said Raut, who has more than 60 students.

Once performed in temples and royal courts, India’s classical dance has found international resonance, with troupes performing around the world.