Inking a Vision for Classical Dance in the State

"It has been my consistent endeavour to integrate dance more closely with society. One of my steps in this direction has been the Nrityakalpa National/ International Dance Festival that was formally established/registered in 2011. This is essentially a festival of young classical dancers that is held annually in Tezpur. Along with scintillating dance performances, the festival also facilities the exchange of thoughts and ideas in relation to classical dance. Incidentally, this is the first classical dance festival organised at Tezpur by a private organisation. I have established a socio-cultural organisation named 'Saptaswa: The rays of performing art' that envisages and strives to provide a clear vision for Indian classical dance and also impart knowledge on folk dances of Assam. We also regularly organise seminars and workshops which helps students and other people to extend their knowledge and learning from legendary gurus," Dr. Pratibha Sharma

Please share your journey as a classical dancer? Also please mention your key works and performances?

I had never consciously thought that I will become a dancer. However, I had harboured a keen interest in dance since my childhood. As a child I had contended with bad health very frequently and hence our family physician had advised my parents to get me habituated to some form of regular physical exercise (to boost stamina and immunity). My parents, Sachindra Nath Sharma and Sabita Sharma, (who are now no more) had noticed my interest in dance and decided to enroll me for dance classes. I took admission in the famed Kalaguru Sangeet Mahavidyalaya of Tezpur. The principal of Kalaguru Sangeet Mahavidyalaya who was also a 'Sattradhikar' of the revered Nikamul Sattra, advised my parents to enroll me into Sattriya dance. Therefore my journey of learning Sattriya dance started at age 5 under the guidance of Sri Tileswar Tamuli Borbayan. At that time he was a young monk from the Kamalabari Sattra in Majuli. I was his first student outside the Sattra. He was a very dedicated and hardworking teacher and an incredible reservoir of knowledge and experience and owing to his guidance I was able to receive the first position in All Assam Classical Dance Competition organised by the department of culture, Government of Assam. I continued my learning under him upto the age of 15. During this period I got lots of opportunities to perform in different places of Assam and other states. My physician's advice really worked and my health too tremendously improved.

After my class 10 board exams, I learnt another classical dance form of India, 'Kathak' under Sri Shanti Shankar Das Gupta (a Kalaguru Bishnurabha Awardee) and completed Visharad in Kathak from Jyotikala Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Tezpur. Jyotikala Sangeet Mahavidyalaya is the first music school of Assam established by Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. Later I worked there as teacher too. Incidentally I have done my Masters in Botany from Gauhati University. I was in Gauhati University for my PhD too. However, I continued to focus my attention on my craft (dance) along with my education. During that period I got associated with my Guru Sri Bipul Das (a faculty of Luit Konwar Rudra Barua State Music College and also a Kalaguru Bishnurabha Awardee) for Kathak and Nritycharyya Jatin Goswami (an Akademi Fellow and a Padmashree recipient) for Sattriya Dance. After coming into contact with these veterans I started viewing the world of dance in a much broader way. My guru Sri Bipul Das was a disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj and owing to this connection I could meet Pandit Birju Maharaj, who is truly a maestro and legend in Kathak. I have learnt several nuances and perspectives that are ingrained in the classical dance forms from this legend.

I realised that there is no end to knowledge pertaining to our classical dance forms and the myriad compositions. This understanding drew me closer to dance and I started questing for the philosophical and spiritual implications of dance.

Dance has a utilitarian value too which I have experienced very closely. All classical dance forms have some basic exercises which are related to Yoga which makes the body fit. Dance also strengthens endurance and I actually never feel tired after arduous work and journeys. Dance has always mitigated my stress and depression from the days when I was a PhD student contending with the multiple pressures of my academic course.

For my kathak dance performances I mostly performed on Pandit Birju Maharajji's composition as taught by my Guru. My Sattriya Guru Nrityacharyya Jatin Goswami is well known for his choreography skills. He composed and choreographed some special compositions for me on my request like 'Sitar Patal Prabesh', 'Pancha Kanya', 'Prakiti Vandan' etc.

One of my own choreographed productions is 'Sonit Kuwari' a special dance drama. Sonit Kuwari is a play by Jyotiprasad Agarwala that revolves around a famous love affair of two mythological characters- Usha and Anirudhdha's love affair. Now as we all know, Sattriya is a classical dance form of Assam. Since this mythological story and the melodious songs of this play are very close to the hearts of the people of Assam I decided to present it in the Sattriya style. This dance drama was extremely well received. Another memorable production of mine is Chitrangada a dance ballet. I must mention here that although I learnt both Sattriya and Kathak Dance I concentrated more on Sattriya. Since 1982, I am learning, researching and interpreting Sattriya dance and music. I have been awarded the junior fellowship from the ministry of culture, (Government of India) for Sattriya dance in 2009 and awarded the senior fellowship for the year 2019-20 (for outstanding persons in the fields of culture.) I am a graded artist of Guwahati Doordarshan and an empanelled artist of ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations). Among several other accolades, I have received the National Nrityamani Award (2010), the 'Nritya Jyoti' title from Devadashi Nrutya Mandir (in Bhubaneswar, Orissa in 2011).

I have given stage performances (Sattriya dance) at various coveted and prestigious platforms. Mention can be made of The Asom Sahitya Sabha Adhibeshan (held at Bongaigaon in1983); Nritya Prabha (a solo dance show) organised by Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Assam in 2007, Adhibeshan of Satra Mahasabha at North Lakhimpur in 2008, Uday Shankar Dance Festival held in 2008 in Kolkata, the 25th Konark Dance and Music Festival, the Cuttak Mahotsav (held in Orissa in 2010) and many others.

Please share everything about your festival Nrityakalpa? What are the objectives, vision etc?

Well it has been my consistent endeavour to integrate dance more closely with society. One of my steps in this direction has been the Nrityakalpa National/ International Dance Festival that was formally established/registered in 2011. This is essentially a festival of young classical dancers that is held annually in Tezpur. Along with scintillating dance performances, the festival also facilities the exchange of thoughts and ideas in relation to classical dance. Incidentally, this is the first classical dance festival organised at Tezpur by a private organisation. I have established a socio-cultural organisation named 'Saptaswa: The rays of performing art' that envisages and strives to provide a clear vision for Indian classical dance and also impart knowledge on folk dances of Assam. We also regularly organise seminars and workshops which helps students and other people to extend their knowledge and learning from legendary gurus. Even during the COVID period our organisation had successfully done an awareness programme (on COVID-19) whereby about 35 artists from different fields expressed the need of awareness through their own art forms.

Ironically when I had started the festival and invited people over as guests they asked me whether this was a grand competition of sorts or a dance programme where their children can perform. People genuinely did not have any idea about the meaning and significance of a classical dance festival in Tezpur a decade back.

Also I have observed that in general people in our state and country like to see performances only when it is by a known entity or a close relative like a child, sibling or friend. However, there are many talented but unknown dancers (and this fact is true about all art forms) whose performances deserve viewership. After all only by seeing another perform can we improve our own performances. Also I strongly believe that every talented dancer has something unique to exhibit to connoisseurs and learners of dance. Given this context I must say that dance festivals including mine are taking an initiative in the right direction. I must also mention here that in the more recent editions of the festival it has also included classical music along with classical dance.

Today artists apply consciously to perform at Nrityakalpa National/ International Dance Festival. We have received heartening media coverage in national and international paper and journals. Some eminent people like Bismillah Khan, Anita Sharma, Probal Gupta, Mom Ganguly, Ayona Mukherjee, Pompi Paul, Saurav Roy, Debal Deb Jana, Anjana Ramesh, Hemanata Kalita and many others have been part of our festival. We have also had participation from eminent critics like Dr. Sunil Kothari, Tapati Choudhury etc. Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture has supported us several times. All these developments have translated to immense satisfaction for me as through the festival people across the nation (and even from overseas) are getting acquainted with our small town, culture and heritage.

If I have to talk about some challenges that Nrityakalpa has faced I will say that it is funding or sponsorship support that has been lacking since the inception. Most organisations and individuals in our country are wary of sponsoring a festival of the classical art forms as they feel that the audience and footfalls will be fairly limited. Consequently I have invested a major part of my own money towards the organisation of the festival (particularly the initial editions). I feel there is a clear need for more government patronage towards the organisation of classical dance and music festivals. Also going forward there is a need to brand these festivals better (an area that I am now trying to address through Nrityakalpa). For instance these festivals can be staged in the backdrop of iconic monuments, temples and heritage sites of the state.

What are your views on the contemporary dance scenario of the state?

I would say that a lot of experimentation is happening in the domain of classical dance be it costumes or the core dance performance itself. Overall the culture of performing arts has taken a geometrical leap in terms of sheer scale. The choreography styles and background accompanying music too have seen tremendous variety (owing to experimentation) and sophistication in recent years. Many dance performances today are theme centric (like revolving around women, environment and so on and so forth) or plot centric. In other words, the acting or 'abhinay' component of dances has definitely and visibly increased. However, in my opinion this increasing trend of 'abhinay' should not grow to an extent where dancers start neglecting the core craft.

What is your advice to aspiring dancers?

I would simply urge the younger generation of classical dancers to spend long years in perfecting their dance techniques. In other words they should not become impatient for early stage performances and awards. Awards and prestigious platforms will follow their due course. They should invest their time in practice, study and research much more. After all our state and country has a whole treasure trove of legacies and knowledge pertaining to our fascinating dance forms. I will also say that the younger generation should refrain from excessive self promotions.

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