Oct. 20--"With Natya Dance Theatre, being contemporary is our tradition," says artistic director Hema Rajagopalan. "Bharatanatyam doesn't need to be a museum piece that only people of knowledge can enjoy."
It's a vexed point. Some claim that bharatanatyam is at least 2,000 years old because that's when the "Natya Shastra," an Indian performing-arts treatise, was written. But the reality is more complex: In medieval times, this temple dance detoured into secular court entertainment; it was only in the 19th and 20th centuries that reformers returned it to its "pure" origins. For some, authenticity remains a concern.
But, like language, dance forms mutate. Under the influence of American culture, the 40-year-old, Chicago-based Natya has taken a more contemporary direction, a choice that Rajagopalan reinforces in the new evening-length "Varna -- Colors of White," Thursday through Saturday at the Dance Center of Columbia College.
She didn't start out as an innovator. "When I came to this country, I was a soloist performing in the traditional way," passing along the mythology of India, she says. But when she began collaborating with modern-dance artists like Jan Bartoszek and Shirley Mordine, she realized she could incorporate "more movement vocabulary" and started using falls, gravity and momentum at times, in contrast to bharatanatyam's poised, balanced poses.
In "Varna," nontraditional costumes coexist with a traditional live bharatanatyam orchestra: vocalist, flautist, violinist and percussionists. Traditional stories have been tweaked, though the underlying mythologies remain.
"Varna" means colors, Rajagopalan says. "And I want to communicate the colors of emotions, also connected to values."
While "the most important thing is love," she says, it can have different shades: "motherly love, erotic love, devotional -- loving your art, your mentor. Or just simply compassionate love for everyone." All are good in themselves, but the emotions they provoke may not be. Rajagopalan mentions anger, jealousy and lust as examples of "feelings that need to be kept under control, in balance, in order to reach that final thing, which is white -- where you are absolutely at peace."
Divided in three, "Varna" first features an abstract section devoted to the dual male-female character of the universe and the god Shiva. The next is a reflective solo by Princess Sita from the "Ramayana," an ancient Sanskrit epic. Though Sita has a tough life -- getting abducted by a demon, for example -- in "Varna" she considers the hardships of her personal relationships. The final section is a mini-drama, relating the story of evil Mara, who stage-manages the infidelity of a saint's wife, then delights in the saint's anger.
On Saturday, when "Varna" precedes Natya's fundraising gala, Rajagopalan will dance the Sita solo herself. Now 65, she hasn't performed in 20 years: She got "so involved in creating the company, in my students becoming really good and finding opportunities for them," she says, that she didn't look for opportunities for herself. Also, "My knees are giving way."
Rajagopalan's daughter Krithika, Natya's principal dancer and associate artistic director, will perform as Sita on Thursday and Friday.
"I've done the role since I was 5," Krithika notes, adding that as a child she was drawn to the part because Sita "gets the cool costume; she gets to be married." Later in life, Krithika wondered, "'What does it feel like to be in love?' As a young woman, you dream: My husband will come on a beautiful white horse, in amazing clothing."
Married for 12 years, Krithika is now the mother of a 7-year-old and toddler twins; she has followed her husband around the country when his work demanded it (they moved two months ago to the Bay Area) while continuing to work on her own and with Natya. Her "Varna" solo reflects that different perspective. "Here she is not only the young girl, the princess. She's a married woman who's fought with her husband and who questions her parents' actions."
Krithika's gift as a dancer, which suits her to this complex character, is her abhinaya, her mother says: "It's very good."
Abhinaya is the codified art of conveying emotion through gestures and facial expressions. But it's especially prized when it comes from the heart. Krithika was praised on this score even as a little girl. Once, she recalls, a teacher told her that her abhinaya was very good but that she didn't always take direction. She apologized: "I just don't memorize well, and sometimes I let the emotion go." The teacher responded, "I can give you the words and the hands, but you need to continue to not be yourself. Be the character."
About her mother, with whom she's been collaborating for decades, Krithika says, "My mom is amazing. I'm fortunate to be able to choreograph with her: When we do, we move mountains. We fight like cats and dogs. There's blood and war wounds, but we walk away, and it's a solid piece. I'm proud of that. It's worth the bruising and the gashes."
Laura Molzahn is a freelance critic.
ctc-arts@tribpub.com
Natya Dance Theater
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
Where: Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave.
Tickets: $30, $125 Saturday, at 312-369-8330 or www.colum.edu/dance-center
