The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “Bharatanatyam growth to be exponential”

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Sunday, Jul 13, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

“Bharatanatyam growth to be exponential”

— Photo: R. Ashok.

Adyar K. Lakshman.

It was the time when Kalakshetra was finding its roots at the hitherto conservative quarters of Chennai. Joining Rukmini Devi Arundale, along with a handful of dedicated artistes, was Adyar K. Lakshman who soon became a prime figure in ̵ 6;Kalakshetra’ for his pioneering choreography in Bharathanatyam. The conventional dance steps were enriched through bhava and swift movements. In an interview to S. Aishwarya , Adyar K. Lakshman shares his ardent love for the art form, teaching experience and scope of classical art in the country.

“In my days, there had been five to six popular schools of Bharathanatyam. Rukmini Devi’s was one such style. I’ve always admired her innate grace and elegance but never really tried to get into the heart of the art.” Even after doing nattuvangam for many of Rukmini Devi’s and her students’ dance pieces, nothing triggered Lakshmanan to learn Bharathanatyam.

“I thought dance was meant for girls. I was quite health conscious those days. Apart from my mridangam, vocal and nattuvangam skills, I wanted to give my body some physical exercise. The initiation into this divine art came much after my association with Kalakshetra,” he says.

That was precisely when Rukimini Devi, in one of her classes, praised him for his diligence in learning a dance step. He remembers the founder of Kalakshetra pointing him to her other students and saying, “look at this young boy. He is a born performer.” Soon, his finesse in teaching the art fetched him nationally acclaimed awards including ‘Padmashri,’ ‘Bharath Rathna,’ ‘Kalaimamani,’ ‘Natya Acharya Shironmani’ and ‘Ugadi Puraskar.’ His school ‘Bharatha Choodamani’ has produced dancers with exceptional quality, who are now spreading the richness of the art by branching out worldwide. Bharathanatyam, like any classical dance form in the country, has scaled great heights in recent times and Mr. Lakshman predicts the growth to be exponential in coming years.

Having innovatively choreographed numerous varnams, slokas, thillana, javali, padam and a handful of dance dramas, Mr. Lakshman seeks to improvise on his compositions whenever possible. “You can never turn complacent in dance. Either you work on it or drop it.” As a physical activity, dance surpasses all forms of exercises, he observes. “There is beauty involved in dance. It’s not just about sweating your bad cholesterol out. You will gain exceedingly good amount of radiance and grace.”

And finally, there is some good news for late bloomers. Mr. Lakshman, though insists on early learning, encourages adults who want to learn it for the art’s sake to take the dance as a hobby. “It’s never too late to start. The only challenge they might face is to cope up initially. But interest in the art could make it look all simple and enticing.”

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