New format for Sattriya dance
K. PRADEEP
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Indira P.P. Bora has reinvented `Sattriya Nritya' and given it a new lease of life.
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PHOTO: VIPINCHANDRAN
EXPRESSIONS: Indira P.P. Bora is trying to revive the traditional art forms of the North-East.
From the ancient monasteries in Assam, Sattriya dance has evolved into a neo-classical dance form through the efforts of some gifted dancers. Indira P.P. Bora is the foremost among them. She has used her Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi training to remodel Sattriya dance. Infusing it with all the classical elements, she has turned it into a beautiful dance form.
Sattriya Nritya
`Sattriya Nritya' has been an integral part of Assamese culture for the past 600 years. Male monks perform it even now in the `sattras' or monasteries, though it is more of a ritual than a performing art. Introduced by Shanker Dev to propagate religion somewhere in the 15th century, it gradually grew to become part of the land's culture. An exclusively male dance form, girls were forbidden to enter the `sattras.' In the `sattras' the dancer enjoys a more interactive rapport with the audience who sat around the dancer.
Sattriya dance consists of three distinct parts - Guru Vandana, Ramdani and Geet Abhinaya. The first two is performed without any music and to a great extent still remains unaffected by changes. It is only in the third part, based on the childhood tales of Lord Krishna, that the dance form now gets a facelift. The Sangeet Nataka Akademi recognised Sattriya as an Indian classical dance in 2002. And some of the credit for this recognition must go to Indira and her tireless efforts to revive the dance form.
Indira's childhood was spent in the lovely town of Somari. Surrounded by tea gardens, rice fields and a small river, she grew up as a tomboy. The turning point came when one of her uncles offered to teach her Sattriya. For nearly five years, she learned this dance form though it was not considered respectable for a girl to dance professionally.
"I had by now fallen in love with dancing. And I was fortunate to have very encouraging parents. So, from then on dance was to be my life and career," says Indira.
For 13 years, Indira was at Kalashetra, where under Rukmini Devi Arundale, she was trained in Bharatnatyam. "That was the best part of my life. There were so many brilliant teachers, like Chinna Sarada (Hoffman), who turned 90 recently, Buddalu Shastri, M.D. Ramanathan. It was lovely to be there in an environment of dance and music. I was part of numerous dance drama productions of Kalashetra, which toured Europe, Asia and Russia in the 1960s and 1970s. During all these tours, Rukmini Devi insisted that I perform a Sattriya item at the different venues."
After she left Kalashetra, Indira stayed in Chennai and studied Kuchipudi under Vempati Chinnasatyam.
"Since my return to Guwahati I have been striving to keep alive the Kalashetra style of dance, along with constant efforts to revive and revitalise Sattriya."
Purity of form
The efforts of Indira have helped turn Sattriya into a very aesthetic statement. Without disturbing the tradition she has introduced subtle changes that has given it an articulated strength.
"I have always insisted that the pure form of Sattriya be retained. Only after this can one experiment with music, text or costume. For instance, the monks used only white costumes. We use a two-piece dress in Assamese silk, which is made to order. The flower prints are all traditional, like the ornaments the dancer wears. In the `sattras', only the `taal' and `khol' were used as music accompaniments. But now we use other instruments like the harmonium, tanpura, violin and flute. We have also experimented with various other texts."
In 1982, Indira, along with her husband P.P. Bora, set up `Kalabhumi,' a cultural organisation, in Guwahati.
"We have more than 500 students learning Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Sattriya and other dance forms. Our aim is to revive and promote various traditional dance and music of the North-East, which is not very popular outside the region. Many of our students have started their own schools in different parts of the region." Carrying on the tradition is Indira's daughter Menaka.
"She is being trained at the Bharata Kalanjali, Chennai, under the Dhananjayans. She is also learning Kuchipudi," says a visibly proud mother.
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