When Kuchipudi met Kabuki
RANEE KUMAR
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A cross-cultural experience of modernism.
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JAPANESE CONNECTION Deepika Reddy receiving her honorary citizenship.
Back on home turf after a sojourn in Japan,Kuchipudi danseuse Deepika Reddy is `a more enlightened artiste' in her own words `with the exposure to the Far Eastern heritage as old as ours'. Right now she feels she has to strive twice as hard to give her vision a realisation and carve a niche for our ancient dance form on the global map.
"A lot many Indian classical dancers have migrated to West, established themselves but East is an experience that and my visit to Japan was an honour,'' she says. And it certainly was an honour that few artistes can boast of, to be presented with an honorary citizenship, by none other than the Mayor of Miyoshi City in the state of Hiroshima. Deepika feels pride in being a part of the Mayor of Hyderabad's delegation to Japan to sign a `Sister City Agreement' with Miyoshi to build emotional ties on a continual basis. The entire exercise was motivated by Asabhanu Japan Centre run by an Indian couple, the Ramabhadras who have lived their entire life in Japan and have a filial love towards both countries. To put the saga in Deepika's own words - "Cultural ties are the key to emotional bonds. And this is where I fit in. Contrary to popular thinking, Japan is not just an electronic major. It is as rich in its culture and heritage as India. While on the cultural front, we have almost jettisoned our ancient culture to a large extent in trying to over reach and absorb everything that's Western, Japan is strikingly individualistic with a beautiful blend and balance of ancient culture and modern living. Their worship of elements (nature) is akin to our sanathana dharma. Japanese are bi-religious if I could use that term. They are mostly followers of both Shintoism and Buddhism. I have observed that all auspicious, festive occasions like marriage are conducted at Shinto shrines while the solemn ceremonies like funerals are performed at Buddhist shrines.''
Coming to her own contribution on the week-long celebrations as a state guest of that country, Deepika says, "I wanted to give meaningful performances spiced with lecdems so that I could create a little awareness among a foreign audience to our artistic expression. I did a piece on Panchabhootas to which they could relate easily as it was the worship of elements so common to both of us. To the people of Hiroshima, peace is less a concept and more a future vision. The World War II left an indelible mark on their psyche for generations to come. Every dance item of mine concluded on a note of peace - peace to the world at large. I also found an interesting commonality in our ancient Kuchipudi and a Japanese traditional dance genre called the Kabuki. Like Kuchipudi, the Kabuki is a dance drama format where only men are taught and learn dance and impersonate women characters, if any. Though Kuchipudi is being practised by many women today, Kabuki till date is by the males, of the males and for the males alone.'' Apart from culture, as a citizen of India, Deepika was more than impressed by zero crime rate of Hiroshima and other states in Japan. To drive home her point as a casual observer on a visit to the city, she says, "A number of umbrellas are left at various alighting points in the city for use by commuters. The umbrellas are used and left at another point by those who need it. Nobody would even think of carrying it home since there is no count and none to ask. A woman can walk at any time of the night or day through a lonely alley and get to her destination without worrying about her safety. When are we going to be like that?'' she sighs.
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