Finding bliss in dance
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Ananda Shankar Jayant will receive Padma Shri today
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TWO WORLDS Ananda Shankar Jayant
Two decades of service and contribution to the field of classical dance form has catapulted Ananda Shankar Jayant to the prestigious `Padma' award, one she rightly deserves going by her unending creative output. Just on the eve of being conferred the Padma Shri , a visibly elated Ananda remarks, "Dance made me who I am. My Kalakshetra training shaped me and helped me stretch the envelop of my artistic vision. "
This is beyond being dedicated to art — it is more a merger with the art form. Coming from a bureaucrat — Ananda is a class one officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service, presently with the AP Government on deputation — it may sound incredulous to those whose passion lies in the corridors of power, career and such other lucrative lines of vocation. It is this innate love of dance which streams through her entire being, that makes her balance two demanding and distinct tasks with equal alacrity and excellence. What makes her performances-solo or ballet — so laced with aesthetics and suffused with emotive element? "It is my approach to dance as such. To me dance is an expression of an unmanifest impression — call it God if you like. It is my chosen path to touch an inner reality. Unless you are able to submerge yourself in `art' it becomes a mere performance. I get my feedback from my own momentary loss of links with my material level and establish my link with the spirit of my invocation. Dance has to go beyond virtuosity and grammar. Not to underestimate their relevance to classical dance but mere crunching of numbers does not elevate you. The dance has to touch the audience so to say-this is the profound emotion — the rasanubhuti."
Despite her deep-rooted faith in dance, Ananda is conscious of the financial unviability of the medium in the present day scenario. She encourages her students to pursue professions that provide a financial prop so that their dance performances can be relatively `free of the money hassle'. "The minute your dance becomes your dal-roti, you end up in compromises much to your dislike or you throw it up in sheer despair," she opines.
RANEE KUMAR
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