Seamless blend
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Rasa Unmasked, a collaborative effort with Ramli Ibrahim, excavates the theory of Rasa
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PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
REFLECTIVE Rasa Unmasked was good food for thought
The term “Rasa” is colloquial with minimum exposure to dance or drama. It takes a child to emote anger or fear. Through disciplined learning we then come to understand the same basic emotions in terms of definitions that are universally a
ccepted. It takes one full cycle to again drop those definitions, only to go beyond them, to rediscover them.
“Rasa Unmasked” is a zealous attempt to excavate the theory of Rasa. It is the result of collaboration between Ramli Ibrahim and Malaysia’s Sutra Dance Theatre, Anandavalli and Australia’s Lingalayam Dance Company and ethnomusicologist/composer, Alex Dea, presented by Academy of Music, Chowdiah Memorial Hall and Kishkinda Trust, Hampi. “The integrity and passion that Ramli and Alex bring to their art forms transcends the knowledge and barriers passed onto them by their Gurus. It was this that awakened in me the desire to dance again, with these soulful artists,” says dancer Anandavalli.
The crux of the contemporary production was a weave through the Navarasas in its unadulterated, least influenced form. Abstraction seemed the theme of the stage, with a simple motif which represented the vestiges of life. The set, lighting design and photography by Sivarajah Natarajan and the live orchestra of the evening by Alex Dea, Bala Shankar and Aruna Parthiban beautifully complemented the concept. The skill and experience of the dancers in Ramli’s and Anandavalli’s team was reflected by the ease and agility in their dancing. The coming together of the three pioneers, in their own respect, was rather seamless. “Fusion is an over-used term meaning nothing, and often the result is close to nothing except surface and facile combinations of the obvious,” says the composer, Alex Dea.
According to Indian performing arts, a rasa is an emotion inspired in an audience by a performer. The Nâtyasâstra carefully delineates the bhavas used to create each rasa. As I watched “Rasa Unmasked”, I wondered if the theory of Rasas as we have it today, could be a customary and time-honoured perception of reality. Incorporating Bhakti and Vaatsalya rasa, which are most expressed rasas in everyday life, is a suggestion. Though they were not included when the Navarasas came into vogue, they were well used in literature and productions. One can’t deny that the visual extravaganza as seen in Ramli’s other works like “Visions of Forever” were missed, but “Rasa Unmasked” was good food for thought.
The Shadow play, the Creation tree, to name a few, were appreciable channels of depiction for the respective rasa. There were still some intangibles that remain in their organic state only so long as they are not verbalised. That is left for one’s own comprehension. “I felt relieved” said a person from the audience. “This is the transporting quality of good dance,” said dancer Ramli.
KUMUDHA BHARATHRAM
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