Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
Art and beyond
|
Reela Hota tells NANDINI BHATTACHARYYA about the inspirations and aspirations that made her an Odissi dancer
|
FOR A DISCIPLINED MIND Odissi dancer Reela Hota
Odissi exponent Reela Hota considers dance as a medium to attain self-discipline. She is sure her future holds pursuits beyond dancing.
But as a student of yoga, she lives in the present, and that means concentrating on the solo Odissi performance she is giving this Sunday evening at 7 at New Delhi's Kamani auditorium. Excerpts from an interview...
Q: Tell me about your gurus....
A: My mother took me to Guru Gangadhar Pradhan when I was about eight. He was very strict, quite a martinet in fact. I hated it then. It is only when I saw Madhavi Mudgal perform in Delhi that I realised Odissi had to be my goal in life. I was under her tutelage for 10 years.
Q: Then came Kelubabu?
A: Yes. With a guru like that, almost anyone can become a dancer. It would be 90 per cent his work and 10 per cent the dancer's calibre. I learnt from him for only five years. This regret will remain with me forever.
Q: Tell me some more about him
A: He was so elastic! That is what struck me first. Actually he developed and evolved his style till the very end. One could say that the Kelubabu of the 1960s was quite different from the '70s or the '80s...I follow his style as it had become towards the end of his life.
Q: When you train, what aspects are uppermost in your mind?
A: Technical perfection is an obsession with me. But even so, I am attracted by the spiritiual aspect of all Indian dance forms.
Q: Spirituality ?
A: Yes. I have performed theme-based dances on the tantra, the yogas, on the lives of saints.... Such content inspires me.
Q: What is your immediate plan?
A: The omnipresent plan is to improve my dance on a daily basis. There are a number of performances coming up. One is the Art India show on Sunday at Kamani, and the other is the Chalukya Festival in the South. I am also working on my next project, which I will not divulge now....
Q: What about the future?
A: I don't plan to dance forever. You see, dance is not the end-all and be-all for me. It is just a means to discipline my mind and body. Just another form of yoga, in fact. The day I feel that I have given it my all and have gotten whatever I need to get out of it, I will give it up
Q: Seems incredible that after investing so much time and devotion to dance you will just switch over to another mode....
A: No, no. I have not devoted my time to dance. I have devoted it for myself, and dance has been the means for attaining self-discipline. I could have easily chosen music or yoga... I probably shall. My ultimate aim is sanyas or renunciation. That is why I can think of leaving it so easily! One has to evolve and go on.
Q: Have you decided on how to fill he vacuum when you become la belle dame sans dance?
A: My faith will sustain me. I am deeply spiritual
Q: Is dance a good career in India?
A: No. We all know about the horror stories, the kind of things that an artiste has to do to get programmes. There is no dignity to it as a profession.
Q: Then?
A: I am repulsed to see the attitude of the artistes themselves. People should form a forum to protest against such atrocities, compromising the kala for the sake of programmes... something is wrong somewhere. But I know something, if I am good enough, people will take me.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
|
