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Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Crossing barriers A file photo of artistes from Ability Unlimited

His “Women of India from 6000 B.C. to 2000 A.D”, “Ramayana on Wheels” (for actors confined to wheelchairs), “Rumi on Wheels”, “Jesus loves you”, “Bhagavan Mahaveer”, “The Truthful Cow and the Kind Tiger” are pioneering productions which, staged all over the world, have won encomium. As an international scholar who was in Cornell University and invited to work at Sutra Theatre at Kuala Lumpur, Pasha has formed an organisation called Ability Unlimited as a unit of the National Centre for Promotion of Arts and Culture for Persons with Disabilities.

After the awards ceremony, the programme mounted by Pasha’s disciples at the Kamani was an eye-opener. To draw out the latent talent amongst persons compelled to function under physical and mental obstacles and handicaps are wonderful in themselves. What was even more praiseworthy was the care with which the programme had been put together with nothing left to chance. Every aspect had been carefully rehearsed, from the excellent soundtrack with impeccable diction of even Sanskrit sahitya to the lighting, tasteful costuming, and compering. The Thang Ta type of sword play — all by actors on wheelchairs — and the Ramayana scenes with Ravana (while pinned to a wheelchair) resplendent and regal in Kathakali getup, a very expressive Sita, the Gitopadesh sequence in which both participants as Arjuna and Krishna (moving with ease on crutches) proved to be very communicative in their acting, were all aspects of the evening to savour. Even the Durga/Mahishasura sequence seeking inspiration from both the Purulia Chhau and Seraikela Chhau was amazingly refreshing to watch.

Earlier, Odissi dancer Alpana, mounting Samhav-2007, had presented her “differently abled disciples” at the India International Centre, the event involving many other artistes working with gifted children. Jeevan Jyoti Home (Holy Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity) and Educatum Foundation Delhi were co-sponsors of the programme, which began with discussions.

While the Chief Guest mentioned globalisation with Western ideas puncturing the ancient Indian ethos of the oneness of body, mind and spirit of which our arts were a part, it was left to Odissi dancer Sharon Lowen who while agreeing with the holistic world view of ancient India, made the point that there was a great deal more to Western dance than what had been superficially seen. There is a great deal of depth in dance in the West that Indians had not been exposed to – and which carried the same principles involving both spirit and body. As a matter of fact, it was Modern Dance in the West that first sowed the seeds of Dance Therapy. Much like dancer Alpana, classical dancers had been drawn into using dance for the handicapped, after seeing the beneficial effects of months of practicing dance amongst such persons.

Kanak Sudhakar, a Bharatanayam dancer, who has written a book on the advantages of using the art form for disabled persons, has been experimenting with her disciples watching daily the accruing benefits of practising this art form. But it was Tripura Kashyap who, somewhat miffed at the usual method of thinking only in terms of the classical forms, spoke of the real therapy-oriented ways of working with Modern Dance where one is not locked into a body technique which has its overuses and under-uses leading to an imbalance. Dance Therapy whether developmental or adaptive, involved assessing the individual needs and then developing movement patterns, taking off from the physical-emotional level of the participant.

Shruti, musician and educationist, gave an informative lecture-demonstration on how sound and music (including devices like chanting) helped in the healing process. While the evening programme was full of surprises, what really amazed was the Odissi presented by Bhubaneswar’s Nityananda Das whose art had transcended his one-legged handicap by sheer dint of hard work and determination.

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