Here is why classical dance has its own importance, lets read to what Dr. Vaishali Magasar explained in her speech at TEDxEXIM fair Gujarat :
"As a Bharatnatyam dancer I often come to the stage and I depict, Lord Shiva, the one holding a miniature drum on his hand and the fire on the other and he has one hand as a protected gesture and his left hand is flung across his body. His right leg is firmly pressed on a dwarf demon and his left leg is lifted up pointing towards the cosmos. Sometimes I become Radha the cowherdess waiting for Krishna because she is hopelessly in love with them. In tonight composition she is sitting by the river Yamuna waiting and suddenly she sees him playing flute under the Katavar tree. Sometimes Durga holding the spear in my hand a stride the lion and the anguish and kill the buffalo-faced demon, the Mahishasura.
You may ask why are you depicting the age old myth the mythologicalcharacters that existed or may not have been existed thousands years ago, what is the relevance of depicting all of these in today's time in the 21 century and if I have really wanted to know any this about Shiva or Radha Krishna's romance I would have surfed the net or have read book why do I have to see it through the medium of an age old dance, I mean there are more pressing issue, right! International peace, global warming, cancer awareness why do I gave to look and Radha Krishna's romance, Shiva cosmic dance, Durga killing Mahishasura,
... why?
Ladies and gentlemen these questions are asked to me quite often and I must confess in initially I have been not known them but over the years of love affair with my dance the dialogue that I had I found answers myself I find that classical dance has and an in depth symbolism to it.
It is replete with allegories and metaphor it not just a visual spectacles it is something deeper than that, it's that attaches your soul that stirs your soul and it is something transcends the senses of the eyes and the ears and it reached right inside your heart and this the magic of classical dance and this as much necessary in the country as much as any other industry or services is, for prosperity for nation building for peace and harmony. Because when I show Shiva I m naturally speaking of the crucial balance of the creation because the primeval drum symbolizes creation and fire that which denotes destruction so I m actually taking about this crucial balance that all of us need to make of creation and resolution of creating something new changing it again it again refreshing it.
This theme of creation and resolution is something that all of us need to inculcate in our life for the progress and this right leg which is stepped firmly on that dwarf demon is actually the ignorance and our ego at it is when we subjugate this bringing down and eradicated and its only then can we liberate our self because that is when the left leg and the left hand is both join towards the supreme consciousness and Shiva's right hand protective gesture and amidst all this fanatic activity of creation , destrtruction ,subdjucting the ego, liberation.
Shiva himself has a very peaceful compliance, Which tells us we need to be calm amidst being dynamic, so again that's a lesson we learn coming together of being static and being dynamic at the same time like a trees that takes years to be static but it is dynamic because every second it is growing to creates flower, fruits, leaves, shades again we learn the same static dynamic concept. And Radha Krishna romance, Radha is actually an example an allegory of the human souls yearning for the divine.
All of us are Radha's all of us are those microscopic manifestations as she says , wanting to identify with that one huge macroscopic cosmic energy. Durga, holding this spear, is the first reference to women empowerment in our country because it is a woman that has to kill to an evil and she represents the victory of truth over evil. Classical dance it's not just a mere spectacle because deep secrets are along with the language of the dance form and along with the grandeur and the renaissance of dance form I had learnt from my Gurus. Can this just end within me? No, I have to take it forward because I have a responsibility of spending so many years learning this dance form dialoging with this dance from so I need to take this forward and I need to teach whatever have learn and gathered to the next generation because I know that classical dance is essential for the nation building how is that? Because it is important to shape the future of our youth with a sense of cultural identity with a sense that they have a strength of conviction of being thought of this thousands and thousands year old tradition and a heritage that we have imbibed.
So I have noticed that when I have taught children they transform the way they walk changes it becomes more graceful and confident their attitude towards life changes the way they perceive things the ways they react to the situations, it changes. And this huge amount of the transformation that takes place they take pride in being Indian they take pride in being heart of that river in our country which is flowing down the ages. And what about my audience? My audience, there is a sense of inner elation and unconditional happiness when they leave the theatre after a classical dance form they are happy and it's an unexplainable happiness.
It is the happiness that doesn't come with material wealth or with power or with status; it is an inner peace and harmony why doesn't that which is most important for a nation to be happy, to progress, a classical dance helps you to do that. So we need to shape the future by inculcate the appreciation for dance everyone cannot be dancers but everybody can become Rasika's everybody can understand and appreciate dance. And what is dance to me?
Dance is the medium of self realization for me, to understand my self and my presence in this universe and I have understood that dance is essential for the soul, you can have a lot of material wealth but it is the soul's happiness which is going to give you the true wealth."
As she bid farewell , she made us realise that dance is not just a mere activity but a way to express and live for many out there , It was an intresting session , I still feel unsatisfied as I still have so much to tell about her sayings , her words touched my heart deeply . Let me know how you felt reading this blog , and what’s your oppinion on the same !
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The pictures are sourced from Pixabay and the individual sourced links are given !
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