Jyoti Nair Belliappa
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The Score Magazine
Enigmatically Yours
Jyoti Nair Belliappa
Dancers under the influence of the transformative power of dance often like sharing their experiences of beauty, empathy, creativity and historicity. It is particularly consequential in the context of Bharata Natyam. These statements are made through the metaphysical expositions of dance. What sets Alarmelvalli apart as a dancer is her existential commitment to an ever evolving tradition. Her work is seen as a metaphor which translates her existentialist thought in a poetic image that is an experience in totality. Indeed there is a kind of imperative under the commitment to artistic truth and tradition that Valli considers her mantra for success.“ Dance has been a sacred commitment and I’ ve understood the value and import of self-discipline and enrichment”. Goaded by her mother, she led an unusually busy life dedicated to dance and the imbibing of ancient texts. This learning provided a magical key to the world.“ My illustrious Guru, Guru Chokkalingam Pillai blessed me in a way that stands etched in my memory. When I performed the most difficult varnam before my Guru as a fragile young thing, he said,‘ You will grow up to be a big dancer, but I won’ t be there then’.” After him, his son Subbaraya Pillai generously imparted the subtle nuances of the dance form, strengthening her hold on the Pandanainallur Tradition. It is said that‘ Man is on the stage without a role to play and he has to justify his presence by creating a role for himself’. This has been Valli’ s experience from the dance and music that she was exposed to, from childhood. In order to appreciate and decipher the intricacies of abhinaya, she learnt the most vivid and powerful dramatic statements in Oddisi from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. This led to further introspection and celebration of her treasured Bharata Natyam. Valli surmises,“ In an age devoid of technology like i-pods, one learnt more through reflection and being left to ones’ own resources to comprehend, digest and grow creatively, evolving one’ s individualistic style. Instead of running the tape-recorder, the beat and the music ran through one’ s own head with a better sense of timing as one had internalized the music; Bala Saraswathi’ s iconic dance has stood the test of time; much like Yamini Krishnamoorthy and Satyajit Ray in their respective mediums.” Highlighting what tradition actually meant, she points out the perils of imitation which could lead to cloning and derivatives.“ In the new global scene the old masters are gone. Very often the aspirants learn by watching performers and dance teachers and copying them. In the olden days, the Guru seldom performed and demonstrated through the gesture which astonishingly conveyed sense, so that individuality remained. There was no packaged information of ideas and images. Focus on breath-taking physicality of movement can become almost acrobatic if not presented with subtle understanding of the ageless message of symmetry, beauty and feeling. There is a symmetrical asymmetry in dance which has to be accentuated to compete it such that to break a line there should be an artistic value to it.” Valli has welldefined contours without palpable bounds.“ In the greatest of artistes, ego is sublimated while performing. A complete integrity of self and Art is seen in a true artiste, not just an experience of virtuosity. The least perfect human being can still transform and present the purest of emotions. Thus the egos get sublimated in Art form. A true artist gives complete integrity to self and art and if he projects himself, his art would fail to convince. One has to learn to guard against the catering to the whims of the gallery.” Brought up in a colonial setup, in a sprawling ten acre house, Valli grew up with the dichotomy of a western education and Indian cultural sensibility and kept her two personalities progressively separate. She believes that the Teaching of the Gurus cannot be quantified. Valli pays the highest tribute to her Guru Smt. Muktha whose selfless contribution to her growth as an artiste made her dance –‘ a personal poetry, expressive,, evocative, vibrant, a joyous and an uplifting experience, a picture of consummate grace as she flits across the stage magnificent, mercurial and breathtaking’; In her dance one sees‘ the myriad moods and nuances of Bharata Natyam- a celebration of body, mind and ultimately of the spirit.’ In her own words,“ One must see the music and hear the dance.” Recipient of both the Padmashri and the Padma Bhushan and many state and international awards, Valli’ s dance is thus a crucible of this assimilation of movement and sensibility – a supreme attenuation of body and mind. An incident she related comes to mind. In a remote village of Italy where she once performed, an elderly lady knelt before her and touched her in great reverence, transcending all barriers of culture. Hers is the ultimate expression meeting the truth in these lines,
Yatho hasta thatho drishti, Yatho drishti thatho manaha Yatho manaha thatho bhavo Yatho bhavo thatho rasaha Where the gestures are, there the gaze is, Where the gaze is, there the mind is, Where the mind is, there the feeling is, Where the feeling is, there the ecstasy is.