This year's Delhi International Arts Festival is a perfect blend of folk, contemporary and traditional. On day one, Shrabasti Mallik met the artistes who have embraced traditions and techniques of other cultures to come up with performances that are a fit for the global audience
The vibrantly lighted backdrop of the Purana Qila served as the perfect setting for the beginning of the eighth edition of Delhi International Arts Festival. Unlike last year, this year the festival promises the audience performances by the artistes from across 14 countries. On day one of the festival, Vedic scholars of Varanasi mesmerised everyone present with Vedic Chants of Veda-Shakha Swadhyaya. Gakko Dance Troupe from Kazakhstan and dancers from Turkey brought to the Indian stage a slice for their own culture. The most interesting performance of the evening was Malay dancers performing classical Bharatanatyam. We caught up with the performers.
Malaysia (Aswara Dance Company)
At an event like DIAF, one would expect traditional Malay dance from the group. But the dancers were ready to perform a classical Bharatanatyam. “We at Aswara National Arts Academy practice multiculturalism and we are trained in dance forms from all over the country,” said Mohd Yunus Bismail, the leader of the group. He informed that although most of the students were form different origin, they take a common pleasure in learning the dance form of every culture. He added, “Every dance is taught by teachers who are professionally trained in that form. Our Bharatanatyam teacher is Indian, trained in the Temple of Fine Arts, Kuala lumpur.” Another dancer from the group, Kairi Mokhtar, informed a little more about their performance, “We will be performing the Varman Swamy Nan Unthan Adimei, which narrates the story of Shiva and Parvati and the various ways of praising the lord.”
Although they were performing Bharatanatyam, the Malay group said they would be happy to perform traditional Malay dance forms in India. “We would be happy to perform Malay dance. In fact we will be performing traditional Malay folk dance in Jammu in a few days,” informed Yunus. “There is a very beautiful conversation between a man and a boy — we have come up with dance around the same,” he said.
Most Malay dance is accompanied by live music of the rebana (a giant drum), the nafiri (a trumpet) and the seruling (traditional Malay flute). But there are times when they are travelling and they have no choice but to perform on recorded tracks. “Most of our dances come from different communities. like we have Zapin, Inang, Rodat, Sewang, Chang and ritual dances like Joget,” said Kairi.
One of the members of the group was performing the steps of a traditional Kazakhstan folk dance backstage. Norbai Zura, clad in the classical Bharatanatyam costume, said, “We at the academy are trained in this dance form too, we are familiar with it.”
Turkey Folk Dance
The Turkish group of dancers with live music of the tulum (a bag type wind instrument made of goat skin) and kenamche (a stringed instrument, whose fiddle is made of horse tail), wrapped up day one of the festival on a very lively and colourful note.
The dance was performed by men dressed in black, with silver trimmings and females decked in bright costumes, a black head scarf and multicoloured knitted stockings. They linked arms and quivered to the vibrations of the kenamche. What they performed on stage was an amalgamation of traditional folk dances of the Black Sea region, from where the dancers hail. “Geographically the region is big and each district has its unique dance form,” said one of the members. Their dance was a mix of three different folk forms. They began with the Trabzon and moved to Artvin which, she explained, “reflects people’s relation with the wild. The dance is very dynamic yet smooth at times, accompanied by drums and accordions.” The typical Black Sea region dance is performed by men and women together and separately.
They ended their performance with horon. “The movements in horon dances are fast, trembling the entire body, very much like the movement of hamsi (a kind of fish) as it swims in the sea or struggles in the net for life,” she said. An ever increasing tempo was kept up by the kemenceci or fiddler. These movements included: kneeling, sudden squats, sharp turns left and right, stamps, kicks from the knee, high thrusts from the thigh, walking while squatting, hopping forward on the left leg while “pawing” on the right like a horse, sudden outward arm thrusts and others.
The dancers also formed a line with the leader in the center. “When men and women perform together, the dance is often referred to as rahat or comfortable horon. Usually the dancers clasp fingers and extend their arms just below or above shoulder height, standing comfortably apart from one another. At other times, their bodies are closer together, with arms at their sides or bent at the elbows,” she shared.
Gakko Dance
Troupe (Kazakhstan)
The members of the dance troupe danced to the melodies of the flute and the dombra (a stringed instrument). They looked elegant in long flowing dresses and their traditional headgear, saukele. The dance mostly was about elaborate hand movements and they used a traditional rug as a prop.