Choreographer blends Indian, local dances

Cameron Bates, Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The nationwide Festival of India continues on Wednesday night with Sangam, an original dance piece featuring a collaboration of the linked Indian, Sundanese and Balinese classical dancing styles.

Indian Embassy cultural attache Nandini Sinha, a choreographer, dancer and teacher, said the piece would visualize the story of Mahabrarata, a famous Hindu epic known to both Indonesians and Indians.

The performance, featuring 25 dancers and five musicians, follows the well-received Indian Embassy organized Hanuman Duta earlier this year, which incorporated Wayang puppetry, kathak dancers from India and kecak dancers from Bali.

Sinha said her latest choreography built on the earlier collaboration, which centered on the epic tale of Ramayana.

"Mahabrarata shows the realistic part of the Indian psyche. It is more realistic because it gives you a mirror or reflection of the overall society."

She said the story focused on Drupadi, who had five husbands, and two clans, the Pandawa (good) and the Kurawa (evil), who represented both sides of the human character.

"The five husbands actually epitomize the five qualities which she wanted. But it is Shiva, the creator, he has said you cannot find these five qualities in one husband so you have to take five."

She would not say what the five qualities were. "For that you have to come to the show."

Sinha said India and Indonesia had long-standing historical and cultural links which were reflected in deep cultural and artistic affinities between the people of the two countries.

"This project is to bind together, to identify our cultures, to bring the effectiveness of this whole system, once more revitalizing ourselves, reorientating ourselves through culture."

She said the show had three central dancers, including herself as Drupadi and one each from Java and Bali, with each dancer using their indigenous styles to play their parts.

The Kathak (storytelling) dance originated in temples from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India before it found its way to the courtrooms of the nobles.

Kathak, which has been enriched in recent times and includes influences by Hindu and Islamic traditions, is the most popular Indian classical dance style, which also has considerable scope for improvisation.

A typical kathak dance, whose themes in general are both devotional as well as secular, comprises nritt (pure dance), nritya (representational items) and matya (drama).

Sinha said the Indian system of hand gestures used in the dance had a greater spectrum compared to the more limited Indonesian dances using hand gestures.

"We have many varied hand gestures, we have 108 hand gestures and 204 karnas (total movement)."

She said the performance was important for the festival themed "friendship through culture".

"I think that with more of this kind of collaboration, the more we interact with the different cultures, I think friendship through culture will strengthen and become more effective."

Sangam plays just once in Jakarta at the TIM theater at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 23. The show then travels to Denpasar, Bali on Oct. 25 and Yogyakarta on Oct. 27. For further information on Sangam and other details of the Festival of India go to www.festival.indoindians.com.