An ancient Indian dance form and forbidden teenage dreams — uniting with passion on P.E.I.

Bharatanatyam — it is an historic type of classical Indian dance that is as entrenched in Indian tradition as ballet is within the West. It originated in southern India as a component of worship in Hindu temples.

However regardless of its prominence in Indian tradition, having the chance to study this particular dance type has been a forbidden teenage dream for some women in India.

Aparna Roy Kollannur was raised Catholic, one of many largest spiritual minorities in her native state of Kerala.

“My dad may be very spiritual,” she stated.

Kerala is close to the birthplace of Bharatanatyam and as such, the dance type is a big a part of the area’s tradition.

Roy Kollannur stated that whereas “all people” round her realized Bharatanatyam when she was rising up, her household would not let her study the dance largely as a result of its spiritual associations.

“I needed to do like a bachelor’s in Bharatanatyam, after which grasp’s, after which do analysis in it, and stuff like that. However my mother and father would not let me try this,” Roy Kollannur stated.

“It is not like a occupation that is within the social framework in India.”

Nonetheless, she returned to her “past love” later in life, coaching below two gurus in India and studying each the speculation and follow behind the dance. 

That is my method of reforming the societal view, and the societal construction.– Aparna Roy Kollannur

Now Roy Kollannur is sharing her ardour for Bharatanatyam with Islanders.

She got here to P.E.I. just a few years in the past as a pupil.

And this month, she began giving weekly Bharatanatyam classes to youngsters and adults on the DownStreet Dance non-profit dance studio in Charlottetown.

“Aparna truly approached us and needed to show her class in an setting that was supportive. So we stated sure, completely,” stated Laura Weatherbie, DownStreet’s board president.

“We’re so excited to assist anybody who needs to show individuals somewhat bit about their tradition.”

‘A type of expression and communication’

Selvi Roy is certainly one of Roy Kollannur’s college students.

“I have been right here 10-odd years and I’ve spoken with individuals who have been right here for 60 years plus. And all of them have stated the identical factor: ‘We have not had anyone train Bharatanatyam right here in P.E.I.,'” she stated.

“We have had people who know the dance, who’ve realized the dance and graduated and are acting on totally different levels … However what Aparna brings to P.E.I. in the meanwhile, I doubt we have ever had.”

Like Roy Kollannur, Selvi Roy additionally grew up in India, and her need to study Bharatanatyam was additionally quashed at an early age. 

She stated some of her fellow college students have expressed comparable motivations to study the dance: they weren’t allowed the chance to take action once they have been youthful.

“I grew up in within the northern a part of the nation, a province the place this dance type was the privilege of solely the elite, as a result of studying this dance type was a really costly endeavour,” stated Roy.

“It was in opposition to the working class ethos of the time, in the event you could, that youngsters study to work greater than study to bounce.”

Roy’s household was additionally Catholic. She stated that rising up she needed to be very discreet when the topic of Bharatanatyam got here up, and solely not often had the chance to observe performances on TV. 

She solely ever attended two dance concert events. She went with buddies, and by no means stated a phrase about it to her mother and father.

There’s somewhat teen someplace deep inside me who needs to study the dance and have the ability to specific freely.— Selvi Roy

“A part of me may need to inform my dad, that, ‘Effectively, I do have an opportunity to bounce now.’ So there is perhaps, there’s somewhat teen someplace deep inside me who needs to study the dance and have the ability to specific freely,” Roy stated.

“There’s a very tiny component of riot there. However for probably the most half, it’s a type of expression and communication. It’s a communion of the physique with the spirit in oneself. That, for me, is the essence of the dance.”

Storytelling and dance

Bharatanatyam has its roots in an historic treatise of the humanities referred to as the Natya Shastra and for many of its historical past was carried out solely in Hindu temples by girls.

The dance is normally accompanied by music in a South India model that includes conventional devices, and lyrics associated to Hindu mythology. 

Roy stated that as a result of the dancers are representing the divine, they usually need to put on their “greatest apparel”: Vibrant, hand-woven silks, numerous shiny jewellery, and lots of ornaments, all of which have symbolic significance.

The dancing itself is not any much less symbolic.

“It grew to become a type of storytelling of the traditional scriptures that have been there,” Roy stated. 

“The motion goes from gradual to quick and quick to gradual relying on the story that’s being narrated, … [the beat] goes to a increased frequency if you’re telling tales possibly of battle, of rage … However when feelings of affection are expressed, the cadence can be softer or slower.”

Roy stated moreover glorious footwork, the dance requires lots coordination between physique, fingers, and even the fingers and the eyes. That is as a result of the dance is predicated on a sequence of gestures that may take years to grasp, all with a sure that means.

“[You’re] speaking a narrative to the viewers, with music, with expressions with footwork with handwork,” stated Roy Kollannur. 

“If you need to convey something, you are able to do it by Bharatanatyam.”

Demystifying an historic dance type

Roy Kollannur stated she’s making an attempt to show her college students the foundations of the dance. However she’s no traditionalist.

She stated that in her humble method she’s making an attempt to demystify the dance for extraordinary individuals, making an attempt to place much less of an emphasis on Bharatanatyam’s spiritual facet and extra on its skill to inform totally different sorts of tales.

“This isn’t for individuals of a sure nation, or no matter. It’s for everyone,” she stated. “I would not name it riot. However I’d say [Bharatanatyam] is my method of reforming the societal view, and the societal construction.”

“The entire level of what we do is to encourage individuals who possibly have by no means danced, possibly to encourage individuals who have by no means tried a dance from a distinct tradition, or in the event that they’re from India and so they’re on the lookout for one thing that is a touchstone,” Weatherbie stated.

“It is constructing neighborhood throughout cultural obstacles, proper? As an alternative of constructing them.”

Sharing a ardour with others

Roy Kollannur stated dancing has helped her survive very darkish occasions in her life associated to her private struggles with nervousness and despair.

She stated she has tried many types of dancing, from reggae to Afrobeat to Zumba and Bollywood-style dancing. However none join along with her the identical method than Bharatanatyam.

“It additionally provides me a whole lot of positivity and a whole lot of confidence, as a result of that is one thing that I’ve needed to do my whole life. And I am lastly doing it,” she stated.

Roy Kollannur stated her household is now extra supportive since they know she’s nonetheless not misplaced her ardour for dance. Now, her objective is to generate that very same ardour in others.

“I’ve had a whole lot of goals about dancing and educating dance,” she stated.

“My household sort of put it down or like did not let me do it, however now that I am right here, I’ve a lot alternatives. I can do one thing new and I can introduce Bharatanatyam to different individuals.”