Window to India

Surekha Kadapa-Bose

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I had asked for magenta, not purple. And it has to be glossy silk, not matt finish!’’ roars Neila Sathyalingam, the Bharatnatyam doyenne who, along with her musician husband, Sathyalingam, established an Indian classical dance academy in Singapore way back in 1977. Neila and her team are touring many cities of South India with a dance-drama production titled ‘Alapadma’.

Neila is a perfectionist and the trait isn’t just confined to a particular shade of magenta as the backdrop of the performance, it trickles down to all the process of creating a piece of art. A Sri Lankan Tamilian by birth, Neila imbibed the perfectionism from her association with the late Rukmini Devi Arundale, who was a revivalist of Bharatnatyam and founder of Chennai-based Kalakhestra, an academy of dance and music, built on the principles of the Indian Gurukul system.

“My passion for classical dances, especially Bharatnatyam, was so intense that even as a kid in my Colombo home, I would wake up around 4 am and start practising the steps, much to the consternation of my father who wanted me to pursue dentistry. Disturbed by the sound of my ghungroos, he told me to practice the bhava (expressions) part in the early hours and tala (rhythmic) in the day,” the danseuse amusingly recalls.

In 1954, Neila won a gold medal at the All-Ceylon Dance Festival and was selected to perform before Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Sri Lanka as part of her tour of the Commonwealth nations. “I was just a 12-year- old and wanted to touch and feel the hands of the Queen. But she wore those long, white elbow-length gloves and I was so disappointed that I couldn’t boast before my school mates that I had touched the Queen’s hands!” Neila, now 78, laughs.

Thanks to her knowledge of Bharatnatyam, she was allowed to directly join the fourth year of a five-year course in the dance form at Kalakshetra at the young age of 18. It was there that she met her husband, authoritarian music guru Sathylingam, who was son of a Sri Lankan politician. They got married and returned to Sri Lanka. Tough times lay ahead as the violent political riots between Sinhalis and Tamilians in 1958 claimed everything the rich and influential family owned. The family decided to resettle in Colombo and she took to teaching dance. She returned to Kalakshetra in 1969 to train as instructor in 1974, the couple along with their four children, migrated to Singapore where Sathyalingam was posted as the area sales manager of a US-based company. Three years later, the couple founded Apsara Arts, an Indian dance academy, which is today an epitome of perfection, talent, creativity and professionalism, known for its well researched productions. “Thanks to our Kalakshetra pedigree, Apsara Arts is now considered a leading classical dance institution presenting innovative works based on Bharatanatyam. Over many years, we have also collaborated on other dance forms from India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and China. We have now added Kathak to our repertoire and are doing experimental work based on Kathak from the Lucknow gharana,’’ says Neila, elaborating on her academy.

Apsara Arts is synonymous with large-scale Indian dance-drama productions where pros from across the world come together on a project, each of them minutely researched by Aravinth Kumarasamy, choreographer-musician-researcher. In fact, one of their 2013productions, ‘Angkor—An Untold Story’, which recreated the story of 12th century Khmer (Cambodia), was a mammoth production costing millions of rupees. It is said to have mesmerized the audience. “We need really good sponsors to repeat that beautiful and breathtaking dance-drama,” says Neila.

Even ‘Alapadma’, the dance-drama they have brought to India this time, is big. The sets, the stage lighting, the costumes, the absolute perfection of each performer and their synchronized moves resemble fluid movement of a wave. ‘Alapadma’ is about unfolding of a lotus flower as is explained in different cultures of India, Egypt, Singapore, China, Iran, etc.

It explores a few aspects of the lotus such as Srishti Sarasija (signifying creation), Pada Pankaja (mythology), Leela Kamala (romance), Alankaara Ambuja (iconography) and Sahasrara Padmam (human wisdom). These aspects are choreographed to various selected lyrics from Alawar Pasuram, Kambar Ramayanam, Abhinaya Dharpana Slokas, verses from the Bhagavatham and poetry of Bharathiyaar and contemporary poets. The selection of ragas is based on the primary emotion of each segment as visualized in the choreography.

Neila accepts the influence of Hindi cinema in the society, but doesn’t hold a grudge.

“It’s sad, but TV production houses have their own compulsions and economics to take care of,” she says, insisting that all art makers have an obligation to ensure the continuity of the chosen art from. “Bharatanatyam artistes today need to spend time and effort in audience-building by reaching out to newer audiences and also make efforts to be accessible to the younger generations,” says Neila as she throws the ball in the performers’ court.