Today I attended a wonderful talk on Divinity in Art organized by the New Age Sage in Andheri, Mumbai and hosted by Anurag Chauhan . The speaker Kalashri Lata Surendra, a Bharatnatyam veteran who has spent 5 decades on the stage shared moving experiences from her life on the challenges she faced in truly spreading the art and just like her name, the creeper of art had to be nourished by her against all odds.As she ended her talk by addressing the young artists in the audience, she said, 'Do not give up on art, hang in there!!'
Latakka, as she is called by her 'kannas', shared how her father was truly the driving force behind her becoming an artist. He is the one who told her that after every performance you see, touch the stage the artist just danced on, so you can get blessed by the vibrations. This propelled her with the desire that one day her father would watch her perform on stage. She mentioned here how important it is for parents to recognize the talent in a child and take them to the correct Guru for training. A lack of either can lead to improper nurturing of a child's talent.
'Become one with the pain' she further said. As a dancer, one has to overcome physical pain and not be affected by it. Just like in the Gita, Krishna says that a Dhyana Yogi is one who is untouched by the trials of the body or the surroundings, so should a dancer be, to experience the 'Sukha' of being one with the dance.
The pregnant silence between sound, the pregnant sound between silence... the pregnant movement between stillness, the pregnant stillness between movement... as a dancer one has to understand this in order to create. Rhythm is what makes a movement dance and is the absolute essence of life. At the same time one has to remember that we are recreating the stories of yesterday, in order to give the today the future. Thus innovation can be done, but not outside the bounds of tradition. While one has to be aware of the changing trends in society, one cannot forget, that stories and philosophies in our dance can help heal the wrong trends in today's society.
(L-R: Jalpa, Guru Renu Sharma, Kalashri Lata Surendra, Shruti Vaidya, Sunil Sunkara, Anurag Chauhan)
'Become one with the pain' she further said. As a dancer, one has to overcome physical pain and not be affected by it. Just like in the Gita, Krishna says that a Dhyana Yogi is one who is untouched by the trials of the body or the surroundings, so should a dancer be, to experience the 'Sukha' of being one with the dance.
Lata Surendra and Anurag Chauhan in conversation
The pregnant silence between sound, the pregnant sound between silence... the pregnant movement between stillness, the pregnant stillness between movement... as a dancer one has to understand this in order to create. Rhythm is what makes a movement dance and is the absolute essence of life. At the same time one has to remember that we are recreating the stories of yesterday, in order to give the today the future. Thus innovation can be done, but not outside the bounds of tradition. While one has to be aware of the changing trends in society, one cannot forget, that stories and philosophies in our dance can help heal the wrong trends in today's society.
L-R Sunil Sunkara, Aavinash Payal, Anurag Chauhan, Madhusudan Menon
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