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South Asian Diaspora Dance in Britain
by Chris Bannerman
Exotic display?
“South Asian dance” as a designation evolved largely in the
West in the 1980s, as an alternative to the term “Indian dance”, in order to
embrace practitioners who may have had Pakistani or Bangladeshi roots. The term
“Indian dance” is still used almost interchangeably, in part due to the origins
of many of the forms in what is now present-day India, and in part due to the
Indian dominance of dance activity in the subcontinent today. However, the term
“South Asian Dance” also indicates a broader relationship to the subcontinent
and has gained currency amongst the international diasporic community as it is
felt that it privileges progression and development.
The introduction of South Asian dance in Britain in recent
times can be traced to the legendary performances of Uday Shankar and Ram Gopal
in the 1960s, which attracted large audiences, but which were frequently seen
as exotic displays from a far away land. However, the 1970s saw the arrival in
the UK of numerous families from the Indian subcontinent and with them came the
dance practice of their homelands, largely at that point, the dance forms
Kathak and Bharata Natyam.
Chandalika, The Outcaste
,
Rabindranath Tagore's classic dance-drama about unrequited love, was performed
by Pushpalata Dance Company in 1993. The play incorporates the dance forms
Kathak and Odissi.
View catalogue item
Chandalika, The Outcaste - Photograph 1,
1993
Kathak, a North Indian form stemming from a tradition of
story telling, developed through stylistic schools, or gharanas, led by
families of dancers. Bharata Natyam, previously known as Dasi Attam or Sadir,
developed in South India, and a relationship to sculpture is demonstrated
through the karanas or poses, which are evident in both art forms.
Dance in the subcontinent
Kathak and Bharata Natyam dance forms were widely practised
in the subcontinent and had developed over centuries in what is now present-day
India. In fact a myriad of forms had evolved, usually associated to a specific
region, but common connecting threads were the focus on themes and narratives
from religious mythology, the use of hand gestures to convey meanings and an
articulated use of facial expression. Much of this can be related to principles
set out in the natya shastra, almost certainly the world’s oldest text on
stagecraft.
These forms had, however, undergone major change in the
subcontinent, through individual contributions and a variety of interventions,
including the Moghul period and the European, principally British, colonial
period. Some results of the Moghul patronage of Kathak can be seen in the
virtuosic quality of the form today and the presence of secular narratives
alongside themes from Hindu mythology.
A decline in dance practice and an association with
prostitution led to a colonial law which ended the institution of temple
dancing. This impacted on the training and practice of older styles of South
Asian Dance and a process of what is known as “recovery” was influential in the
development of Bharata Natyam in the 20th century. Rukmini Devi was
instrumental in this process and she did much to establish the current status
of Bharata Natyam, and arguably dance in general, in India today.
This has stimulated debate about the authenticity of the
current manifestations of these traditional forms, but there is no doubt that
dance has had a long heritage in the subcontinent; in fact it is featured in
the Hindu story of creation, in which the god Shiva, or Shiva Nataraja, dances
the cosmos.
Since Indian independence in 1947, there has been an upsurge
of interest in dance. This has taken place within a changing social context of
rapid increases in global travel and communications, economic development,
strengthening perceptions of national identity and lately, emerging political
forces centred around religion, all which impacts, albeit at times indirectly,
on South Asian dance.
Some developments in the dance forms mirror changes which
have taken place in diasporic communities, with traditional solo practice
giving way to group works and secular themes. Chandralekha, a Chennai (Madras)
based choreographer is a key exponent of this trend and has created works that
challenge traditional perceptions and which include references to issues of
human rights and feminism.
Establishing a foothold
By the 1970s, many South Asian families had migrated to
Britain, sometimes via African countries, and this led to a number of
performances by locally based, or visiting artists. These were usually
privately sponsored and typically held in either private homes or in community
halls. From 1972 the Bhavan Institute provided both a venue and a focus for
arts and dance activities, as a way of retaining links with the homeland.
However, for the few students who wished to study dance in depth, one or more
trips to India were considered essential, and the identities of the dance
forms, and the dancers, were inextricably linked to their country of origin.
Establishing a base for South Asian forms in the UK was an
uphill task, as there was still much ignorance about these dance forms, and as
theatre dance in Britain was dominated by large scale ballet companies and a
newly emergent contemporary dance sector. Nonetheless, throughout this period a
number of artists arts policy makers continued to champion the development of
firm foundations for these forms. The establishment of Akademi, known then as
the Academy of Indian Dance, by the Mohiniattam dancer Tara Rajkumar in 1979,
was a seminal event which contributed significantly to a firmer future for
South Asian dance. The dance form Mohiniattam, which originates from Kerala,
has a slow and compelling quality and has risen in popularity and acceptability
in recent decades after a period in which it almost became extinct.
One of the key milestones of the 1970s was a report written
by Naseem Khan, The arts that Britain ignores (1976), which made the case for
the development of strategic policies aimed at establishing a better
environment and targeted funding for minority arts such as South Asian dance.
The effects of this report were to be seen throughout the 1980s as it gave
direction to individuals and forced agencies to reconsider their
policies.
Growth and change
During the 1980s, a number of key agencies and individuals
worked tirelessly to establish a South Asian dance ecology which included work
from both a heritage perspective and work which reflected a contemporary UK
Asian identity. Agencies such as AdiTi now disbanded, Akademi, Bhavan Institute
and Sampad did, and continue to do, much to promote and develop South Asian
dance. Sampad’s strong presence in Birmingham and its cross arts role were
especially significant for developments outside of London. By the end of the
1980s they had been joined by Kadam and more recently Kala Sangam. Their work
has included various modes of engagement – theatre performance as well as
community, education and recreational forms of dance practice. Many of these
embraced participants from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and this is one
factor which encouraged the view of an emerging, specifically British identity
for South Asian dance practice.
This did not mean that links with the subcontinent were
severed and in fact, the establishment of the Nehru Centre in 1992 was designed
to foster dialogue between India and Britain. However, there was a growing
sense that this dialogue was a mutual exchange and that South Asian dance in
the UK had something to offer to India.
It is noticeable that the divide between the traditional
versus contemporary expression of the forms was seen as critical during the
‘70s and ‘80s and that more recent debate has sought to embrace a wide range of
activity. This situation was exacerbated by policies of the Arts Council of
Great Britain (now devolved into the Arts Councils of England, Wales and
Scotland) which during the 1980s prioritised innovation in its funding schemes
for developing, project funded organisations.
This supported the emergence of choreographers such as
Shobana Jeyasingh, whose work, although developed from a Bharata Natyam base,
was contemporary in its concerns and form. Both internal and external pressure
lead to a reconsideration of this policy, but a momentum favouring innovation
had been established, also enhanced by changing demographic factors which
encouraged the continuing evolution of a British-Asian identity.
This emerging identity encouraged experimentation with
contemporary music and enabled collaborations between South Asian
choreographers and composers from western music traditions.
Other links were established through collaborations such as
Pratap Pawar’s Triveni Dance Company, co-founded with Priya Pawar, who
experimented with combining forms such as Flamenco with Kathak based
work.
Triveni Dance Company was set up in 1980 and has toured
extensively in the UK, Asia, Europe and the USA. This flyer advertises one of
their performances,
Prem Bandhan (Love That Binds)
which
featured, among others, Pratap and Priya Pawar as well as thier daughter
Asavari Pawar. This performance of
Prem Bandhan
was held
at the Centrespace Treaty Centre in Hounslow in March 1992.
View catalogue item
Prem Bandan (Love that Binds) - flyer,
1992
Confidence and celebration
The formation of new identities has become an increasing
trend, and a notable strand of this has been the work of artists such as Akram
Khan and Mavin Khoo, who are trained to a high standard in both classical South
Asian forms, Kathak and Bharata Natyam respectively, and western forms such as
contemporary dance and ballet. The heritage versus contemporary divide has
become sufficiently permeable that they each perform traditional concerts as
well as creating contemporary dance works.
The British context for South Asian work was further
emphasised in the establishment of companies comprising only performers trained
in the UK, such as Pushpalata Dance Company, under the direction of the Kathak
and Odissi practitioner Priya Pawar.
This photograph features Indian classical dancer Priya
Pawar paying respect to her dance teacher, Pundit Sundar Prashad. The
photograph was taken sometime in the early 1970s in India. Priya Pawar was born
and raised in Lucknow, India, and came to the Britain 1980. She is versed in
two schools of Indian classical dance, Kathak and Odissi, and has studied with
India' s leading exponents of the two dance forms. As well as her own dance
company, Priya Pawar has opened dance schools in India and Spain.
View catalogue item
Priya Pawar - photograph, ca
1970
There is also a small but growing number of
artists who are not of South Asian origin, who either specialise in South Asian
forms or incorporate it into their dance practice. Additionally, the recent
trend in contemporary dance to draw on movement from martial arts has its
parallel in South Asian dance and the Keralan form Kalari is particularly
evident in some current works.
Seminal events such as Coming of Age, presented by Akademi at
the South Bank Centre in August 2001, have furthered this trend to diversity by
including traditional and popular manifestations of South Asian dance such as
folk forms, filmi dance, inspired by the Bollywood film industry, and dance
from a growing club and popular dance sector. However, it was significant that
the event also included work by senior artists who had contributed to the
earlier phases of the establishment of South Asian dance. Artists such as
Pushkala Gopal, Pratap Pawar, Chitra Sundaram, Unnikrishnan and Sujata Banerjee
performed alongside community participants in a celebration of the diversity
and vitality of this growing field.
This mirrors the arrival of Bollywood musicals and an Asian
presence in popular music and dance so strong that it is now impossible to
imagine Britain without this rich vein of creative energy.
The State of the Art – the present and the future
Perhaps as a result of this raised profile for South Asian
arts in general and dance specifically, there is clear growth in the number of
students in schools and community centres and there are syllabi for both
Bharata Natyam and Kathak as part of the ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of
Dancing) system of examinations. In addition, South Asian Dance has a presence
in educational provision from dance in schools to Higher Education in the form
of undergraduate programmes as well as major research initiatives.
Another recent trend has been the establishment of
international exchanges involving diasporic communities from, for example,
South Africa, USA and the UK. These developments are establishing a globalised
arena for South Asian dance activities and it is not entirely fanciful to
envisage the day when there will be an international presence for these forms,
comparable to that enjoyed by ballet. This may lead to a reconsideration of our
terminology as the link to the geography of South Asia or India becomes more
tenuous.
There have also been a number of key conferences which have
served to develop both the artistic and intellectual underpinning for current
South Asian dance, as well as effective networks for promoting it. In addition,
a number of publications focused on South Asian dance have made their mark;
ExTRADITION, initiated by AdiTi but now called Pulse and under the umbrella of
Kadam, is the latest of these.
Of course there are barriers to the continued development of
South Asian dance in Britain. One of these is the lack of a school for
professional training and, as a result of this, the lack of a clear pathway of
professional opportunity. This will continue to be an inhibiting factor until
proper provision, mirroring that available for ballet and contemporary dance,
is established.
Another difficulty arises from a problem common to all of
dance, but which is more acute for South Asian dance: the ephemerality of
dance. This leaves the field with a paucity of history, no real means of
measuring the distance which has been travelled and a lack of a record to
demonstrate its importance and vitality.
Hopefully, this archive will address that concern and add
significantly to the development of South Asian dance.
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