'Mumbai has few platforms for dancers'

You last performed in Mumbai two years ago Any plan to perform in the city soon In spite of having a new production slated for the end of the year I am not performing in Mumbai anytime soon It hardly offers many options for dancers South Mumbai only has the National Centre for the Performing Arts NCPA which has its own policies Meanwhile north Mumbai has St Andrewrsquos Auditorium but itrsquos expensive to rent while Prithvi does not showcase dance I would love to perform in the city but I have not come across any opportunity after the Kala Ghoda festival in 2012 A still from Astad Deboorsquos untitled choreography photo credit u00a0Ritam Banerjee What are you workingu00a0on at present Currently I am rehearsing my work Interpreting Tagore with the street children of Delhi who will perform in October at the Festival of Cervantino the most important festival of performing arts in Latin America in Mexico After having performed eight shows in different cities in Mexico we will perform in Bogota Colombia at the end of October In the beginning of November we perform in SpainI am also rehearsing my solo for a performance on September 21 in Washington DC to mark the 10th anniversary celebration of the Daniel Phoenix Dance Company Daniel is a trained Bharat Natyam dancer and had also studied contemporary dance in the US I am also rehearsing with the Pung Cholam drummers of Manipur on a piece called Rhythm Divine which wil be performed on October 1 at a dance festival organised by Raja and Radha Reddy A new work is in the process of being developed with an Indian classical musician Many international artistes are coming down to perform in India Yes there are a few who come down to perform Sometimes due to lack of space in Mumbai the artistes perform in lecture halls At times the attendance is rather poor at such venues where as in the other metro cities there are enough platforms available Do dancers receive commissioned projectsu00a0in India In my career spanning 40 years I have gained a good audience But for the past two decades I am producing my own works Such is the sad truth The concept of getting art work commissions does not exist in India You were born in the year India won its Independance How was the dance scenario then I started studying Kathak at the age of six and after completing my college education I went overseas to study contemporary dance I returned in 1978 and started exploring the possibilities of presenting my work which was not easy but I managed to cultivate an audience The media was extremely supportive because something new was being tried Today the situation is different Everybody wants to do contemporary dance What is your take on the contemporary dance scenario today Today the dancers are not trained to the extent they should be and there is no technique to their training The result is extremely poor which shows in their dance Even choreographers are not welltrained and their vocabulary is very limited Indian classical dancers too are trying to contemporarise their work but many a times they fail The process of creating a contemporary work requires a lot of careful crafting Just by adding nonclassical music to a piece does not make it contemporary One needs excellence of physical training which does not end at the ability to jump and twist How did your work with street children begin Between 1988 and 2007 I was actively working with the hearingimpaired community in Kolkata and Chennai I educate children in dance with a precise method of mentoring In 2008 I tied up with the NGO Salaam Baalak Trust I started mentoring 14 young performers and created a work in 2009 called Breaking Boundaries After this I was looking at creating a new work in 2011 to celebrate Rabindranath Tagorersquos 150th birth anniversary I selected eight young men from Salaam Baalak trust who had trained with my company As an Indian performer how is the response when you perform abroad Taking your performance overseas is not all that easy but the response I get for my work is very assuring What sort of response does your work receive in India In the last four decades I have developed an audience in India and with time it has grown Presently there is an entire new audience comprising young people who are very appreciative of my work It is very refreshing What sort of performances do you enjoy watching I recently watched Kathak expert Kumudini Lakhia perform in the city I love watching different dance and music performances wherever I go I love to observe the choreography the music other performers are using This educates me with any new composer on the block and I take it as a process to keep myself updated I seldom deconstruct a piece as I like to sit back and enjoy the show I have seen some good and bad performances I donrsquot judge the performance of a newcomer as it reminds me of my time as a beginner As a dancer what is your thought process For a classical dancer the subject revolves around Radha Krishna and other mythological gods and character As a contemporary dancer I have to think what wants me to make the piece and derive what subject do I want to work with I may bring in a few moves of Kathak and Kathakali sometimes or create my own movement I am always researching and learning If I stop looking for different ways it will reflect in my work and the audience will say lsquoYeh toh dekha tha last timersquo I saw this last time What is the nature of the audience today Todayrsquos audience has no patience and they want every thing jaldi quick This is one of the reasons why performers have started cutting short their pieces I was working with a French choreographer on a project and he came with a 20minute work My performances are at least 75 minutes long Why do you think some Indian classical dancers condemn the contemporary dance form For those who follow Margam and are against contemporary dances I say one thing lsquoYou like Dal Dhokli and I like Undhiyursquo It is okay if they are not open to contemporary and I can understand that