It’s hard to box dancer Sanjukta Sinha into the category of either Kathak or contemporary dance. She is here, as well as there – she has the best of both. Ahmedabad-based Sinha credits her unique repertoire to her guru Kumudini Lakhia, one of the foremost gurus of Kathak in India who breached traditional barriers long back to infuse contemporary elements into this classical dance of north India.Ahead of her performance titled “Kin” at Mumbai’s National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) on November 10 as part of NCPA’s Contemporary Dance Season 2016, Sinha speaks to Blouin Artinfo on her unique repertoire, new generation audiences and why she prefers not to dress like a stereotypical dancer with a big bindi and a heavy saree.Your guru is known for introducing contemporary elements into classical nuances of Kathak. How much of an influence does she continue to be on your new compositions such as the one you are presenting at the NCPA?She continues to be the biggest influence on me and I continue to be in awe of a visionary that she is, even at the age of 86. She is much ahead of her time and my endeavor has been to imbibe all that she thinks and creates. I first met her in 2004 when she was a judge at a youth festival that I was participating in. And I began training with her in 2006. I don’t think anyone has lived with her for so long. Because of her, Ahmedabad is now my home even though I grew up in Lucknow.Do you believe in fusion of totally different dances?My name, Sanjukta, means bringing together, collaboration. I have loved collaborations since a very tender age. When I was about 24-25, I started collaborating with jazz musicians from France, and at Alliance Francaise de Ahmedabad, I presented a dance performance in collaboration with rock musicians and had an audience of 3,000 people. I love doing collaborations but I am unable to do now as each collaboration requires a lot of time. However, I’m now into a different type of collaboration. My producer is IceCraft, a venture by Chirag Mehta who is from the corporate world!What is the chief inspiration for your contemporary solo presentations like “Kin”?My chief inspiration continues to be my guru Kumi Ben, who never believed in just Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Parvati choreographies. I was so amazed when I saw videos of her compositions that are based on subjects as diverse as the state of mind, the right hand, among others. “Kin” is something similar — it’s the journey of a woman through various phases. The first piece, “Illumine,” is a woman’s connect with the divine exemplified with the ray of light. It has some amazing light effects by Fabiana, who is from England. The second piece, “Id,” is about the darker side of the human mind; I wonder how purists would react to this – I, a Kathak dancer, playing this part, scratching her hair and showing a woman’s connect with the darker side where there is not much difference between humans and animals. The third, “Incede,” is my guru’s piece and it deals with love and longing.Could you talk about the response of the younger generation of audiences to classical dance? As a dancer, I have a responsibility to engage my audiences. As I belong to this generation, I also know that I have to be smart to lend brilliance to what I create. I have to know how to draw a balance between the classical and the contemporary because I cannot create only to please a certain variety of audience. But, one is also aware that you cannot please all. At the same time, I also have to keep my freedom. So, you see it’s a delicate balance. And I think contemporary dance as is practiced internationally is very different from what we see in India. We have a strong grounding in classical dance, which also affects the way contemporary can be assimilated in our system. What about cinema? Have you considered being part of the film industry as a choreographer?I’m a hardcore dancer and I don’t know if I can fit in the very different nature of the film industry. There, I presume it would be more about striking a balance with all other aspects of filmmaking, which I am not sure I’m made for. Of course, I could still do a choreography that has a base of both classical and contemporary. But having said that, I do believe in smart packaging which film industry knows best. People have been surprised about my photo shoots and attention to clothes and everything else that goes into the making of a modern dancer. But I belong to this generation and I think it’s important to present oneself well.Sanjukta Sinha presents “Kin” on November 10 at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA, 7 pm. Tickets: Rs 270 & Rs 360 for members, and Rs 300 & Rs 400 for public.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Minion Pro'}
↧