Taps of devotion

Born and brought up in Baroda,the danseuse who is also the great grand niece of poet Rabindranath Tagore,began her association with dance in Shillong. “The nearest dance form which I could learn in Shillong was Manipuri,” adds Devi,who recently conducted Odissi dance workshop,under Spic Macay at the University of Pune.

After Manipuri,she went on to learn various other dance forms like Bharatnatyam,Kathakali,Mohinyattam and Kuchipudi. However,it was the traditional dance form of Odissi,which drove her interest more than the others.

She has toured extensively for her performances to Europe including England and the erstwhile USSR. Having taught Indian classical music at New York University for a decade and staying in New York for a very long time,she feels that there are numerous people who teach various art forms overseas but just few of them possess genuine and authentic knowledge of the same. Nevertheless,she adds,“There are people out there who are very appreciative of Indian music and Indian dance forms.”

It was in the year 2003 that she shifted from New York to settle down in the city. Although she is delighted to see the inclination of youngsters towards the dance form at the workshop but commenting on the larger picture of the dance scene she says,“Except Kathak and Bharatnatyam,people are still very ignorant as far as popularity of other forms of dance are concerned.”

In a day she religiously devotes more than two hours to her riyaaz. Amongst the many things that she has learnt from her guru,the late Pankaj Charan Das,she tries to adhere to each and every do’s and don’ts of Odissi and also teaches it to her students. Devi feels that it is very important for the performer to give expressions that are devotional and divine. “For instance,while performing Odissi,the sole of your foot should not face towards the deity or the idol. Also,since it is the dance form which originally used to be performed in the temple,one should not wear ghungroos which are stitched to leather,as the leather is made from the skin of an animal,” says the perfectionist.