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Journalism of Courage
Matkas of curd sat on the verandah, bathing in the warm sunshine. quot;Take them in quickly. Her shadow shall contaminate them!quot; suddenly shrieked the matriarch of the Gujarati Brahmin household. A maid scooped them away, cursing the untouchable sweeper for appearing at the doorstep.
A little girl watched this from a corner, seething with anger. Nearly five decades later, she composed Kalyani, a dance-drama based on Tagore8217;s Chandalika 8212; the untouchable rebel.
quot;I am a feminist and I do pick women-oriented themes. My productions are within the framework of classical dance. I do not need to shed Indian costumes, roll on stage or flay my legs in the air for my work to be contemporary,quot; she says. Rele started dancing at the age of five and first performed on stage when she was only eight years old. Today, despite an initial training in traditional Kathakali and many Mohini Attam recitals later, Rele8217;s work concentrates on thought-provoking dance dramas based on contemporary issues. Even her forthcoming production based on Iravati Karve8217;s Yugantar delves into the lives of five women from the Mahabharata 8212; Satyavati, Amba, Gandhari, Kunti and finally, Draupadi.
She was awarded the Padmashree in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1994. Rele8217;s greatest contribution to dance however, remains the 30-year-old Nalanda dance research centre. A landmark in Mumbai8217;s cultural map, it was the first sign of institutionalising education in Indian classical dance. quot;On my proposal, the Mumbai University introduced the Bachelor, Master and PHD degrees in Fine Arts Dance,quot; she says.
She took the rational approach to arts further when she consulted neurosurgeons and attempted to understand nerve centres association with certain emotions. quot;Having explored human anatomy thoroughly, I have been able to pin point that concentrating on a certain point on the back of one8217;s head, brings tears. When a person is threatened, he invariably turns away, using the upper arm as a shield. This is because the upper arm has no nerves, and so on8230;,quot; says Rele.
Rele the dancer, insists that very little will change after this 50-year commemoration8217;. quot;Nowadays, we take care of ourselves and don8217;t really age so fast. People like Mrinalini Sarabhai, Sitara Devi and Kelucharan Mohapatra are still dancing. But the day my body stops obeying the commands of my brain, I shall quit dancing,quot; she says. However, she will now restrict her performances to major dance festivals. But Rele the person, traces a gradual dissolution of strong, personality-based solo performances to group-oriented themes. quot;When I was young, I was very conscious of my beauty. I used to be like quicksilver. With time comes change, but I know that my face is still very beautiful. I am still very particular about my make up and attire. I have gradually begun to concentrate on honing my dance skills so that with a flick of an eyebrow, I can convey a lot,quot; she says.
Rele also prides herself on being among the few women dancers who have been able to sustain a harmonious married life. quot;My husband Yatin was a test cricketer. He accepted that the limelight would be on me. I too, gave up my foreign tours when my son Rahul was born. Later, Yatin and Rahul started accompanying me on my performances as well as research quests,quot; she says. And dance became so much a part of this Rele family that no one was surprised when Rahul married Uma, a Bharat Natyam dancer.
The Nehru Centre and Nalanda Research Centre will be felicitating Kanak Rele at the Nehru Centre Auditorium, at 7 pm on January 16. Excerpts from Rele8217;s choreographic creations will be presented by the Nalanda group. Rele herself will perform Mohini Attam and Kathakali on the occasion. Kanak Rele8217; a colour documentary produced by Films Division will be screened.
