Aditi Mangaldas is one of the biggest names in Kathak today and needs no introduction to Indian dance enthusiasts. Known for her virtuosity and innovative choreography which takes a strong foundation in classical dance and blends it with a contemporary sensibility, combined with a refined aesthetic sense for stage and costume design, her productions have received critical acclaim across the world.
With her feet firmly planted in classical
Kathak, having studied with none other than Kumudini Lakhia and Birju Maharaj –
two living legends in the Kathak world, Aditi Mangaldas is not afraid to
explore dance choreography with a contemporary eye. The description of her
dance company on her website aptly describes her creative vision:
“Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company, the Drishtikon Dance Foundation has been established with a vision to look at tradition with a modern mind, to explore the past to create a new, imaginative future… we seek to challenge established norms and develop the courage to dance our own dance, while at the same time being informed about the heritage, cultures, influences and language of other dance styles and forms, viewpoints and ideas.”
Her newest production ‘Within’, featuring seven
dancers and four musicians, will be premiered this month at Kamani Auditorium
in New Delhi from September 13th to 15th. An introduction
to ‘Within’ on her Facebook page describes her latest work as a “a dance
production that journeys though the discovery of our inner spaces, the choices
we make and their consequences. What lies buried in the deep recesses of our
being? Is it humanity? Is it brutality? Are they in ever half embrace? Knocking
at our inner doors to open? What makes us choose which door we open? Where,
when, how does this ideal core start disintegrating? Which inner door leads us
from order to disorder? From humanity to brutality? How do we regain our
humanity? Can our inner spark grow into the sky?”
The upcoming premiere of ‘Within’ has
managed to generate much attention already, not only in the Indian press, but
also on social media sites. The dancer’s Facebook page and Twitter stream are
updated daily with interesting facts and quotes on the production. When
a PR agency contacted Sacred Space with details of the premiere and the offer
of an interview, it became clear why there has been so much publicity. Aditi
Mangaldas’ professional approach seems to extend to all aspects of putting
together and presenting a new production, including hiring an agency to take
care of publicity. The vital role of social media in diffusing information is
also being tapped into, as well as the dance blogosphere.
We jumped at the opportunity to publish a short
interview with Aditi Mangaldas, and with her name being one of the top search
terms on Sacred Space, we’re sure many of our readers will appreciate this
glimpse into her latest creative work.
Your work often addresses philosophical
questions with the themes of ‘time’ and ‘searching’ being recurrent. What was
the inspiration for ‘Within’?
This is different from my other works
although it also explores questions of time and space and the search for
something. It is a question of looking within and what doors we open from
within. Actually a lot of events which happened last
year brought brutality in sharp focus and it was something we started on by
working on mythological themes in the context of social issues. There are
horrendous and brutal things you see in the newspaper every day – mythology and
social events have become a subterranean stream that feeds this piece, so
‘Within’ is now more about our core and looking within oneself.
India’s population is really young and we
have this great legacy of an amazing classical art. Each artist has to be aware
that times are changing. So we have to invite a younger audience into our
auditorium and need to engage them and challenge them so that they go back with
something that resonates with them and they also feel that this is something
they wouldn’t have got by sitting at home accessing the Internet. ‘Within’ is
an international collaboration with Italian designers and Japanese costume
designers and stage designers. The music composers are from India. So it is a
combination of very wide variety of rich experiences.
Is ‘Within’ a work of classical or
contemporary Kathak? How do you define contemporary Kathak?
‘Within’ is composed of two parts: the
first part is ‘Knotted’, a contemporary dance piece based on Kathak and the
second part is ‘Unwrapped’ based on classical Kathak. So it’s both classical
and contemporary Kathak.
Contemporary Kathak is like taking a seed
of Kathak and sowing it and watering it
with contemporary sensibilities, so what happens is the plant that grows out of
it has the roots of Kathak but may not have all its characteristics.
Tell us about your training schedule and
what a typical day is like for you.
We have been immersed in the production
completely, not just me but also all the dancers and the collaborators who have
been working very hard for months. Our daily schedule is generally that we have
an hour of yoga in the morning, say from 11am-12pm and then from 12pm until
5:30pm we have rehearsals with a one-hour break in between. I generally go to
the gym in the evenings for about an hour, four times a week. The rest of the
time I’m having discussions with our lighting designers, mentor, stage
designers and all the dancers and constantly trying to improve and oversee all
the details of the project.
(Images by Dinesh Khanna)
Where will ‘Within’ be performed next?
Currently there are three performances scheduled at the Kamani Auditorium on September 13th, 14th and 15th but we are hoping to take it to festivals all over India and abroad.
(Images by Dinesh Khanna)
