Malavika Sarukkai set to perform at the NCPA to mark the golden jubilee of her dancing career

The artiste’s upcoming piece explores our relationship with nature

The concept of creativity fermenting into original perfection over time first resonated with this writer on reading an essay. It was from the book, This I Believe, and was called An Athlete of God. In her discourse, Martha Graham - who we know for adding contraction and release in percussive ballet techniques - communicated how learning to dance by practising dancing or learning to live by ‘living' follows the same value-based rule - practice. We perform a set of acts towards an endeavour and from that "comes a sense of one's being".

We were pulled back to this unifying rule, when Bharatnatyam exponent Malavika Sarukkai explained that her response to life in a dispirited stretch found words in dance itself. She seemed to have paved a way back into the world by being a student of dance, again. As Sarukkai completes 50 glorious years in dance, her new solo performance, Anubandh - Connectedness, is a call for hope. The artiste implores her audiences to navigate sorrow and solace through their primordial ties with nature.

A young Malavika Sarukkai

Knowing the ephemeral as personal and also, as shared, is a gift. "The pandemic engulfed us in a storm of fears and anxieties. Each one of us faced loneliness, worries, and endless uncertainty. But, although unwillingly, we paused to look closely. From climate change and rising violence around the globe to compassion and humanity, we witnessed it all. Through Anubandh, I respond to my observations and reflections at a time when things were hanging heavy," Sarukkai shares. Recalling the days and weeks during the pandemic as one messy jumble, the 62-year-old dancer notes that conceiving a piece around the panchamahabhutas - earth, water, fire, wind and space - lent her purpose. "I had reason to wake up and find my calling," she says, further elaborating, "We relate to the elements of nature subjectively. Our interpretations are essentially private. For instance, throughout last year, we have seen fire in a different light. While the grimness of those pictures penetrated everyone, I corresponded feelings to fire and water."

She stresses on how emotions such as the realisation of loss, the depth of sadness (dukha), the soft caresses of the wind (sukha), and the oneness of a space we breathe within (prana) impact an individual, but extend to the collective.

Sarukkai is returning home with Anubandh. She had performed for the first time in Mumbai, and now 50 years on, coming back feels like "life is returning to its beginnings". In her acts, Sarukkai departs from the Margam repertoire. Will she continue to rethink Bharatnatyam outside of its traditional mould in the years to come? Sarukkai replies, "The dance I choreograph and present is deeply classical. One may observe that over the last 30 years, I have extensively used the classical alphabet of the language of Bharatnatyam. I believe in tradition and change, too, as the latter keeps the inner spirit of the former resilient. However, there are many themes outside the Margam that I find inspiring." The dancer signs off with the idea that Bharatnatyam, as an ancient dance, requires cautious and sensitive handling, and that's what she attempts to do. We congratulate the doyen of Indian classical dance.

On March 12, 6.30 pm
At Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
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Cost Rs 300 onwards