AN INTERVIEW WITH CHITRA VISWESWARAN

I choose a theme that I am convinced about. Of course, some times the organisers do tell me what they want. I have done traditional themes, environmental themes, socially relevant themes etc. I remember, I was invited to the Middle East to do a show there in 1990. They told me that they did not want anything on Gods and Goddesses, as the audience there would find it difficult to accept. Then I thought to myself : why not choose a theme that talks of human values, since the Gulf war had just ended. I took four short stories from the Mahabharata (Karna, Jeemudavahana, Shibi and Dadeechi) and ended it with the Mahatma of the Century - Mahatma Gandhi).

On the occasion of the dance school's twenty fifth year, my students wanted to do something. So they decided to do a dance theatre production on the Ganga, as I had done a lot of research on it. They choreographed and presented it entirely on their own. The dance ballet was called 'Parampara Pravaha' - Parampara (Tradition) and Pravaha (Flow of Creativity). We looked at the Ganges as a symbol of evolution - Dancing as Ganga, bursting forth from Gangotri, depicting her bubbling energy as she jumps over the rocks in the Himalayas, her serene maturity at Jyotirmutt, the joy of giving and sharing as she does in the form of tributaries bathing the rice belts, travelling further to the Sunderbans, where she slows down because of the clay and finally her total surrender to the Sagara and the Ganges ceases to exist. The show was very successful.

Yes, I do. I give them total freedom. I have no objection when they give their own thrust. After a certain stage a Guru becomes a guide more than a teacher does. The problem lies in the fact that most people give up dance at a stage when they are mature and can grow further by creating and thinking on their own.

I think it has always struggled for survival. Of course, there is a hardcore group of people who are struggling to see that it survives. These days, there are a number of scholarships given to deserving students unlike the olden days when there were only a handful. One thing I would like to say is that the Corporates and public sector undertakings should start looking at the performing arts in a different way. They should support it the way they support sports. I strongly feel the only solution that would save the arts from perishing is if corporate bodies allot a certain percentage of employment for the performing artistes. This way, the artist can concentrate on his art without worrying about his livelihood.

A dancer should have good stage presence. She should have poise, intelligence and an intellectual approach towards the arts, the ability to look at the same thing differently and also the urge to better and better. 'A little that is done, the undone lies vast before you'.

The thrust in life has changed these days. In accordance with today's fast life, youngsters want fast money, fast fame. My advice would be 'Be committed and work with humility. Name and fame will come automatically. There are pressures, but don't let the tide carry you away. The art is larger than the artist. We are only mere vehicles.'

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