AN INTERVIEW WITH MALAVIKA SARUKKAI 

Malavika Sarukkai's exceptional artistry was featured in the BBC/WNET television documentary Dancing, a 9-hour series on world dance. A film Samarpanam, specially commissioned by the Government of India, has been made on her life and work. Senior Fellowships and Grants have been given to her, in recognition of her creative interpretation and choreography. She is the recipient of the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu State Government, the Nrityachoodamani award and awards from Sanskriti and Haridas Sammelan.

We chat with her, on her life, her work, and her future.

I studied in Cathedral school in Bombay. A good school to be at, but there was no emphasis on culture. My mother was always interested in dancing. She was drawn to it, but never really vocalized her interest. She put me in a dance school. Initially, I was not at all interested, but gradually I began to like it.

My mother, Saroja Kamakshi. She was my support. The only area where she pushed me was dance practice. Amma, being a working single parent, found the time and the commitment to nurture me in dance. I respect her for that.

I did a year in Women's Christian College, in Chennai. I was not very happy there, so I decided to take up Tourism in Queen Mary's College. I attended college for exactly a day and came back and said "No, this is not for me". At 16, I took the risk and said "I am going to dance". And I think that was one of the best things I had done with myself - I took the risk. My only driving force was to dance. I had no other ambitions. I didn't think - I have to make money through dance, or I have to be better than others or I have to give a lot of performances.

My guru in my early years was Guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai of the Thanjavur School, in Bombay. I had my Arangetram (first stage appearance) in 1972. We later shifted to Chennai in 1975 for dance and I started training under Guru Rajaratinam Pillai of the Vazhuvoor School and Sreemati Kalanidhi Narayanan for Abhinaya (facial expressions). I have spent hours with my Gurus, learning not only through class, but also by just being there, observing and talking to them. I have had the most fantastic relationship with them. I have also learnt Odissi with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and Guru Ramani Jena.

Could you tell us about your various thematic dance productions?

My first production was Krishna Ritu Krida - A celebration of the leelas of Krishna (episodes from the life of Lord Krishna) in the six seasons. The next one was Fireflies - a multimedia performance piece. An exploration of sringara, the man-woman relationship, through English text, miniature painting, and dance. I did another one on the environment called Shrinkala. The most recent production was Khajuraho - in homage to the temples which resonate with the sacred and celebrate the secular.

I had read an article by Kirti Dwivedi long ago, on Khajuraho. The article inspired me. He spoke about architecture and the temple as the Cosmos. Khajuraho temples, as a site for classical dance, had a special significance for me. Khajuraho was a very personal response of an artiste. It isn't a scholarly structure. It is a structure that comes from my heart. It was a tribute to architecture, sculptors, to space and sacredness. Sacredness I think is very important. All my productions have sacredness flowing through it. Dance is sacred. Movement is sacred. Dance according to me is points of stillness with movement.

Dance is not just movement. There is a lot of silence too. You can see this in Khajuraho. It starts with stillness and then there is a whole expansion - the outer world, the war, the emotions…. and then it goes back to silence. I think with Khajuraho I am touching a deeper level. My quest is now to search more in that direction.

You have to be creative. You have to be fertile. When you do a production, it is like birth. You have held it for so long within you and finally when you have given it a shape in the form of a presentation on stage, you feel happy.

Yes. Tradition has to change if it has to be valid for the people. I have changed my repertoire. I changed, because I felt the need to, but I think it is deeply classical. People associate Bharatanatyam with repertoire. It is not. It is style, it is language of movement, a language of expression. I am sensitive and serious about the classical solo form. I feel responsible to keep it alive for my audiences. It is very difficult to be classical and bring in contemporary elements. It is really a challenge. It is necessary for me, as a dancer who believes in the classical, to take it forward without losing its sacredness. It has a lot to do with technique. Not only outward technique, but a lot of 'internalisation' too. Otherwise I could not have done Khajuraho the way I did it. Dance has to be living. Dance should be in the forefront. You are not.

No, they don't. Everyone can't dance. It is a gift of God. It is graced from above. If parents find that the child can dance, then they have to make a major prioritization in their life. To give her the best environment, the best approach. Commitment can come only from the individual. To succeed, you have to be fiercely passionate about what you are doing.

I think I am seen as that. A lot of people try to copy me. That's okay. People say I have the ability to take a movement or an idea the way I interpret it, the way I perform it, much beyond the canvas which people see, into a much larger canvas. If this inspires the next generation of dancers to say, "Let's make or find our own canvas", then I am happy.

Chennai is a city that leaves you alone. I like that. It gives me space to do the work that I want to do. I have my scholar friends here, whom I can talk to. It is home for me.

I like the Police headquarters on the beach. It is really beautiful. I also like the small lanes around the temples. It has that typical temple flavour.

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