CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCE: A SEARCH FOR THE NON-PERSONAL
The search of the Sacred Arts is for the non- personal, a shedding of the personality, the 'ego'
Aesthetic mood or Rasa, which is the end of the classical arts, is a non-personal, sublimated mood.
To achieve this the form undergoes a transformation that is often an alienation but also an elevation. The non-personal is the universalised, the collective, but much more.
To achieve this, the form has to be metamorphosed. This is achieved mainly through stylisation of every element of the stage presentation, be it movement, speech, costume and also the narrative. The twin dimensions of Time & Space are meticulously treated with the tool of stylisation.
Geometry and arithmetic are the two sciences applied to achieve non-personalisation.
In Space the body and bodily movements are transformed into a geometric yantra or sacred energy diagram. The geometric holding of the inner and outer body in movement and not merely in static poses is another great tool to counter act mundaneness in expression.
in Time, a structured rhythm that is relentless and unbending non-personalises, yet harmonises the presentation. Structured rhythm or designed Time directly impacts flow and breath and is at the root of peaceful impact of the classical performing arts. Rhythm in fact, is one of the most powerful tools of stylisation and non-personalisation.
Both these are, at the technical level structured, precise and codified to create a form that one has to be intensely trained in over a long period of time. While the alphabet and vocabulary can be found in technical texts, it is in the oral performing techniques that not just their applicability, but also their experiential and yogic quality can be realised.
The scientific encourages conscious doing, distancing from the crass and personal; it builds awareness.
Together, these two elements create an aesthetic distance that is vital to non-personal expression.
Together, stylisation and rhythm are the magical, transformational tools.
The classical arts are, what Gurdjieff would call 'Objective Arts'. The form has absolute values and a demarcation between right and wrong. The non-personal, the codified, the scientific is right; the personal, the sentimental is wrong.
The session will briefly demonstrate stylisation and rhythm in expression. It will address some questions such as -
*What is stylisation?
*How is it achieved?
*How is it different from artificiality and false expression?
The presentation will culminate in a performance that will showcase dance pieces that are secular but in the stylised mode of Mohini Attam. What is expressed can be transformed through 'how' it is expressed.
