Indian Contemporary Dance: From the floor to air with dexterity

If you think dance was all about body movements, eye movements, mudras and accompanying song and music, you may be out of sync with the contemporary! If you have learnt Kerala’s unique martial art Kalaripayettu, you can use it not only for self defence or for attack. If you have a passion for dance, this martial art would be just right to blend into contemporary style.

If the name Daksha Sheth crops up in any discussion of contemporary there is nothing to be surprised. Daksha, an exponent of Kathak  (having trained under the legendary Birju Maharaj) and Mayurbhanj Chhau combined Kalaripayettu, aerial and rope techniques to take the dance to new heights. Her equally illustrious daughter Isha Shervani performed in Subash Ghai’s Kisna (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZogcmNls0FY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVynNDtvR9Q) and several other films. She mesmerized the world with her horror acts, Argentine Tango, Aerial Lyra acts and several others in the immensely popular reality show Jhalak Dhikla Ja aired in Colors Channel.





Isha Shervani from the production Shiva Shakti (Pic Courtesy: Ishashervani.com)
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Kochiites are now fortunate to have Pratheep Kumar, a versatile contemporary dancer trained under Daksha Sheth and was associated with it for over 10 years and held performances in USA and UK. He dropped out of college while in Trivandrum to pursue his passion-dance.

Kalaripayettu training under his uncle helped him become swift in his body movements and flexibility.  The beauty of contemporary dance is in not giving undue weight or strain on any part of the body especially the knees, Pratheep says. The weight is balanced on the toes and the tip of the leg. His performance in May 2015 at the Kerala History Museum titled Dance Affair organized by TheFloor was indeed a delight to watch. The Floor has been in the forefront bringing contemporary dancers for workshops in recent times.

Daksha’s new language and idiom in Indian contemporary dance is now being taken up by an enthusiastic team of trainers like Pratheep and Santosh (both at Mamangam), trained in Kalaripayettu, Bharatanatyam, and Ballet. Pratheep who has been trained in Indian Contemporary is eager to learn western contemporary that incorporates elements of Ballet and gymnastics. Renowned actress Rima Kallingal, founder of Mamangam is herself a contemporary dancer, which many people may not know.

India’s film industry – Bollywood only briefly experimented with contemporary dance thanks to Isha but for the most gave us a choreographed Bollywood dance that had a mix of classical, semi-classical and western themes.

Western contemporary has a long tradition set by such stalwarts of the 1800’s as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn. Indian contemporary is still evolving and should catch on with the younger generation. It takes real courage to experiment and bring new ideas into existing art forms. That makes Daksha unique while most dancers are mere followers of a particular tradition.

When I recently met the legendary Resul Pookutty after a gap of two decades, he asked me what icontemporary dance is all about. I told about my daughter initiation in both Kalari and Contemporary. I didn’t have a clear answer to his question then. But it has stirred a curiosity to know more. With each experimentation, the skillful dancers are stretching its possibilities a bit more.

References:Western Contemporary: http://www.worlddanceheritage.org/jazz-contemporary-difference/
Indian Contemporary: www.ishashervani.com & www.dakshasheth.com

(To learn more about Contemporary Dance classes, call Prasanth@ Beats ‘n’ Steps- 9895611537)