[Nakrabm]

Report on Choreographic Process for ALCHEMINEMENT
June 28-July 3, 2004
Montreal, PQ


“[L]a danse is a feminine noun requiring the use of a feminine pronoun — above all: it should … neither grow heavy nor ever plunge too deep; above all, it should neither lag nor trail behind its time.”
‘Interview with Jacques Derrida’, Choreographies (1982)

As a Bharatanatya dancer I have had opportunities to choreograph dance pieces, but it was not until recently—when I took part in the choreographic process at Kalabharati—that I came to realise that choreography was both an intensely logical as well as intensively methodical process. In other words (as the above quotation suggests), what I realised in my recent work at Kalabharati was that the art of choreography contained no trace of the arbitrary; rather, it demands that the choreographer know both what to say and what not to say, when to add and when to subtract, when to reach a balance between showing too much and showing too little and when to simply imply and hint by effectively saying nothing at all.

As part of the work of NANDAN (a collaboration between my husband Dan Mellamphy and myself), we have created a piece called ‘ALCHEMINEMENT’, which is a play on the two French words ‘alchimie’ or alchemy (the ancient art and science of transformation) and ‘cheminement’ or passage (passage itself giving us the French pas sage or ‘wise step’). As the name suggests, the piece is about a transformative passage or metamorphosis—in this case, the transformation not only of matter and physical body, but of spirit and soul as well. I have been working very closely at Kalabharati its Artistic Director Mamata Niyogi –Nakra , who I fondly call Mamata di and will be referred to as such in this text. Not having worked choreographically with Mamatadi in the past, I was curious to find out what would transpire during my recent week-long choreographic session with her from the 28th of June During this period I had the occasion to have valuable feedback from Srikanth , a Chennai-based Bharata Natya dancer on the various aspects of the ongoing creative process which he witnessed and experienced .

Little did I know that the experience would prove to be an ‘alcheminement’ of sorts for me—I learned so much by observing, participating and collaborating in the choreographic process that I feel that I have witnessed something that has brought me to another stage, another level, another theatre of understanding. Mamatadi has a keen comprehension of the basic, often dense, concepts at the heart of ALCHEMINEMENT, which enables her to ‘translate’ the complexity into simple, direct physical movements. Mamatadi’s approach to this particular piece was a novel one: instead of depicting the theatricality of the emotions simply with codified gestural movements (abhinaya) only, she recommended that we use the abstract pure dance movements (nrtta) of Bharatanatya to bring out the emotional drama . It was interesting to have Srikanth , an experienced artist of the Melattur tradition, contribute to the discussions as it further enhanced our perception of how the piece was being shaped.

During our intense choreographic sessions, Mamatadi often asked me to demonstrate the types of movements I was envisioning, and while she liked many of them, some she rejected due to the fact that they were either mundane, or did not express the appropriate thought, or were aesthetically inappropriate. Any choreography, she explained, should communicate something; the choreographer, as such, should know exactly what she wants to say and find the appropriate means of communicating it. Because ALCHEMINEMENT has a complex conceptual foundation, Mamatadi suggested that the most effective way to express my thoughts would be to find the basic and universal ideas at the heart of the piece. Rather than ‘muddy’ the choreography with culturally specific content and references, the messages should be straightforward and span across cultures and traditions.

I realise how fortunate I am to have had the opportunity to work with Mamatadi and I am grateful to Kalabharati for accepting me as a student and colleague (which was all the more meaningful this year because I was able to give offerings to Mamatadi on the occasion of Guru Purnima). It was also enriched by the constant presence and input of Srikanth, be it the Guru Purnima puja, or learning the Arjuna piece together and most importantly interpreting the movements of the choreography that Mamata di was asking us to execute.

In the end, what I learned was that choreography is best learned from one’s guru because of the inspiration that she gives, because of the life she breathes into the work, because of the joy she awakens inside the student. As Albert Einstein once said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creating expression and knowledge.” I feel lucky to be a part of this.


Nandita Biswas Mellamphy
(on behalf of NANDAN)
Toronto, July 2004


ALCHEMINEMENT: An enriching experience

First and foremost I would like to thank GOD for allowing me to experience at Kala Bharati , Montreal, something I have been wanting to for a long time. Yes, it is now for me to learn what to do in dance with what I have learnt so far. Alcheminement is definitely a good start at this time. I worked on this piece with the Artistic Director Mamata Niyogi –Nakra who I fondly Mamata aunty. .I am saying this now after working on this piece with Mamata aunty for over 10 days. When I first got the details of Alcheminement from aunty, asking me to go over it, I was confused, scared as to how it is going to turn out. Although I know aunty will be able to come up with something, till I actually started learning the movements from her for the piece, I could never have imagined what it would be .

On the first day we went down to the studio, aunty explained me the concept behind the Alcheminement as developed by Nandan and what the the first sequence was all about. This explanation actually took some time......surprisingly the choreography for the first sequence happened in no time at all. And then this was followed by some new and difficult movements for the next sequence..

It was only when I practised alone in the basement I started to realize the power of the movements. I could actually relate and also feel the emotions that were mentioned in the papers. It was an EXPERIENCE I cannot explain in words. I felt that I could feel the emotions by doing the movements even without music and to some extent not knowing the story line It only confirmed of what I think about how aunty approaches creating her choreographies. By this time I gained confidence and started to participate in the discussions and share my view on movements and emotions involved in Alcheminement.

When Nandita joined us , aunty made her explain the concept to me and she did in a very simple and convincing way. As Nandita, at least to me is someone who enjoys connecting Greek and Latin literature to whatever you say which is too much to me (just kidding!). When I showed her the movements for the first time she also felt the same way as I did.

After a few sessions aunty came up with the procession sequence wherein the king enters the battle field and his subordinate reports. Totally different sets of movements were used to give the grandeur of a procession with all instruments and dancers. What impressed me the most was when aunty connected this sequence with the last one Watching the way aunty built up the sequences made me understand not to repeat similar incidents even if it is there in the story. In joining the various episodes avoiding unnecessary repitition lies the mastery over the artform.

After this, comes the beautiful abhinaya part which forms the climax of melanosis. The contrast in scenes and the thrust on abhinaya at the end makes it so unique and interesting. After hearing and having seen so much about BODY LANGUAGE both in India and abroad, I strongly feel one should see Alcheminement to understand the fullest meaning of the word. More important than that is the use of one form 'Bharathanatya'. There is nothing in this that is not practised in the Art of Bharata Natya.

Working with aunty (whom I consider not only original and creative but a guru who believes in sharing his/her invaluable art with others interested in the art) and Nandita (a sensitive dancer) made me realize the potential of Bharatanatya to express the most philosophical and complex concept as in Alcheminement.

I am thankful to Kala Bharati and all those involved in Alcheminement for including me in this wonderful project, giving me an oppurtunity to learn and cherish.

Srikanth Natarajan
Chennai, India
(camp Baltimore, July 2004)

[akeshaviah]

I very much enjoyed reading Nandita's article on Alcheminement--how Mamata did helped her in her choreographic process and what she learned about her own process and how to improve upon it. I, too, experienced much of what she did when I undertook choreographing for "Bharatanatyam: A Step Apart". I learned that choreography does not directly equate with bursts of artisitc inspiration. Each artist must develop their own process , with artistic inspiration as a catalyst to begin this process, as a platform from which to take off. Much work is involved, and even when one thinks that a piece is finished, I discovered that that piece can often take on an entirely new form when it is assumed by bodies. At times, revisions were necessary for me to bring out the beauty of the movements -as performed by the dancers-. I found an ideal aesthetic vision in my head that sometimes differed from the reality of what was seen when the pieces were taught to the dancers. That is not to say that the dancers were not accomplished. But we each interpret movement differently, and a given movement, while maintaining its general form, can take on different flavors in different bodies. I also learned, as Nandita iterated, that choreography should not be based on whim and preference. There must be a logic and grouding purpose to one's vision for a dance, a show, and even a life dedicated to dance. Mere aesthetic sense is not enough.

Mamata didi, I would have loved to sit in on your session with Nandita, to observe what her choreographic process was and how you helped her to acheive her vision. Thank you for inspiring me to undertake the teaching, performing, and choreography of Bharatanatyam in a very serious capacity. The SRC was a platform for me to explore how Bharatanatyam fits into my thoughts and my life. Since last Aug/Sept, Bharatanatyam has assumed a very central role in my life and that is due in part to continued strength and inspiration from you and the rest of the SRC.

aparna
Boston, MA

[Dan]

Mamatadi has asked me to write a few words about the ALCHEMINEMENT performances at the Conseil des arts, Académie de danse, and National Theatre School, which were presented last weekend (September 25-26) as the final part of the three-part Kala Bharati performance for the city’s Journées de la culture. It is a pleasure to do so—and, what’s more, in order to do so I find myself faced with the pleasurable imperative (the ‘impleasurative’, if you will) of having to write a few words about the weekend’s performances as a whole, since the Kala Bharati show did indeed form a single and singular technical Bharatnatya triptych (or ‘technobharatnatriptych’, if you like).

The first part of the presentation, in which Renu, Sasha, Jaya and Srinkant introduced the basic steps and rhythms of Bharatnatya, was without a doubt the perfect beginning to the proceedings, since every audience member—be they familiar with the art-form or not—could from that point on clearly discern the continuum of Bharatnatya techniques from the most gloriously traditional pieces (the second part of the Kala Bharati triptych) to the most apocalyptically ‘untraditional’ (the third and final part of the triptych, constituting the first instalment of NANDAN 's ALCHEMINEMENT : the phase of ‘destruction’, ‘darkening’, or alchemical melanosis).*

The second part of the presentation, presenting the gloriously traditional pieces, was beautiful to behold and displayed the marvellous choreographic symmetries and mathetic harmonies characteristic of Mamatadi’s kinetic aesthesis. It is always a unique pleasure to watch the Kala Bharati dancers (Nehal, Richa, Renu, Sasha, Jaya and Srinkant) weave the wonderful tapestry of their dance-text, and this weekend was no exception. Breathtaking! And the transition—or rather, the affective transport—from pleasure to pain, from grace to force, and from the harmonious to the discordant that the passage (le cheminement) from ‘tradition’ to ‘beyond’ enacted was itself a sublime and unsettling switch: a switch which elicited one rather excellent response in the first (morning) question-and-answer period suggesting that Bharatnaya remain on the side of beauty and harmony rather than venturing into the unsettling/disturbing terrain of sublimity and discord (vive la résistance!) ...

The final piece, for all of its darkness and destruction, was in fact a very constructive addition—in part thanks to the first part of the Kala Bharati triptych, which highlighted the basic elements uniting ALCHEMINEMENT with the previous cheminements (pas-sages/wise-steps): here the previous cheminements undertook and underwent a transmutation or transubstantiation (l’alchimie des cheminements, l’ALCHEMINEMENT), and the full range of the art-form flowered—perhaps in what could be taken as a rather "Baudelairean" manner (as a fleur du mal), following the suggestion of the first commenter; or perhaps, instead, in a more "Nietzschean" vein (au-delà du bon et du mal), as NANDAN themselves claim. Responses in the subsequent shows by Vincent Warren and Simon Brault amongst others, tended to be unanimously positive and wonderfully perceptive (picking up on the themes, techniques, and affective strategies with remarkable keenness of insight). Even the Adi and Kinkini (the youngest dancers) in attendance at the final performance on Sunday reacted marvellously to the piece, visibly registering on their faces—and with their hands—its underlying mood, and showing in so doing a fine attunement to its spirit, body and soul.

* Post-Scriptum
[quote] Re: ALCHEMINEMENT parts two and three --

[Sacha]

I must start this post by offering my thanks to my guru Mamata Aunty. It is because of her presence that we are taught so many incredible lessons and exposed to so many interesting opportunities.

As a dancer and teacher, being able to take part in the Journee activities was a real pleasure. As a teacher, the first part allowed us to enjoy the teaching aspect of Bharata Natya. The second part, then, allowed us to enjoy the performing aspect of Bharata Natya (performing being the means by which to explore a very special bond with audience members).

Then along came the third part. A part which intrigued the teacher, the dancer and the spectator in me. Indeed, Nandita touched upon a point that I would very much like to comment on - that is expression through choreography. I believe that one of the most incredible aspects of creating and presenting a choreography is the possibility of transmitting messages which people respond to regardless of the backgound of the person (age, culture, religion, socioeconomic status etc.). One of the great joys that I have as a dancer is when people come up to me and tell me that my performance touched a part of themselves and that they received my message at several levels.

As such, I found it very interesting the way that Aunty told Nandita not to "muddy the waters" and to aim straight for the basic message. I believe this principle was very much taken to heart and amply illustrated in the piece. The piece did not just reflect a flurry of movement despite the fact that it dealt with being in a battle scene (a scene which easily lends itself to fast movements and rapid transitions).


So that I am not tempted into posting a novel on all the aspects that I found interesting and would like to comment upon I will end this particular post at this point and look forward to making future comments.

I would, however, like to end with heartful congratulations to all those involved and also my sincere thanks for sharing such a special piece with us all.

Regards,
Sacha

[JayaSC]

I would first like to congratulate my guru, Mamata Aunty as well as NANDAN for the wonderful work which I consider eye and mind-opening, in Alcheminement.

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to witness a work in progress by Nandita and my first reaction to the powerful presentation by her was... one of no words. All I could do was be witness to a warrior who was seeking recognition for his "courageous" acts of brutality as he gloated with pride before the King.

I was particularly drawn to the beats in the music which conveyed a heavy and brisk mood with movements of Bharata Natya as I have never seen strung together in this manner even though they are all very familiar to me.

What I appreciated most however was the way the choreographers so intelligently used the floor and drew rigid patterns to reflect the mood. I could see Nandita move from one corner to the other in a diagonal with hr arms raised in a somewhat triangular position as if to draw the warrior's sword or arrow on the floor. In fact even her strating position was at an angle and the use of her body weight throughout gave me a sense of "conquering another". There were times when I saw Nandita's body as the weapon itself and I realized that this warrior was not going to settle for defeat until at the very end when something larger than her forced her to fall back in fear. When I learnt that this was to stand for religion or that higher power, it all made sense to me and the "universal message" which the choreographers wished to convey, seemed quite evident to me.

I must say that it was an experience I feel lucky as a dancer and young teacher to have witnessed as it is indeed an eye and mind-opener for someone like me. Thank you to Mamata Aunty, and NANDAN for creating this and I will be awaiting the "cheminement" to come.

Jaya

[Mona]

Nanditadidi's dance was very different from Bharat Natya Dance because of the Music, Facial expression and the Body movement. This dance was very neatly put together. I wonder how much Nanditadidi had to practice inorder to bring up such a good talented Performance.



Mona Patel
(Mukula class)

[neha]

I too would like to congratulate Mamata Aunty, our guru, and NANDAN for this wonderful accomplishment, and work, of Alcheminement. Though, I unfortunately did not have the amazing opportunity to witness this piece, I have heard so much about it. Simply hearing from my teachers, comments about such an eye-opening experience, made me feel like I was there too. I can only imagine, the great power Nandita didi's dance would have brought to the stage. Having read Nandita didi's comments of her experience, and creating this piece with Aunty's always inspirational guidance, I know the piece must have been both moving, and symbolic. My heartful congratulations to everyone involved in this piece. I await the next 2 installments!
best regards,
Neha

[tripti_pande]

I would like to thank and congratulate NANDAN for the great piece that they performed.

I really liked Nanditadidi's dance. It was very different from the Bharat Natya dance. Everything is very different like the facial expressions, the body and hand movements,and the music. Nanditadidi was also singing with the music like when she was taking those deep breaths and then let out the huge roar!

I really found this dance very interesting to watch. I am really excited to see the next two parts of this dance!

Best Regards,
Tripti

[pragna]

I would like to congratulate NANDAN for the great piece that was performed.

Nanditadidi's dance was great. It was very attracting because it is very different from Bharata Natya dance. The expressions and movements were very different and attracting. It must of taken alot of practice to get everything right. I am really looking forward to seeing the next 2 parts of the dance!!

Best Regards,
Pragna

[Dan]

The Toronto premiere of ALCHEMINEMENT part one -- melanosis -- was a great success, and the audience of invited artists were remarkably responsive and very generous with their requested insights (requested, of course, by NANDAN; for the evening was arranged not only as a showing of the work in progress, but as a "workshop" and "brainstorming session" as well).

Debashis Sinha (www.debsinha.com), the composer of the soundscape featured in this first part of the trilogy, was very much impressed with the development of the Offerus-like protagonist, and noted that he “missed this character and this character’s interesting perspective on the events” when, for instance, Nandita exchanged his role for that of the King (the Tyrant) at one point, or for the various members of the King’s procession in other sequences. “Why not have the whole piece be devoted exclusively to this intriguing fellow?” he asked, adding “I love this piece!”

Noah Shilkin, the legendary keyboardist (under the moniker of “Neil”) for Australia’s Mother Goose -- and now a musician and producer here in Toronto (www.brumbymusic.com), was in agreement with Deb, loving the performance and saying that he too was craving to “know more about this character,” suggesting that perhaps the King’s procession, and even the Tyrant-King himself (not to mention the Devil), could be portrayed sheerly through the protagonist (Offerus)’s reactions -- which, he warned, would be very demanding on the dancer, on the very tradition of Bharatanatya (its traditional elements and repertoire), and on the musician, Deb Sinha, as well, since the music in this case would have to become a character, or characters, in addition to the dancer.

Rolling with that idea, Shyamala Dakshinamurthi (www.manohardance.com) then noted -- with reference to Dan’s opening remarks about [1] the overall structure of the piece, [2] its narrative elements (the Offerus myth), [3] its alchemical theme, and [4] its transformative principle from melanosis to iosis -- that the trilogy’s ultimate culmination in the “golden realisation” that Tyrant, Devil, Hermit and Christ-Child were all merely aspects of Offerus himself (the overall vision, according to Dan/NANDAN), was in keeping with these suggestive ideas.

Stanley White, to whom Dan often refers by the [k]nightly (shyamalian?) nickname “HINDUSTAN” (his Hindustani nomen), noted the effectiveness of Nandita’s breathing technique in conveying the feeling of struggle and of marshalling one’s energies, and also noted the power of Nandita’s vocalisations, stating that he had never before heard a classical Indian dancer yell out a war-cry, and that it had an enormous and powerful effect.

Renowned photographer Becca Miller (www.lolafoto.com) captured the event on photographic film, while Mexico City post-production wizard Mariana Martinez composed an elaborate video montage of melanosis itself. Playwright guru Kate Minski put pen to paper to document the proceedings, and répétatrice Rubena Sinha was on hand to describe for those in attendance the development of the piece from Montreal to Toronto (back and forth).

A fascinating evening of dance and discussion. And the venue -- the Chapel Room of Trinity Saint Paul’s Church near the intersection of Bloor and Spadina, could not have been better: stained glass windows, a red backdrop, and intimate surroundings. Wonderful! Alas, this is only a brief overview -- Nandita promises to post her own comments in the next week or so, and also to respond to the beautiful feedback that is beginning to appear on this Kala Bharati website. Love to all, NANDAN.