RABINDRANATH'S IMPACT ON DANCE IN BENGAL
Indian dances have a subtlety about them and are known for their universal appeal. A new age of awakening dawned in Bengal after the foundation of the Hindu College in 1817. There was admirable
progress in all spheres of society especially literature, plays, songs etc. But the sphere of dances was still very neglected and they needed refinement and polish. The then educated urbanites despised dance as an art form did not allow them, in any form whatsoever, in their society. So, dance continued to survive in the folk culture of rural India.At this stage, Rabindranath Tagore the versatile genius, appeared in the cultural arena of Bengal. He brought a revolution in the sphere of dances. His ‘wonder touch’ made dances visibly beautiful, embellished them and made them vibrant and dynamic. Till his emergence, the prime motto of dance was fun and entertainment. From his tender days Rabindranath was familiar with these rural dance forms and developed an interest about them. It is true that the rhythmic gestures and swaying of limbs of the bandits in his ‘Balmiki Pratibha’ was far from dance. But the great poet had realized in the core of his heart that in a sheer moment of ecstasy, human beings can best give vent to their feelings through the medium of dance.
Initially, Rabindranath was under the false impression that dance was nothing but a form of physical exercise. But he realized the truth and essence of the subject in course of time. To be more specific, Rabindranath started showing interest in dances from 1924 onwards. This inclination was the result of the vast experience that he had gathered from his travels. After founding the ‘shantiniketan,’ his hermitage of peace and tranquility, he started moulding the prevailing dance patterns there into the typical Indian form and frame. A question may arise in this regard. Why was a dedicated educational organization like Shantiniketan used as a platform for promoting dances?
Rabindranath was actually a liberated and an enlightened soul who know that the real purpose of education was to equip in all respects and bad to his all round welfare. It is an undeniable fact that dance was considered as one of the most important aspects of education and culture in the early days. Then the values and ideals must have changed in the society which resulted to an almost banishment of dances from the society.
Rabindranath could not bear to see such an elevated form of art gradually sinking into oblivion. So he decided to set up high standards for dances and dreamt that dance as an art form would contribute to the development of the society and establish peace and harmony along with spread of wisdom and knowledge. He had the conviction that such an enriched and refined version of dance forms would be soul’s food for the educated elites of the city. The credit of emancipating dance from the formal, geometrical patterns of some set movements, goes to Rabindranath. He infused new life and spirit in the dance forms and rendered a supple touch of graceful elegance to them. The colourful exuberance in life and nature which inspired the saint poet and electrified his creative zeal, found its best expression in the ethereal rhythm and dreamy grace of the poet’s songs and dances.
In his graceful plays ‘Sarodotsav,’ ‘Falguni’ etc., the maestro tried to introduce dance in slight doses. ‘Ritu Natya’ (the dance of the different seasons) is composed of small fragmented dances of less duration. These create an immediate effect like fireworks in the minds of the spectators but failed to get imprinted there with an indelible ink. Hence, the brilliant poet conceived of mingling drama with dance in a subtle manner so that it would have a profound impression on the psyche of the audience. This is how the excellent dance-dramas of Rabindranath came into existence. Literature (Drama), Songs and Dances were finely blended in an unprecedented way in these dance-dramas. ‘Chitrangada,’ ‘Shyama,’ ‘Chandalika’ are some ideal examples of the poet’s dance-dramas. It has been observed that Rabindranath’s dances have amalgamated in themselves Indian tradition and culture as well as western philosophies. The intricacy of classical dances is not found in the maestro’s dances which are soft, supple, graceful and spontaneous like the rhythm of the natural flow of life. But they have a poignant effect. The maestro’s dances never follow any conventional type or set pattern of the dances of the past. Rather, these dances portray the inner significance or essence of the songs through the elegant gestures and expressions. This form of dance-drama is mainly based on Indian culture and tradition. Despite the broad outlook of the poet, his dances do not quite reflect the picture of the modern materialistic society. Neither do they seem to contribute for solving the manifold problems of the society. But they definitely focus on the perennial problems and agonies of mankind very prominently.
But Rabindranath’s noble experiments with dance was not acclaimed or accepted in the light of their true virtue. Even he had to run the gauntlet from different corners of the society and a hostile section of the press, who wrote that Rabindranath Tagore had grown old but still retained the desire of sensuous enjoyment in him. They even wrote that it was a disgrace to the society when the mothers and sisters would come out in the open and dance in public and urged the people not to indulge in these perverted pleasures.
But the enlightened poet was a relentless fighter and faced all the odds to accomplish his noble mission. Today, Rabindranath holds a towering position in the history of modern Indian dance. Dance is no longer a mere means of fun and entertainment but a distinctive wing of our culture and civilization.
All the dance-dramas of Rabindranath are gems by their own right. Among them ‘Chitrangada’ deserves special mention. In it, Rabindranath had tried out a spectacular fusion of the style and techniques of Kathakali and Manipuri dances. The story of Chitrangada is very interesting and Rabindranath has let his dancers depict it in a lucid and graceful way.
Rabindranath composed this unique dance-drama drawing inspiration from the love story of Pandava Arjuna and Princess Chitrangada as narrated in the Mahabharata. With the mythological ingredients, the great poet had made an exquisite fusion of fiction and romantic imagination.
Princess Chitrangada of Manipur was the only issue of her parents. She was fostered by her father as if she were his son. She used to wear male attire and took extensive training in martial arts, archery etc. The king had even employed her as the administrator of the kingdom. One day, as she went to the forest on a hunting expedition, she came across the valiant Arjuna and was smitten with him. She went to Arjuna and proposed him but was turned down by the Pandava warrior on the pretext of his asceticism. Chitrangada realized that he had refused her for her lack of feminine charm and beauty. So she performed severe penances until ‘Madandev,’ the God of love and beauty, gave her the boon of an impeccable charm and beauty for a year. Later, Arjuna saw this new form of Chitrangada and was head over heels in love with her. Then after a long chain of events, Chitrangada divulged her identity and secret of her immaculate beauty to Arjuna.
Rabindranath transmogrified this magnificent story into a fabulous dance-drama. The versatile poet had incorporated several dance forms in his drama. He was meticulous about the dance forms in the respective sequences. His dance dramas are greatly influenced by ballet. Ballet is a theatrical performance of dancing and mime to music. In Chitrangada, for instances, the gestures and expressions of the dance-drama do not need the help of words or speech. Here, Rabindranath has made a wonderful blending of Manipuri and Kathakali dances. At the inception, the maestro had designed the plot according to the Manipuri School of dance to build up the required ambience. In those days, this dance form was widely practiced and was very popular among the masses. In ‘Chitrangada’, Rabindranath had made a fabulous concoct of Manipuri, Kathakali and Char Taal Manipuri and Kathakali have very conspicuous imprints on this dance drama. Some particular sequences like Arjuna’s meditation and severe penances being broken, Chitrangada’s worship of Lord Madan (God of Love), picking of flowers, the hunting expedition, Chitrangada’s mental tormentation after having a glimpse of Arjuna etc. are meticulously expressed through several forms of ‘Taal’ (musical rhythm). This is because Manipuri dancers are not much used in facial expressions but give vent to their feelings through ‘Taal’.
In the song ‘Jadi Mile Dekha’ in the dance-drama, Arjuna’s face is of least importance and almost negligible in the eyes of the spectators. Here the music, taal and rhythm clearly imply that Arjuna is sick and tried of his luxurious and sensuous life. He is utterly penitent and wants to plunge into his usual life of dynamic action. A similar play is found in several other sequences like Chitrangada’s emotional ecstasy after seeing Arjuna and the latter’s sheer repugnance etc. Again, the ‘Taal’ and rhythm of Kathakali and other dance forms had been employed here for bringing some refreshing change and variation.
Dance forms as devised by Rabindranath
The maestro held the opinion that the human body bears the weight of the limbs and is driven by their force. A unique fusion of these two properties, gives rise to dance. The body weight is given diverse expressions and forms by the force of the activated limbs. Thus the human body gets involved in an artistic mobility. These movements are easy, spontaneous, vibrant and animated and thus the various dance forms came into being.
Rabindranath believed that dance had an aesthetic value and ought to be enjoyed by the masses. Though a dance performance is transitory, but it has an eternal effect and gives pure and undiluted pleasure while happening. It is soul’s food and gives the best possible outlet to the soul’s yearnings and aspirations, the ecstasies and agonies the dreams and frustrations. Rabindranath’s dances are simple and soothing. His dances were more or less based on the following formulae:
Dance is an ideal mode of expression of any form of acting.
His dances were mainly based on various forms of literature, be they short stories, plays or poems, which were composed by himself.
The maestro infused music into his beautiful poems which gave birth to some quintessential songs. His dance-dramas were mainly based on these songs and his dances relied heavily on Indian culture and tradition.
His dances were never reliant on instrumental music. A new mould of Rabindra Sangeet is its sole inspiration. The maestro was very particular so that the dances aptly expressed the essence of the songs.
Rabindranath did not follow the age-old conventions and customs blindly. In the ancient Indian dance forms, ‘Mudra’ or gestures were very prominent and played the pivotal role. But those ‘Mudras’ are very intricate and not intelligible to the masses. This could reduce a serious and subtle dance-drama into a mere farce. Hence, Rabindranath has deliberately tried to avert the ‘Mudras’ as much as possible in his dances. His songs are of utmost importance and are the foundations of all his dance productions.
So, the maestro made a unique blending of music, taal and expressions in his own way and did not follow any specific dance pattern or rhythm. Rather, he has freely adopted style and techniques from Manipuri, Katthak, Bharat Natyam, Kathakali, folk dances and even European dances as and when necessary.
Rabindranath had realized that dance, the unique art form, was gingerly getting effaced from the society. The educated elites in particular, were very much against dance of any kind which they considered gross and unrefined. With his storehouse of knowledge and wisdom, the great poet realized the tremendous potential of dance as an exquisite art form. He knew that if it was ousted from the society for ever, it would imply sheer neglect and dishonour of a noble art and a rich cultural heritage of India. He sincerely believed that Indian culture and tradition was aptly represented in dance. The designs in various temples and the old sculptures are ideal testimony to the status and dignity that dance used to enjoy as an exquisite art form in the days of yore. Education is a vast process which incorporates within itself several process like art, culture, wisdom etc. The maestro was of the opinion that a truly learned person should also be very refined and polished and should be well abreast of all other forms of knowledge and wisdom apart from bookish education. He thought that dance was such a subtle and elegant form of art that it would definitely contribute to improving the intelligence and wisdom of a person.
It can be said that Rabindranath never really intended to make mere dancers out of those who took training in this noble art form. He wanted to enrich this uncared art form. He wanted to enrich this uncared art which had tremendous potential for the all round development of different strata of the society. He wanted to elevate this art form to such standards that it would act as the soul’s food for the educated people with refined tastes. The great poet was not only a versatile genius but a saint, a philosopher and a great thinker, all rolled into one. He started experimenting with dances in his dance-dramas acts the fag end of his life. For the sake of variety and novity, he juxtaposed several dance forms and gave birth to a divine rhythm and style. He wanted to explore the world of dance much more and produce more colourful dances but in vain. This was because there was a crisis of real skilful dancers at that time with in depth knowledge of the subject. However, his followers and descendants tried to make up for this deficiency and embellish the dance-dramas with more intense dramatic effect and enriched dances. In this regard, Rabindranath’s favourite disciple Santidev Ghosh has made an invaluable contribution. The names of Kalo Nayar and Balkrishna Menon also deserve mention. The legendary dancer Uday Shankar was immensely influenced by the methods and style as devised by Rabindranath.
Dance in Shantiniketan
Rabindranath Tagore has carved a separate niche for himself in the history of modern Indian dance. Had he not patronized the growth of dance in Shantiniketan, we would never have attained such sky-kissing heights in the firmament of dance and won praise and honour from the world at large. Man is used to see the complete form of an art. He enjoys the end product of any art form as in dance. But he is least concerned about the painstaking stages, the labour and the exertion that is put up slowly and steadily to reach the final and concrete stage.
Dance in Shantiniketan had also reached its climax after passing through several evolutionary processes. Pratima Devi reminisced on one occasion that Rabindranath had once been to Tripura. He was fascinated to be the colourful dances in Tripura and resolved to introduce it back home. Incidentally, this was not the typical open air stage dance of his contemporary Bengal. The practice of this new form of dance went on in Shantiniketan much to the ignorance of the masses.
The Biswa Bharati was founded in 1912 and aspiring students got the opportunity of learning dance in Shantiniketan. At first, dance was skittish and vibrant occasional gestures and expressions to create a rhythm as is observed in Tagore’s remarkable lyrical plays like ‘Achalayatan,’ ‘Barshamangal,’ ‘Sarodotsav’ etc. For instance, in the song ‘Bendhechi Kasher Guchha’ angles with Kash (catkin of a species of grass) in their hands and coincided while showing obeisance. The gesture would resemble the open petals of a lotus flower. In another song ‘Sabar Range Rang Meshate Habe,’ which happens to be the concluding scene of ‘Achalayatan,’ the dancers used to dance with several coloured handkerchiefs which created an intense effect. In ‘Phalguni,’ the maestro infused boot stamping Baul music and the songs would generate dance automatically. While rehearsing, a circle was drawn around the place, so that the dancers would dance in a systematic and coherent way. The maestro had drastically changed the prevailing beliefs and conventional ideas about dance and brought a whiff of fresh air in this sphere. Gradually, females started to do away with their shame and hesitation and began to participate in dances. The Garba dance of kathiawad and Gujarat was introduced here by the wife of the professor of English. Dance was performed with some wonderful Tagore songs like ‘Jadi Baran Karo Tabe Gahibo Na,’ ‘More Beena Othe,’ ‘Dui Hoate Kaler Mandira’ etc. Along with this, a few folk dances from Gujarat were inducted to some extent.
According to Pratima Devi, plays could not be made universally popular merely with songs. In order to make the plays more interesting, dance was inducted into plays. Gradually, dance started to be used for dramatization of events. When ‘Rituranga’ (the seasonal cycle) was dramatized in Shantiniketan, the impact of Japanese dance norms was also felt. Next, Rabindranath went to south India and was highly influenced by the rich cultural heritage of the Brahmins. Dance formed an integral part of their culture and tradition. As he came back to Shantiniketan, the great poet tried to make a fusion of the southern style and techniques with existing Shantiniketan style. In several lyrical plays like ‘Rituranga,’ the impact of Kathakali dance form was clearly felt. In reality, Kathakali started to be taught in full swing from the time of Kelu Nayar. Katthak, though not dominant, did have a reasonable influence as well. At the fag end of his life, the maestro even accepted Bharatnatyam under the influence of Rukmini Devi. To conclude, it must be said that Tagore was a towering personality and a versatile genius. He introduced dance in Shantiniketan and made it an inextricable part of education for an all round development of the students. He resuscitated the drooping Indian dance, ameliorated it and made it immensely popular in the estimation of the world at large.