On 25 October 1974, 12-year-old Geeta Ramakrishnan came into limelight for the first time by performing Arangetram under the guidance of her guru Smt. Swarna Saraswati. Now, fifty years later, Geeta Chandrana famous bharatanatyam The dancer and choreographer celebrates an extraordinary journey of passion, dedication and artistic growth. From his pioneering choreography to his role as a mentor drama treeHe has consistently pushed the boundaries of this classical art form, balancing tradition with contemporary expressions. As she reflects on five decades of dance, her creative flame burns brighter than ever, inspiring generations to come.
Congratulations on completing 50 years as an artist! As a dancer and choreographer, how has your approach to Bharatanatyam evolved over the past several decades, especially in your latest body of work?
Since its rebirth in the early decades of the last century, Bharatanatyam has remained exciting for almost a century. Generations of gurus, dancers, scholars, critics and organizers – including government agencies – have maintained it as a rich and dynamic dance form. No one person can claim to have done it all. It was a moment in history and the grand aspirations of a budding nation gave wings to its wings.
And the dance evolved in two ways; The Bharatanatyam lake was carved deep into the tradition, while some artists cut out its boundaries to recreate the outline of that lake. Both the actions were equally important and added to the seriousness of the dance style.
The late scholar Dr. Jeevan Pani had explained this to me very beautifully. He said that every generation created superficial waves in the lake of tradition. But by the next season the lake had incorporated the waves into its body structure. Therefore, continuity and change are inevitable due to the wandering of tradition. It would be wrong to consider tradition as immutable and cast in stone.
I am blessed to be a part of this amazing flow-power. And it is a visionary force, inspired by its past. Hence my new concept of Pravahati, where my dance philosophy and pedagogy unite in showcasing my many works – for both solo and group. flow rate captures my fascination and enthusiasm classical dance The language I connect with and flow in.
Through Natya Vriksha, you have trained many dancers and developed a deep understanding of Bharatanatyam. How has your role as a teacher influenced your own artistic journey?
The Drama Tree has been my experiment laboratory for over thirty years now. And each generation of new students has forced me to reevaluate my teaching methodology. Each new batch is both a challenge for me and an opportunity to unlearn and re-learn. My art has evolved through these diverse conversations I have with young students on a daily basis. Those interactions have in turn shaped my own dance and performance art. How can I stay relevant? Is my dancing boring? I’m not afraid to examine these questions for myself. It keeps me in danger. And how exciting that is!
How do you balance being a mentor and an artist?
I am a dancer first and foremost. All other adjectives are meaningless. Am I advising students, or are they advising me? This is an existential dilemma that is indeed very complex to solve.
Although I know that dancing is my passion. I think, dream, eat and sleep dancing. Nothing else really matters to me. It’s embedded in my mitochondria. And that passion drives me to take different journeys with different individuals with whom I interact, whether they are my musicians, my dance partners, my audiences, my own students and other young people. Whom I interact with regularly. Each prism of interaction is alive and influences all other interactions.
Looking back over your illustrious 50-year career, are there specific moments or performances that have been instrumental in shaping your artistic philosophy?
As I look back, I realize that my performing career of five decades has been defined by double reads. While in the first read I continue to enjoy tradition in all its infinite colours, there is also a second read of contemporariness.
And in my mission to “dance into the universe”, I have constantly striven to create new spaces for today’s classical dancers. Constantly striving to push the boundaries of classical art and reach new, especially young audiences.
At the same time, I also strongly believe that dance should be linked to life and artists should use their unique position in the society to bring change in lives and lives.
This gave birth to a unique format of performance-dialogue in which contemporary issues are raised through classical performances. His previous works such as Voice and Imagination of Peace raised issues of the meaninglessness of violence. Kaikeyi talked about stigma and villainization. Mythologies Retold addressed the issue of female foeticide. In Anekant, we highlighted the Indian Constitution’s vision of an inclusive society. Gandhi: Tana Aur Bana was a reminder of Gandhian values and choices. Simhika: Daughter of the Forest highlights the need for justice and rights for forest tribals. Jayatu Bharatam celebrated 75 years of India’s independence.
All of these choreographies express my deep belief that dance can be a medium to build social bridges and erase social stigma, raise awareness of gender issues and make sustainable environmental choices.
As a proponent of preserving the classical arts while connecting with modern audiences, what challenges do you see for Bharatanatyam in today’s world and how do you envision the future of Indian classical dance?
The future of Indian classical dances is extremely safe in the hands of the most talented next generation artists. With the increasing use of technology at their fingertips, dance will evolve in amazing ways. And that’s a very exciting prospect. Of course, audiences need to be more discerning about artists who exude charisma on stage and who reach popularity through brief performances crafted only for Insta reels!
But, apart from that the real challenge is how to bring more money into classical dance. Dancers need support and celebration. For example, our CSR vision is extremely short-sighted. If the arts have to wait for support until the last schools and toilets are built for our entire population, we will probably have to wait several decades. By then, many Gurus and their traditions would have disappeared indelibly. What we need today is a liberal CSR policy that is art friendly. This is the real challenge before us.
