Pushing Boundaries in Temple for Navarathri

For Navarathri 2008 I made a very bold decision - to experiment and push the envelop on classical dance offerings in temple. Unlike theaters the Indian temples are the center of deep conservatism. Classical arts are revered and much emphasis is placed on accurate repetition and recollection of old repertoires. No marks are awarded for originality, dynamism or innovation. However the problem with this approach is that it alienates the average temple devotee - who is typically not a classicalist or traditional rashika - a knowledgeable insider of indian performing arts. In Singapore in particular there is a deep divide between the classical dance community and the more popular/Vasantham Central type dance community. There are strengths and weakness within each of this community but I think the key is to cross-pollinate. For the classicalists to look to the popular culture for new audiences and for the pop artists to look to classical artists for craft/technique.

As someone who has straddled both these worlds and who has significant western modern dance training, I felt it was time for me to showcase new and innovative works in the temple. Hence for the Mariamman temple show I chose to do a few things very differently:

1. First I abandoned the margam format with the few set classical pieces - ie Thilana, Jathiswaram, Padam etc etc. Instead I did a 20min work that had 7 distinct musical pieces and that took the audience on a range of emotions.

2. I chose a mixture of jathis, semi-classical, folk chants and devotional music that had one theme in common - sacred arts. Music that stirred the soul and awakened the spirit. I was also fortunate to have a wonderful sound engineer to mix the music for me. And one of the highlights was a music that intelligently married Michael Jackson's Jam with a classical jathi.

3. I chose to use two American kids as backup dancers. Navarathri is a wonderful opportunity to showcase young talent and that Indian dance is not something just for Indians. It was my way of sending a strong signal to the audience that Indian art forms can be taught and performed in an authentic and respectful manner by foreigners. This again was a big hit - it forced alot of people to look at the dance form very differently.

It took quite a lot of courage on my end to do this. But that is how I realize I grow as an artist. By taking intelligent risks and pushing the envelop incrementally every time.