Kalpana in The Hindu o

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She performs the alaripu lying on her back. She combines Indian rhythms with West African beats. Kalpana Raghuraman recently performed at the India Habitat Centre as part of the HCL Concert Series. She combines abhinaya with acrobatics creating her own unique style of Bharatanatyam. Now based in Netherlands, she initially learnt Bharatanatyam from her mother Sharadha Raghuraman and later from the Dhananjayans and C.V. Chandrasekhar. In 2004, she performed her first solo contemporary Bharatanatyam piece.

Her style of dance is essentially Bharatanatyam but with hints of the moonwalk, the flair of Mandinka (the dance of Mali) and the swing of the tango spun in. While using the traditional shollus (syllables like tai yum tatta) in her soundtrack, she also uses the Asian Underground music of Talvin Singh and the music of the kora (a West African harp).

Another dimension

While dance tends to be performed vertically, she explores another dimension, by performing on her back. Having choreographed the evening’s recital “Untitled”, Kalpana says, “I am trying to find the voice of my body.”

A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, just why did she choose to contemporarise her form? Watching different dance forms and even working with different international groups she says, “I felt a gap between what I was expressing and what I wanted to express. I wanted something closer to myself.” She adds, “Most people feel that Indian dance is so complex. But it’s an open form. It’s what you do with it. I wanted to show that.”

She uses the abhinaya (facial expressions) and hastas (hand gestures) of classical dance. But while Bharatanatyam requires the back to be erect, she experiments with different back movements. But this innovative dancer has never trained in contemporary dance. She explains, “Training is a conditioning. I decided not to train in contemporary dance as that would be another conditioning.” It is only through knowing Bharatanatyam thoroughly that she can experiment with it.

Having lived and studied in Mali, she also brings the flavour of Mandinka to her performance. Kalpana feels that the Mandinka and Bharatanatyam have a centeredness in common. She explains, “There’s a stillness in all storms. While it’s not that evident, it’s found in both the dance forms.”

The difference, however, she feels, is that while Bharatanatyam doesn’t use repetition, Mandinka uses it as, “repetition creates energy and even allows for change.”

While her performances are structured there is a lot of improvisation in her movements. She responds organically to the music and situation. “Improvising comes from the journey of composing,” she explains.

Kalpana now returns to the Netherlands where she runs a Bharatanatyam school. But the approach is different, she clarifies, “It is more open. I see which step suits which student. A dialogue with the body is important.”

She is also working with a composer from Burkina Faso on a piece titled “I’ve lost my French”.