Her dance speaks the ethos of Indian culture and keeps evolving in the contemporary context. Constantly on the move, she seeks a dynamic evolvement in aesthetics and dance vocabulary. Anita Ratnam needs no introduction when it comes to defining the melange of classical and contemporary. Being a dancer, choreographer, transcultural collaborator, arts presenter, scholar and writer Ratnam defines thoughtfulness in dance. Her latest offering A Million Sita-s delves into the portrayal of Sita different from the one we come across in the mythological texts and scriptures.
“Actually this is my first attempt at Ramayana. I have never choreographed anything related to Ramayana before,” says Ratnam. And one of the primary reasons to go back to Ramayana was about exploring the story of a woman weaved in a story, which basically spoke about morals and dharma. “Having had a background of convent schooling and liberal upbringing, I’ve heard so many different versions of Sita. I essentially wanted to look at her from the perspective of other women, who made a difference to the story of Ramayana and how Sita bound them as a common link,” Ratnam explains.
Ramayana, as we all know, was and is still perceived as a religious and holy text. And the surprising factor is the diversity in the worshippers, as people across the country, belonging to different sects and religions speak and sing praises of the Rama.
“The other women in the story include Manthara, Surpnakha, Ahalya and Sabri, who in their own ways were ahead of their time, and came across as real human beings. Ahalya was a woman whom we know as someone giving into temptation and lust and later being liberated by Rama. Surpnakha on the other hand was smitten by Rama and wanted to go to any extreme to get him. Without the existence of these women we wouldn’t have had the Ramayana. Sabri is someone who is not directly connected with Sita, but through Rama there is an indirect bond. And in the midst of all this, we have Sita who is portrayed as the ideal wife and woman,” enthuses Ratnam.
She doesn’t want to showcase Sita as someone who is normally shown to be weeping and suffering. “Having said this, I don’t want to be labelled as some feminist who is into male bashing and accusing Rama. It is a take on the iconic woman, who has intrigued and fascinated generations of people from all walks of life,” says Ratnam.
Following her style of contemporary dance with classical base, A Million Sita-s is an hour-long production exploring the space and multiple paths that it offers. “As I went about choreographing and exploring, there were many questions that came to my mind about each of these women and their characters. Even four days before the premiere I am questioning the storyline, the parts of scripture that I have worked on, the style of choreography and I believe that is an ongoing process,” says Ratnam. The title is aptly suited to the idea, as Ratnam believes that a bit of Sita exists in each one of us.
“Sita looks at her life in terms of flashback and reflecting upon the journey of life. We in our own ways in the present times have qualities that she possessed,” says Ratnam.
An interesting aspect about Ratnam becomes evident when she describes herself as a contemporary classicist. “The reason I say this is because of fact that for me classical dance is my foundation. It is the base and contemporary dance has been my exploration, which stems out of classical vocabulary. There is Indianness in every movement of mine, every expression that it is difficult to categorise oneself as solely contemporary,” says Ratnam. She goes on to say that many dancers who have 15 years of classical dance training and two years of contemporary dance training from the West can hardly call their dance contemporary without attaching the classical roots to it. “Contemporary for me is just not about rolling on the floor or twirling and twisting. It is much more than that. It is about theatrical devices, storytelling ability, and meditative aspects like Yoga, Tai Chi. They all are sources of classicism and for me contemporary emerges from there,” says Ratnam.
Also known to be an arts entrepreneur Ratnam has founded and runs a web portal for dance www.narthaki.com, which brings the whole dance community on a virtual platform.
“Coming from a business background, my father asked me what I had to give back to the society. And that is how the idea of narthaki came about,” says Ratnam. Nartahki, which is an exhaustive and comprehensive portal about everything related to Indian dance, has grown to be a vibrant, dynamic and interactive platform for dance aficionados across the country. Ratnam wants people to come forward and make the medium more dynamic and youthful.