India's classical dances and dancers have come a long way

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Parinatha

21 February, 2011

Classical dance has existed in India since time immemorial. Indian dance is said to have originated between the second century B.C and second century A.D. Though, classical dance forms suffered during British rule they are seeing a revival now.

WHILE MALLIKA Sarabhai, Prathibha Prahalad, Shobana Chandrakumar are some of the women, who spearhead Indian dance today, Indian dance has had a diffcicult journey in terms of its perception and gender-bias.

Classical dance has existed in India since time immemorial. Indian dance is said to have originated between the second century B.C and second century A.D. Though, dance forms such as Kathakali and Bharatnatyam suffered during the British Raj, the re-emergence of these dance forms was possible due to the efforts of many dance lovers.

As these dance lovers came together to revive the cultural heritage of India, which the government realised was a national identity that could not be ignored, a number of experts took initiatives to reconstruct various classical dances.

While E Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale tried to revive Bharatnatyam, Guru Deba Prasad Das, Guru Mayadhar Raut, Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Mahadev Rout, Guru Raghu Dutta and Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra were trying to revive Odissi.

Much before independence, women dancers were looked down upon and ex-communicated as dance was perceived as something menial and cheap. Women who danced were sent to temples as devadasis, which meant to “serve god”, but it was their unsaid duty to physically please men.

The first legal initiative to outlaw the devadasi system dates back to the 1934 Bombay Devadasi Protection Act. This act was specific to the Bombay province as it existed in the British Raj. The Bombay Devadasi Protection Act made using women as "devdasis" illegal, whether consensual or not.

The Act also provided rules, which were aimed at protecting the interests of the devadasis. Whenever there was a dispute over ownership of land involving a devadasi, the local Collector was expected to intervene.

In 1947, the year of independence, the Madras Devadasi Prevention of Dedication Act outlawed dedication in the southern Madras Presidency. The devadasi system was outlawed in all of India in 1988.

Since then, women have taken dance to another level altogether with the practice of 7 classical dances and hundreds of other Indian dances which have reformed society.

Due to globalisation and women having gained more freedom of speech and expression they use this art form to help many Indians evolve in their thinking. Using dance to convey social messages like rape, the practice of aborting female babies and of the mythological figure Rama, who insisted that his wife, Sita, walk through a fire to prove that she has been faithful to him have changed perceptions of many.

Ever since independence women have developed the courage to use this art form liberally and modify it to the requirements of our nature, community and people. Thus, many Indian women dancers have evolved with and in their art.