KOCHI: Mallika Sarabhai introduced herself as a communicator rather than a danseuse. “I would like to communicate with the layman through my art form,” said Mallika. Everything in the world, be it science, art or philosophy is a medium to communicate with each other,” she says.“Unlike other countries, India’s uniqueness lies in the fact that some of the most modern scientific achievements co-exist with highly orthodox religious beliefs. Even to launch an IT firm, we do it by breaking a coconut and it is this coexistence that enables us to scale new heights in all fields,” she says.Keeping this unique vision in mind Mallika presented her dance theme, ‘India, Then, Now and Forever’ at JT Pac. She showed the spontaneity of Indian dance forms, starting from the age old ritualistic tribal dance to the sophisticate classical form, the Bharathnatyam.The rhythm based tribal dance form with the accompaniment of ethnic drums enabled the artists to unveil the rustic nuances of the ancient dance form through which the people of that time expressed their unadulterated mindset.It was followed by the stylised performance of Bharathnatyam by Mallika with her counterparts. They danced on the lines Ananda Koothaadinaan…sung by Nattuvankam Jayan Nair. Through the graceful body movements and expressive rasabhinaya, Mallika gave expression to the lyrics in her own matchless style, inherited from her celebrated mother, Mrinalini Sarabhai. Chau, an ancient dance form from Gujarat, told of the adventurous life of Veer Abhimanyu. The pulsating beats from the huge ethnic drum added a unique beauty to the dancing steps of the characters. Mallika also presented Kuchipudi which she ended by dancing atop a clay pot. In another dance called Laiharoba she portrayed the immortal moments from Sree Krishna Leela. For the Kerala audience, there was a Thala conglomeration in which ethnic drums of Kerala; Chenda and a gigantic membranophne, controlled the basic rhythm. Thavil and a horn like wind instrument also joined hand with Shehnai. The combination of all these instruments recreated the Kerala’s famous temple percussion ensemble, Paandi Melam. If the first two phases (India, Then and Now) of the show gave a realistic portrayal of ancient ethnic dance forms and sophisticated present styles of Indian dance forms, the final phase, Forever, was a symbolic portrayal of the so called pseudo Indian mindset.By skillfully using the theatrical elements of Indian dance, Mallika perfectly blended the bitter realities and false beliefs prevailing in our nation with a handful of masked faces. Through this piece she asks, “In this so called modern independent India, do we really enjoy freedom? Freedom is merely an illusion. Here all are bonded to a society which wears various kinds of masks.”By portraying herself as a hapless Indian girl trapped in a society of fakes , Mallika urges the audience to come out of their bondages. After the performance, Mallika had an interactive session with the audience to share her visions and woes of the depressed, especially Kerala women.Choice School Principal Molly Cyril presented JT Pac’s gift, an Aaranmula Kannadi, to Mallika as an honour to the artist.
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