ISTD Classical Indian Dance History.indd
Transcript of ISTD Classical Indian Dance History.indd
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The classical indian dance FaculTy
The Classical Indian Dance Faculty (CIDF) of the ISTD
currently offers certified examinations in the classical
Indian dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, and
is in the process of developing examination and certification
syllabi in other Indian dance forms. The Faculty was established
in 1999 as the South Asian Dance Faculty and renamed in
November 2012.1 CIDF has been chaired by David Henshaw
(serving 1999–2002), Chitraleka Bolar (2003–2010) and Sujata
Banerjee (2010–present).2
Bharatanatyam is the sophisticated inheritor of the codified
Dasi and Sadir dance traditions that evolved over many
centuries in the temples and royal durbars of southern India. It
is hallmarked by its geometrical positions, extended limb lines,
strong footwork and complex rhythm sequences, embellished
by a ‘language’ of hand gestures and elaborate narratives
conveyed by stylised expressions of body and face.
Kathak originated as a danced story-telling form in
northern India in the precincts of Hindu temples, acquiring
in Mughal courts its now signature flourishes and charisma:
subtly held body and limb lines, and a delicate expressiveness
of face, showcasing a lyricism studded by bursts of intricate
rhythmic patterns executed by fret-like footwork, fleeting arm
movements and spins, punctuated by dynamic stillness.
Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancers require, respectively,
knowledge of classical Carnatic and Hindustani music from
southern and northern India.
The development of Indian dance in the United Kingdom
Over a period of a little more than 150 years, Indian dance in
the UK has made a stimulating and substantial journey. It has
developed from being exhibited as an exotic artefact of the
‘jewel in the crown’ that was India, to becoming an established
and exciting element of the contemporary British dance scene.
Established in 1904 the Imperial Society of Teachers
of Dancing (ISTD) is one of the world’s oldest and
most influential dance examination boards. Ever since
its inception the ISTD has developed new styles and
dance genres, and today with 12 faculties, no other
dance examination board has the breadth of genres
that the ISTD offers.
Our mission is to educate the public in the art of
dancing in all its forms, to promote the knowledge
of dance, to provide up-to-date techniques, and to
maintain and improve teaching standards across the
globe. The ISTD is always moving with the times to
keep pace with the latest developments in dance.
We regularly update our syllabi and introduce new
faculties to respond to changes in the world of dance.
The 2012 Misrana finale – all the
participants at The Lowry
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In 1838, traditional Indian temple dancers or devadasis
appeared in performance for the first time in Europe at the
Adelphi Theatre, London. Between the 1920s and 1960s, a
number of non-devadasi modern, professional3 Indian dancers
were presented and feted in the UK and Europe. These included
Uday Shankar,4 Ram Gopal,5 Ragini Devi, Mrinalini Sarabhai
and Indrani Rahman. Gopal’s was among the early attempts
to set up a fully-fledged Indian dance school in London but it
did not take root. By the mid-1970s, however, when Naseem
Khan’s seminal report on British ethnic minorities’ arts was
commissioned and published (1976), there were a significant
number of immigrant teachers from the South Asian diaspora
running thriving ‘Indian classical dance’ classes in the UK, and
during the 1980s these dance forms, their performers and
schools became extremely popular.
By the 1990s, Indian dance in the UK was firmly embedded
in the ‘contemporary’ dance category in arts policy, and, for
inclusivity reasons, officially and widely called ‘South Asian
Dance’. Thereon, the ethos of contemporary dance impacted on
the genre(s). For example, ‘hybrid’ works (that is, those which
drew upon mixed dance techniques and styles) were being
created by choreographers, heralded by Shobana Jeyasingh.
Jeyasingh, like other artists who followed her, was trained in
but contested the strictures and structures of classical Indian
dance. These new and exciting works attracted attention and
were offered public funding. Nevertheless, vast numbers of
South Asian-origin British youngsters continued studying Indian
classical dance as ‘authentic’ forms of their cultural heritage, and
these forms were holding fast to their place on the world stage.
The story of the Faculty
In 1996, the dance organisation Akademi,6 under the artistic
directorship of Mira Mishra Kaushik, sowed the seeds for
a South Asian Dance Faculty of the ISTD. Explaining her
impetus, Kaushik has said: “By 1995–96, South Asian dance
was beginning to flourish [in the UK] and bring many South
Asian qualifications [and] imported systems [which] suffered
from out-dated syllabi irrelevant to the British education
system and incoherent assessment infrastructures” (Akademi,
2009). Encouraged by Mike Browne, the ISTD’s Chief Executive
at the time, Akademi created, funded and managed a three-
year syllabus research project, led by Sushmita Ghosh. It
involved consulting over a hundred teachers of classical Indian
dance7 in the UK and abroad, and sampling their existing
curricula.8 Akademi offered to the ISTD proposed Kathak and
Bharatanatyam syllabi devised by Ghosh and Pushkala Gopal,
respectively, and helped recruit David Henshaw as Founding
Chair of the South Asian Dance Faculty in 1999.
Under Henshaw’s championing and meticulous
chairmanship, the Faculty Committee commissioned Ghosh
(Kathak) and Nina Rajarani (Bharatanatyam) to fine tune the
syllabi and formulate specifications in line with the ISTD’s
pedagogical and examination systems. CIDF acknowledges
the contribution of many teachers from within and outside
Left: Swati Youth Dance performing
at U Dance 2014 at the Nottingham
Playhouse. The festival celebrates the
talent of young dancers from all over
the country
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the Faculty to this significant endeavour.9
Examining in Kathak and Bharatanatyam
started in 2001 in various regions of the
UK, with expansion by 2014 as widely as
Amsterdam, Dubai, Johannesburg, Toronto and
Seattle. In 2012, the CIDF, in the way of ‘coals to
Newcastle’, presented its examination curricula
and criteria to dance teachers in Mumbai and
Delhi – the first initiative in India for the ISTD.
Hosted by the British Council in the two cities,
the reception was warm, with teachers asking
for examinations, especially at the professional
conversion level.
In 2009, CIDF celebrated its 10th
anniversary with a ticketed showcase entitled
Misrana at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London,
featuring its top-graded ISTD-examined talents.
Misrana now takes place at regular intervals.10
Of special note have been the Faculty’s popular
classical Indian dance teachers’ forums, started
in 2010,11 and held regularly in various cities
with local partners. These invite both members
and non-members to expand their teaching
skills, create a supportive network and recruit
non-members to the ISTD way of dance
teaching and examining. Another feature is
that the Department for Education’s national
Centre for Advanced Training programme
in South Asian dance takes into account
applicants’ CIDF grade level achievement.12 In
2013, CIDF had the special honour of bestowing
the ISTD’s rare International Fellowship award
on the Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj,
whose Ang Kavya text is prescribed reading
for CIDF Kathak examinations. Dubai hosted
the largest CIDF examination to date with
approximately 130 candidates for Kathak.
Dancing forward
Bharatanatyam and Kathak have taken root
globally, spearheading the spread of other
Indian dance forms. Their traditional ethos,
pedagogy, and customary practices, such as the
lack of insistence on warm-up and cool-down,
have also migrated alongside. Some of these
practices, if not adapted to new geographic
and cultural climates, might arguably
endanger students and teachers on health
and safety grounds, while adherences to other
traditions may restrict these practitioners
from flourishing by engaging with others in
the dance sector with confidence and agency.
It is in this context that the achievement
and mission of the Faculty is significant.
The CIDF respects and embraces traditional
techniques, repertoire and wisdom, while
incorporating in its pedagogy and vision
updated practices that foster understanding,
talent, curiosity, responsibility, growth, safety,
creativity, confidence, agency and, above all,
the promotion and enjoyment of proficiency
in dancing.
CIDF keeps abreast of changes in the
UK’s official educational qualifications
requirements, updating the syllabus and
specifications to ensure that students and
teachers are kept up-to-date. Three revisions
completed by Faculty members have been
undertaken to date. This is all part of the
Faculty’s aims, identified by its Chair, Sujata
Banerjee, as seeking “to advance our members’
teaching success, and grow our membership at
home and internationally”.
Chitra Sundaram
FooTnoTes1ISTD press release dated 19
November 2012.2Amanda Leon was briefly interim
chair between Henshaw and Bolar.3As opposed to those who inherited
their dance-driven livelihood,
these professionals crossed family
opposition and/or caste/class
boundaries to become dancers by
choice.4Uday Shankar (1900–1977) was
invited to Europe in 1923 by Anna
Pavlova to partner her in an Indian-
themed ballet Radha Krishna.5Ram Gopal (1912-2003; OBE 1999)
was anointed ‘The Indian Nijinsky’ in
the Salons of Europe and appeared
in the UK and Europe from the
1930s–1960s. 6Set up by Tara Rajkumar as
‘Academy of Indian Performing Arts’,
it was renamed ‘Akademi – South
Asian Dance in the UK’ under the
stewardship of Mira Kaushik. 7Teachers of Bharatanatyam, Kathak,
and Odissi (Priya Pawar) were
consulted.8Nina Rajarani supplied her dance
school Srishti’s fully developed
syllabus up to Grade 6.9These included Sujata Banerjee,
Chitraleka Bolar, Pali Chandra,
Uma Chandratheva, Nilima Devi,
Pushkala Gopal, Sushma Mehta, Dr.
Nithyanandan, Pratap Pawar, Anusha
Subramanyam, Vidya Thirunarayan
and Gauri Sharma Tripathi.10Misrana showcases have taken
place on 22 February 2009 at QEH,
London and 4 November 2012 at the
Lowry, Salford Quays.11These began in 2007 as Skills
Sharing days for members, as offered
by other ISTD Faculties.12Centre for Advanced Training (CAT)
offers a selection-based programme
for young talent in a variety of music
and dance genres including Kathak
and Bharatanatyam.
ReFeRencesAkademi, 2 June 2009, email
attachment to Anita Srivastava for
Chitra Sundaram’s report on Misrana
for the Confluence newspaper.
Khan, N.,1976, The arts Britain
ignores: the arts of ethnic minorities
in Britain.
Arts Council of Great Britain,
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Great
Britain: Community Relations
Below: Laban Theatre Congress 2008