At 66, Malavika Sarukkai has discovered her most prolific avatara

Malavika Sarukkai is today the senior most performing Bharatanatyam dancer. At 66, she has transcended the limitations of age and is in her most prolific avatara. Known for her unmatched creativity and a vast body of choreographies over more than 35 years, her inspirations have ranged from shringara to the sari and planet Earth.

Her major works include Fireflies (1990), which explores the man–woman relationship; Vamatara – To the Light (2014), a celebration of Pichwai paintings, bhakti poetry and classical dance; Thari – The Loom (2017), inspired by the sari; and her most recent work Beeja – The Earth Seed, an iconic commentary on planet Earth through the language of dance, which will premiere in Delhi on September 10.

In an interaction, the articulate dancer shared some thoughts.

‘Raising the bar for myself has sustained me’

Malavika, after a lifetime in music, what do you think has been the biggest contributor to your enormous success?

I don’t really like to focus on success; that’s very short-sighted. I think what dance has given me, graced me with, what I’ve been fortunate to have received has changed everything about me. It’s changed how I think, how I respond to people.

Of course, the initial 20 years one is just excited about the form itself. There is so much to learn—the movements, rhythm—you’re finding out what your body can do. But when I look back at my 50 years in dance; it’s a long time and I see what has sustained me, and kept the idea of sadhana going is my own interest in raising the bar. Raising the bar for myself, not competition with another artist. (Yes, I can be inspired by another artist, but it’s not competitive.) I think that has possibly been why I’ve kept going and kept my approach to my work fresh. I have never taken my dance for granted. I have never felt I know everything.

Just today I said to Maha in my office, while rehearsing I know I have discovered some things in the art form but there is so much more I need to learn. She said after 50 years you still feel like that!

There has to be total samarpan (surrender). You have to give your all to dance and it then returns in its own way, in its own time. I think it’s up to the dancer to be sensitive to it.

Coming back to your question on success—success—I think it’s destiny. My mother was the single life force behind me—without her I could not have done even a quarter of the things I did. She was the anchor in my life, the guiding force, guiding how I thought and lived. She was the spirit behind me.

Of course, the right gurus (in my generation, they were gurus, not just teachers) who teach you the fundamentals really well, and then your own sustained effort. I learnt the repertoire of my gurus and then danced that for 20 years.

But when I look back, it’s not my doing, it’s destiny.

‘When she passed, it was a lonely but intense journey’

How were you affected as a dancer by the passing away of your mother, your ‘life force’?

My mother passed away 13 years ago. I was at the edge of a cliff. I never thought I would be able to dance again, I thought I would never find anything. But the fact is, in the last 13 years I have created so much work, pushed the boundaries of my dance form, in fact I have been inspired, excited, refreshed about dance again and again.

It’s not something I have done alone, I needed energies from beyond. I am actually amazed when I think back, about the fact I was able to pick up my dance again and been quite prolific. I speak to dance more personally, and dance speaks to me more personally. It could be, that when she was not there, it was a very lonely journey for me, intense and deep but lonely.

‘We need depth in art, not transactions’

You said once, and it shocked everyone, that you don’t feel appreciated as an artist. Please elaborate on this.

Society doesn’t value the classical performing art of dance—I am only speaking of dance now. It’s because the world is changing, the world of entertainment has all but consumed everyone. So sometimes you feel you are in an oasis; you’re trying to protect this oasis, which is life-giving energy, it’s life-giving enrichment.

In this world that we live in, which has become so transactional, we need performers with depth. Art speaks to our being, if it’s deep. We need artists who feel deeply, who can convey something, who have empathy, whose feelings are honest and authentic. Then it touches one in a different way. When we find this, we need to hold onto it. We need philanthropists, not sponsorships. We need money to be pledged in a sustained way to committed artists.

In our world, it’s money that rules and that’s why it’s so empty. There is so much superficiality everywhere, it’s fake, second-hand.

‘Kalavaahini is a way to say: I value your seriousness’

You have set up a trust, Kalavaahini. Is it to show support to younger dancers?

Through Kalavaahini, I would like to find dancers and tell them I value them for what they do. For the seriousness with which they are pursuing their art form. That’s what Kalavaahini was set up for.

‘We need rigour, not clones’

The world of dance has changed. Tell us how you now see it.

There are more Bharatanatyam dancers today than there were when I was 30. There is saturation and so a jostling for space. The fact is there are far too many people who aspire to dance; but dance is actually very difficult.

Also Read: Where Stones Speak: Art, memory and the echoes of Ladakh’s past

There are many more dance festivals than there were, but they are still not enough. And remember here we are talking numbers only, not quality.

But I am positive; I see that there are a few people, now in their 30s, who I feel will actually contribute in the future. Dancers in their 20s may have potential but one has to wait and watch.

When I look at a new work, I question whether it has intellectual rigour. That is very important. The freshness of a concept and the ability to effectively communicate through movement is of course important. Dancers who are clones of each other don’t really matter; they could be fairly good but it’s still a chorus line! They don’t stand the test of time.

Malavika Sarukkai will be performing at Kamani Auditorium on July 4.