Introduction of Sattriya Indian Classical Dance to Malaysians by KAVITA SUPRAMANIAM

 Introduction to Sattriya Dance

Sattriya — the dance of the monks the truest expression of a people is in its dance and its music. Bodies never lie.  

It is believed that the origin of theatre art in India was the work of God. Brahma, the creator, was asked to give mankind a fifth Veda, which, unlike the four earlier Vedas in Sanskrit, would be easily understood by everyone. Brahma created the Natya Veda with the assistance of other gods and taught the

mythic sage Bharatha who recorded his teachings in the Natya Sastra. It became the foundational treatise of all classical forms of theatre and dance in India and is probably the world’s largest and most comprehensive art manual. There are eight classical dance forms in India based on the Natya Sastra. 

Sattriya, originating from Assam, was officially recognised by the Sangeet Natak Academy as the eighth classical dance form only in the beginning of the 21st century although it was performed exclusively by male monks in the Vaishnavaite monasteries known as Sattra for many centuries. The monks or bhokots, as they were referred, used to describe the legends of Krishna from the Bhagavatha Purana in a dance-drama format as part of their daily rituals.

Overseas Exposer  

Sattriya gained popularity through the Vaishnava Bhakti  movement and evolved as a classical art over the last five centuries. Over the years, Sattriya Nritya has received greater acceptance and patronage both outside the state of Assam, and outside India.

One of the Sattriya Nritya dancer promoting the dance art overseas is Madam Kavitha Supramaniam from Malaysia.     Madam               Kavitha Supramaniam as an          accomplish dancer; learning the art under the close guidance of her esteem Guru Preeti Chowdhury of Assam

Her burning desire for dance made her explore not just Bharatanatyam & Odissi, yet into another ancient dance form calls Sattriya. 

Performing the dance art on many international stages, she gains a wide range of recognizing including the esteem Chidambaresa Natya Kalaimani & the Guinness World Record for Dance. It wasn't enough as she wanted to keep learning and explore more

The art form that requires the performer to immerse oneself in the role and tell a story like a stage drama in a dance form, capture the heart & soul of Kavitha Supramaniam; to introduce this unknown dance art form to Malaysian audience.

Quote ‘Performing Sattriya makes me happy as I can fully immerse myself in a role and perform as if I am that character. I change from one character to another within minutes as I perform solo. I am Ravana and I am Sita. It feels like having multiple personalities within minutes. As American dancer Merce Cunningham said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.”  Unquote

She does also one to one class to those who want to learn it at her studio with collaboration with several Sattriya Dance School in India. Interestingly she also a well-qualified Yoga Master and Ayurveda Massage Treatment whereby she focusses on Chakra & Sound healing treatment. 

According to her,

Quote:// ‘It benefits in finding your purpose, helps to keep an organized mind, clarity in decision making, calmness, boosted self-esteem and many more. One advice that I would like to give others is age is not a barrier for one to learn anything including art forms. One needs to have a good positive mindset. Also, stop discussing or getting advice from those who always speak of life constrain in a  destructive form. Trust yourself!

One thing that is always in my mind is when you focus on one thing that you want to do; you can do it regardless of what it is. When you don't have the self-confidence,          that's when everything you have built so far will be ruined. You need to trust yourself first before you start to trust others. Then you will be creating miracles.

Unquote://

Reference:

•       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sattriya

•       https://rotarynewsonline.org

•       https://books.google.com/books?id=DcReZM-rI0MC&pg=PA292

•       https://books.google.com/books?id=zLOiaGDLYOAC

•       https://books.google.com/books?id=4fw2DAAAQBAJ