Dance master
// Kathak expert Birju Maharaj carries on the family `business'
Byline: LAURA BLEIBERG, The
Orange County Register - June 29, 2003
To fully understand
the way of life into which Birju Maharaj was born, you should understand
this: He comes not just from a family of dancers and musicians, but from
a whole village of dancing and singing storytellers.
There were about
900 families in the small town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,
where Maharaj's ancestors resided. All of them, Maharaj explained, were
involved in some way with the musical danced presentations in the temples,
retelling the mythological stories of Siva, Krishna and other Hindu deities.
``According to the (lyrics of the) songs, the dancers were showing all
the movements and gestures and expressions'' of the religious stories,
said Maharaj during a recent phone interview.
Eventually, the
dance moved out of the temples and into the palaces of India's royal families.
With patronage, the dance flourished and changed. It became more about
entertainment and less about worship. Eventually, the dance made its way
out among the people, who wholeheartedly embraced it.
And for decades,
they have embraced Maharaj, who said his family's involvement in the dance
goes back at least seven generations. Though he's in his mid-60s, he is
still referred to as the Baryshnikov of kathak dance. Kathak is one of
the classical forms of Indian dance, known for its fiery, intricate footwork.
The early exponents of the form were called kathakaar, which means storyteller.
Maharaj, six
dancers and musicians, and special guest Zakir Hussain on tabla will perform
Tuesday night only at the Irvine Barclay Theatre (presented by Irvine-based
Arpana Foundation). One of the most celebrated dancers in India, Maharaj
has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the highest presidential award for
achievement. His gifts have been recognized outside India as well; he was
invited to perform at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C., a festival
renowned for recognizing the best in modern dance and contemporary dance,
and was honored at the Avignon Festival in France in 1995.
Maharaj and his
company of dancers perform a style of kathak associated with the city of
Lucknow, where Maharaj lived for many years. The master teacher explained
that the Lucknow style focuses less on speed and the tricky rhythms pounded
with the feet, and more on making the dance absolutely beautiful.
"The Lucknow
(style) specializes in very particular movement,'' Maharaj said, from New
York, the starting point of his United States tour. "One line of a song,
the dancers could `explain' the whole night."
Local kathak
choreographer and teacher Anjani Ambegaokar has known Maharaj for nearly
40 years. She said the clarity and rhythmic precision of his dancing is
unmatched.
"He's a master
of his art. You will sit and watch him and you'll be in awe. What he does,
no one else does. His facial expressions, they are his own,'' she said.
Ambegaokar credits Maharaj with having promoted group choreography for
kathak dancers, helping to expand it from a solo art form only.
It continues
to grow and change. Maharaj, who is also renowned as a singer and musician,
choreographs new works using traditional steps and gestures, but tackling
subjects far removed from the ancient texts. For example, "Loha,'' which
is scheduled for Irvine, is an abstract dance about a piece of iron. The
iron is made into a weapon, used for destruction. The piece of iron is
depicted as being unhappy with his lot. It is jealous of another piece
of iron, which has been made into a bell for a temple.
Said Saswati
Sen, a virtuoso dancer who is on tour with Maharaj: "This is from a contemporary
poem that Maharaj wrote. It's mainly focused on the world around us where
there are so many people who are forced into living certain kinds of lives
which they would not choose to live.'' Like his family before him, Maharaj
has passed along his art form to his children; one of his sons, Deepak
Maharaj, is on this tour. But unlike the generations before him, the senior
Maharaj also taught his daughter to dance. Unlike the more familiar form
of classical Indian dance bharata natayam, which is known for its female
dancers, kathak used to be handed down to boys only. Some masters still
follow those traditions. But not everyone.
"My grandaughter
now is 6 and I'm teaching her,'' Maharaj said.
(714) 796-4976 or Lbleiberg@ocregister.com
What: Evening of kathak dance
and music
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre,
4242 Campus Drive, Irvine
Copyright 2001 The Orange County Register
