Stir Q&A: Bharata natyam master Arno Kamolika talks about goddesses, rituals, and rhythms in Parāśakti: The Flame Within
Five musicians join the artist in a filmed work that takes place over three chapters
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts streams Parāśakti: The Flame Within online from March 19 at 7 pm to May 31, with an artist talk after the show.
THOUGH ARCHITECTURE and bharata natyam dance don’t often exist in the same conversation, they do for Vancouver-based dancer and choreographer Arno Kamolika. The two fields were wildly influential in the creation of her newest project, Parāśakti: The Flame Within, which explores the way Kamolika works to break down the traditions and rituals of her culture.
Combining Indian instrumental music and rhythms, bharata natyam dance, vocals, chanting, and mime, the 45-minute piece transports its viewers through a contemporary revisioning of the traditional Hindu Goddess, Parāśakti. The work, which was created as a part of the Chan Centre’s Dot Com series, uses these classical art forms to shed light on the many iconographies of the Mother Goddess. Formatted in three distinct chapters, Parāśakti: The Flame Within guides its viewers through Kamolika’s personal interpretation of the ritualistic and celebratory aspects of Indian divinity.
As the project’s choreographer, performer, and codirector, Kamolika has pulled from multiple areas of her background. Born in Bangladesh, she trained in Manipuri and Bharatnatyam dance before eventually focusing solely on the latter. Kamolika moved to Vancouver in 2010 to continue her architecture career, but was instead surprised to find herself training with Bharatnatyam pioneer Jai Govinda of Mandala Arts and Culture. As her passion grew, she soon realized just how important it was to bring bharata natyam out of the shadows of the Vancouver dance scene.
Now, Kamolika dances and teaches in Vancouver, emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach to nontraditional storytelling.
The new piece Parāśakti features the work of five musicians, who perform live with Kamolika. Akhil Jobanputra worked as both Kamolika’s codirector and the project's Hindustani vocalist. Srividhya Sairam brings hypnotic vocals to the piece, building off of Curtis Andrews’s rhythmic percussion and mridangam; both weave in Carnatic influences. Also on hand are sitar master Sharanjeet Singh Mand and tabla and dilbruba player Satpreet Singh.
Stir had the opportunity to chat with Arno Kamolika about Parāśakti’s origin story, as well as her thoughts about modernizing traditional bharata natyam dance for film.
What was the process like?
The process started with my codirector Ahkil Jobanputra, who had the initial idea of the theme of Goddess, or Devi. The Chan Centre was looking for live performers as well, so we knew we didn’t have to do something that had already been traditionally done with recorded music. I thought, ‘let’s create our own narrative!’ We wanted to give something new to people who know Bharatanatyam, but at the same time, give some traditional components to people who have never seen it.
“I spent all of December just reading about different Goddesses and their narratives throughout South Asia, and deciding which stories inspired me. Akhil and I decided on three forms of Devi: Kali, the Goddess of Time and Power, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Beauty, and Saraswathy, the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. When all of these Goddesses combine into one conscious, that is when you get the Parāśakti—the ultimate Goddess, this supreme being.”
Then, when we sat with the musicians, they were so excited that we ended up experimenting and complicating the narrative we decided on. We realized it was a perfect time for a project like this in Canada, because the society isn’t familiar with these narratives and traditions. Yes, my cocreators and I are all aware of the traditions, but the way we each interpreted the narrative helped us to connect and explore the culture.
With so many interpretations, iconographies, and forms, how did you decide to embody Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswathy?
“We decided to pull from these three forms of Devi, who are celebrated at different times of the year in different parts of South Asia. That way, we would have a many rich iconographies to work with. The Goddess Saraswathy holds a musical instrument, Kali holds a trident, and Lakshmi holds a lotus, so I was able to use those symbols to create choreography. I got a lot of choreographic feedback from my mentor, Bragha Bessell--she was really important in helping me focus in on the narrative.
“Once I figured out what the Goddesses meant to me, I decided I wanted my Saraswathy to represent harmony in nature. Serenity is wisdom for me. I wanted to show Kali from a very mythological standpoint, and reference the mythology where she is a warrior who destroys an arrogant king and gives harmony to her devotees. Then, we decided to use Lakshmi to show the bountifulness of the forest, and how we, as humans, are destroying Mother Earth. When the Earth dries up and is destroyed, that is where Parāśakti comes in, and where Parāśakti is needed.”
Did you create Parāśakti: The Flame Within specifically for film?
“Sort of! This project came to me from ICMSV and the Asta Alliance in November, and they were asked by the Chan Centre to create a film project. It was always intended to be filmed, but, to my utter surprise, that was not always in my head when I was creating it!
“I’m used to performing live with an audience in front of me, so I was creating this as if we were giving the viewers the experience of a live performance. Whatever I made had to match the camera’s needs, but I was always designing something for a live audience and then putting it on camera. I hope that someday we can come together again to perform this project for hundreds of people!”
I can tell you have so much experience with performing live. What was it like to put this project on the screen?
“I am so nervous! I love live performances, and leaving the audience with the memory of my work. But now, people can go back and forth and pick out parts where I missed something, or where something didn’t look as good.
“But, I feel a lot of empathy for people who aren’t able to adapt to the new way of online. Adapting is a privilege, and some people, like older generations, just aren’t able to keep up with the online world because they aren’t as familiar with the screen. I feel like I’ve left half of my audience behind while I move forward. Being a bharata natyam dancer, most of my audience belongs to that first, older generation of South Asian people who created this platform for us so we can experiment. But, a lot of them don’t have access now that we’ve moved online, because those are the people who would’ve been coming to the theatre to pay for tickets with cash at the door. Now, the question for myself is: how can I reach them?”
How did you use your background in architecture to create this project?
“I did a five-year training program in architecture. We learned that onsite, we have to have a vision for what the space will be, but at the same time, we’re thinking about plans and zoning, and also the details! So, we see what our music school, for example, will look like in terms of the building itself, but we work on the floor plans inside and visualize the wood we’re going to use and the paint colours at the same time.
“That training process really helped this project. I thought about what I wanted to show, and then thought about the forms and the storylines, and then how the details in the body make the show I envision. We also learned a lot about lighting, photography, art history, and all that, which made my dancing more rich. “
That was your first time collaborating with Akhil, Srividhya, Satpreet, Sharanjeet, and Curtis for live music. What were some successes and challenges you encountered while navigating the online platform with new collaborators?
“Practising dance with live music is not possible online, because of the delay on Zoom. We ended up creating the melodies and rhythms in small groups, but we all knew it wouldn’t go anywhere if we didn’t sit down in the same room together. The first time we all came together was at the end of January, which was really close to the show in February. The main struggle was not being able to meet in person earlier. I felt really underprepared for the show, because to dan"ce with live music, you need a lot of rehearsals that we didn’t get.
“But, the beauty of live music is sitting together and letting your instrument talk. I didn’t want to destroy what they were making right at that moment at the Chan Centre, so we let go of what we did in the rehearsal. I gave all the cocreators some contexts, and then we each saw the story in our own way and reacted to each other’s interpretation. I’d say the improvisation part was one of the successes because we really just let everything flow and see what happened instead of over-planning.”
Do you think Parāśakti has feminist angles?
“Mother Goddess is inherently feminist, but she’s even more than that. Fertility and everything she represents is so powerful, and that’s why the story still prevails in a patriarchal society. For me, Parāśakti is feminist because it doesn’t give one shade of women. It’s not about an almighty woman, or a powerful woman, because the project represents all aspects of women. It’s brave to be angry, it’s brave to be a mother, and it’s brave to not be a mother, and the project shows that. It shows women at their most empowered state and their most vulnerable state, and sometimes it shows them merged.”
What do you want your audience to take from this?
“If someone else made this project, it would still be Parāśakti. It could be a ballet, or it could be a modern dance, and it would still be Parāśakti— the form is not important, but the experience of letting things go to find your harmony is. I hope more choreographers take this concept and dance it in their own form. It would be a joyful thing to watch!”
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone who wants to learn bharata natyam or classical Indian dance in Vancouver?
“Anybody who wants to learn any bharata natyam and Indian dance in Vancouver should think of it as any other dance form that exists in this world! Your journey will have two phases: five to 10 years to learn the basics and condition your body, and then another phase to decide what you want to do with that language. It’s like you’ve learned to read and write in French, so what story do you want to tell? That’s the hardest part!
“But, bharata natyam is like any art. It’s just a vessel to give voice to your mind. That takes time and there is never an end to it because it requires such an understanding of music, philosophy, devotion, mythology, and the spirituality. You don’t have to be spiritual to learn Bharatanatyam, but it will make you a spiritual person.”
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