Durban - Celebrating the Indian cultural Bharatanatyam dance in her new book, Insights and Impressions, Durban dance teacher Sureka Singh describes it as “a work of art and a work of the heart”.
Singh said the book started out as a dance manual on the ancient cultural dance but, with the artwork by Hiten Bawa and photographs by Mikail Hansa, it evolved into a journey and finally a book.
Having trained in the classical Indian dance style since she was young, Singh said: “Bharatanatyam celebrates the potencies of the various Hindu deities, through a medium that is even beyond words.
“The hand gesture, referred to as a Mudra or Hasta in Sanskrit, is an extension of the language of the body - both in storytelling and expressing emotion as well as symbology.
“There are many hand gestures which form part of the vocabulary
of Bharatanatyam, and many usages for each, in terms of using the hands to tell a story or emote or
as a symbol.”
She added that the classical
dance style took many years of practice to perfect.
“It’s a different dance style and is gruelling in terms of the physical and mental endurance.
“You have to push your physical limits, as well as memory and mental stamina, when listening to the music and the beat.
“The dance is a very integrated art form and deeply rooted in Hindu culture. Doing this book was also an introspective look into my own spiritual journey,” said Singh.
Commissioned to do the artwork for the book, which Singh described as exceptional, was artist and architect Hiten Bawa, from Johannesburg, who is profoundly deaf.
And it was a connection between Bharatanatyam and South African sign language which enabled him to capture the essence of the dance style.
“My sense of sight is heightened to compensate for the lack of hearing and because of this, I became more perceptive of body language, movements and hand gestures. I realised I can understand the Bharatanatyam hand gestures, as they communicate concepts and stories in a similar manner to South African sign language,” said Bawa.
As a self-employed architect, Bawa is able to take on art commissions, as well as take part in art exhibitions and collaborative projects.
Having returned from Japan this week, where he completed a two-and-a-half week residency with 20 other international artists, he will take part in another residency in Finland, for a month, and another two months in Pinea Linea de Costa, in Spain, with the aim of making a new body of work for future exhibitions.
“I didn’t make the connection between the dance form and sign language in my work until recently, when I was challenged to combine different themes of South African sign language, the local taxi hand signs and Mudras from classical Indian dance into one new body of work,” he said.
Bawa is also involved in creative architectural design, for people with disabilities, in housing, transportation, interior, urban and landscape design, and holds an MArch from the University of Cape Town.
Hansa, responsible for the hand gesture photos, has had his work featured in many publications and was featured on CNN for his Mandela Day images.
Singh will launch the book at the Durban Book Fair in Mitchell Park on Sunday.