Aditi Mangaldas in the award-winning work ‘Mehek’, which she co-created with Aakash Odedra
| Photo Credit: John Valente
The honesty that Aditi Mangaldas brings to her works is very much a part of her persona too. She does not hesitate even for a moment to talk about dealing with an ageing body. “The process of coming to terms with this inevitability began in my mind almost eight years ago, at 56, when I choreographed ‘Inter_rupted’. The work largely drew from my own feeling of growing old; accepting the vulnerability of physical and emotional change. The fights, faults and fears that you grappled with as a young dance enthusiast seemed to stare at you again,” laughs the Kathak exponent, who is renowned for viewing her art through a contemporary lens.
“But you know what?” she continues nonchalantly, “I am still able to perform the pieces I designed in my 30s with agility and energy. Right now, I am happy about that. But you do realise there will come a day when you move away from a frenzied routine — you no longer have to rush to the dance studio for rehearsals or be on stage till late in the evening. You may not hear rapturous applause or hold bouquets. I do not want to think much about it. I simply want to enjoy this time.”
One of the most influential proteges of Kathak legends Kumudini Lakhia and Pt Birju Maharaj, Aditi always had a sense of what she wanted to achieve as a dancer. Like her gurus, she believes in looking at the wider world, never allowing herself to be boxed in by conventions. She was always keen to engage with Kathak beyond those dizzying spins and sharp, percussive footwork. Quite like how the dance form reinvented itself during its long journey from temples and royal courts to the proscenium.
From ‘Unwrapped’
| Photo Credit:
Dinesh Khanna
“Kathak is as physically exhilarating as it is rawly emotional. And I wanted to explore the latter. It has been both eventful and challenging,” says the Delhi-based dancer.
‘Within’, ‘Inter_rupted’, ‘Now is’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Immersed’ and ‘Forbidden’ were created since Aditi was bored with empty gestures and pointless prettiness. “I wanted to communicate whatever I saw and experienced, making the excitement more real for myself, the audience and members of my Drishtikon Dance Foundation. Because in a chaotic world most people look to art for pleasure, beauty and order. So I didn’t care much about what the so-called purists felt about my creative adventures. I introduced new text, innovative music and lighting, unconventional costume, and Kathak-inspired contemporary movement vocabulary. I wasn’t aiming for anything ground-breaking, I just liked being part of the larger dance conversation,” says Aditi.
All these are evident in ‘Unwrapped’, excerpted from ‘Within’. The piece is about dealing with violence and looking within to find ways of embracing humanity. Talking about the making of ‘Unwrapped’, Aditi explains the first segment is dark and disturbing, with the dancers totally wrapped in cloth, looking like ghostly figures. “My mother was quite upset when she first saw it. But this is how I visualised philosopher J. Krishnamurti’s quote: ‘To understand yourself you must create a mirror that reflects accurately what you are’. In the second part of the piece, the dancers unwrap themselves from the trappings of ignorance and celebrate the light of kindness and compassion through a Kabir couplet and sufi poet Hazrat Shah Niaz’s verse.”
Aditi with members of the Drishtikon Dance Foundation in ‘Unwrapped’
| Photo Credit:
Daljeet Singh
Aditi says when crafting a work you are constantly working to find multiple entry points to reach its core. You never know where you find the perfect link to engage with it — it could be the poetry, setting, expression, movement… With her productions embodying the kind of cultural intersection that makes an impact on global platforms, she has even performed at London’s Sadler’s Wells, a premier dance theatre. Her collaborations with 38-year-old international dancer-choreographer Aakash Odedra have also won her much acclaim.
Together, they created ‘Mehek’ (fragrance) centered around a mature woman and a younger man, who challenge norms and redefine the essence of love. A first duet, a raptly nuanced one, in her 50-year career, it won Aditi the UK Theatre Awards 2024 in the category of ‘Achievement in Dance’ and was ranked ‘Top five dance shows of 2024’ by The Stage, UK.
Aditi and Aakash in ‘Mehek’, an conventional love story
| Photo Credit:
John Valente
“With our vocabulary moored in Indian classical forms, there seemed no limit to new possibilities in this story. Such choreographies highlight the theatrical aspect of pure dance. We experimented with how dance could reflect a complex, intimate bond. I like the freedom of the stage. I like to put myself in situations where you push yourself to do something only you can do,” says Aditi.
Published – January 09, 2025 11:34 am IST
