14 | PERFORMING ARTS
Bharata Natyam, S’il Vous Plaît
W
hile doing her Master’s at Sorbonne University in Paris, Annick happened to see French filmmaker Louis Malle’s acclaimed documentary film Phantom India, and was bedazzled by a Bharata Natyam dance sequence in it.Already accomplished in contemporary dance and flamenco, there was something about Bharata Natyam that attracted Annick instantly. “It was as if I had found what Antonin Artaud would have called ‘a total form of art’ – it wasn’t just dance, it also had acting,
sculpture, music, poetry, mime… everything that I loved,” recalls the acclaimed dancer who now lives in Delhi. “It was a revelation.” Immediately after seeing the film, the young Annick came across a poster advertising Bharata Natyam classes in Paris and signed up. She also began doing her PhD in the classical dance form. Driven to discover more about the subject, she applied for a scholarship to learn the ancient dance art in India, and landed up on the shores of Chennai on the day of Maha Shivaratri. Over the next few AUGUST 2018
PHOTO CREDIT: RAKESH SHRESHTHA
Padma Shri awardee Devayani is one of India’s most famous Bharata Natyam dancers in today’s times – and she’s French!