HISTORY
Although primarily a performance company, the research element in Adishakti’s activities occupies a large part of it’s daily time and energy; for its primary activity of performance is the by product of such research.
Over the years it has evolved a largely physical craft for feeding the physical, vocal and psychological expression of the actor based on certain Indian knowledges and physical forms like Kalaripayattu the Kerala martial art form, breath practices for psychological expression used in Koodiyattam a form of classical Sanskrit Theatre and the rhythm patterns of music which accompany Koodiyattam performance. Although all these forms are rooted in a specific cultural context Adishakti has endeavored to seek out the fundamental principles underlying these practices to make them applicable to a wide constituency of performers: those from different cultural and aesthetic contexts and from different kinds of contemporary and traditional performance
We at Adishakti believe that Theatre's inimitable strength is the live, sensorial, presence of the performer. Unlike the actor in cinema, the audience can almost touch, smell, feel, and taste the actor in the theatre.
Since 1983 we have been working to reinvent theatre around this strength and also to enlarge its scope.
Research Towards A Physical Vocabulary:
In 1983 we began working towards creating a performance language, which would enhance the physical presence of the performer on stage by employing a nonfunctional energy.
Many of the traditional forms in India use nonfunctional energy on stage. However although the performers at Adishakti have learnt various traditional martial forms and performance forms like Kalaripayattu, Kathakali, Koodiyattam and Chhau, we have found it necessary to go beyond their visible, external expression as these forms are too culturally specific and it is difficult to use them as instruments of contemporary expression.
Early on in our investigations we discovered that several performance traditions in India have evolved from the martial arts of the region. The performance form of Kathakali for example, developed from the anterior Kalaripayattu form, a martial art of Kerala.
There are many postures and movements in Kathakkali, which are recognizable as elements from Kalaripayattu. For example the basic stance of Kathakali is very similar to the Kalaripayattu amarcha/ or the squat position used in fighting with a short stick. The pranam or the movement for ritual worship in Kathakali, is constructed from such movements and stances from Kalaripayattu like the Chadi Keti, the Amarcha, the Hanuman posture, the first leg exercise and the Choriche.
The transformation of these ingredients from a martial art form into the performance form of Kathakkali occurred when a new principle was introduced into the Kalaripayattu form. This new principle was a fixed and unchanging balance axis, a fixed stance and a fixed energy center, which does not exist in Kalaripayattu as the movements of this form have to serve the functional needs of combat.
To test these findings we explored introducing a totally new element into the Kalaripayattu movements to see whether the form would change. We decided to use a different pattern of breath than that normally used in the martial art. The breath energy employed in Kalaripayattu is functional; it tries to meet the needs of combat. We believed that the use of a different kind of breath than a functional one would change the movement of the form.
This decision was determined by our definition of performance energy. In our view performance energy is that in which seventy five percent of the energy is held within the performer and only twenty five percent of it is used for external expression. This inveigles the spectator to be seduced into the performance in search of that hidden seventy five percent of energy. As energy translates into breath we employed this ratio to breath while performing the movements of Kalaripayattu.
The exploration was a success, for we discovered that not only did the movements of Kalaripayattu change but they also revealed the possibility that they could in this manner also communicate significance and were therefore expressive and performative.
Subsequently on the basis of this kind of research we have created our own contemporary language of movement. This language or angika is the most physical aspect of the form, which gives expressions to our new aesthetic.
Research Towards Vocal Expression:
It was in Adishakti’s production of The Trojan Women 1984, that we first used a physical language of expression. But one of the fundamental flaws of that production was that the energy of the vocal expression did not match the energy of the physical expression. While one was stylized the other was not. So, next we wanted to develop a matching sound style for verbal expression or vachika.
Supported by an individual grant from the Ford Foundation in 1987and by grants from the Det Lange Udvalge and the Charles Wallace India Trust in 1989, Adishakti’s Artistic Director Veenapani Chawla started investigating the voice and its secrets. She worked with Patsy Rodernberg, at that time the voice coach of the Royal Shakespeare Company, London; actors of the Odin Teatret in Holstebro Denmark; the Dagar brothers and Dhrupad singing; Amanur Mahdev Chakyar and the vachika /sound style of Koodiyattam, the oldest surviving form of theater based on the Natyashastra; pranayama and Kalaripayattu.
From this learning emerged a unique method for the voice training of the actor, which has been of use to both western and Indian performers.
In the quest for a stylized pattern of verbal expression in non-representational performance, Veenapani also researched the sound style or vachika of Koodiyattam. This preliminary investigation led to the understanding, that if the voice is placed in a particular resonator of the body it will yield a particular emotional color. For example if the voice is placed in the resonator in the chest it could be expressive of heroism or if it is placed in the resonator of the head it could express anger.
In 1992 Adishakti showcased the results of all this work through its production A Greater Dawn.
In the next Adishakti production, Impressions of Bhima in 1994, the physical language of expression and its vocal counterpart reached their fruition. In this work the language of movement was employed by the performer to provide visual images, which would reveal the sub text of the spoken word.
Another achievement of this performance was that by introducing certain principles of cinema, and not its technology, it added to the scope of live performance. Through the new language of physical expression, the performer created the effect of rapidly changing 'portmanteau' images, quick spatial and temporal changes, which replicated in principle cinema's ability to spatialize time and dynamize space. The performance was also very visually loaded and served as a text along with the minimal spoken text.
Research Towards Evolving a Method for Psychological Expression:
This production however threw up another lacuna in our performance craft. We did not have a language or methodology for psychological expression or satvika, which matched the energy of the body's language for expression. Western methods of acting use Stanislavski's process of emotional recall for psychological expression. But this method works only for representational theatre because it uses the logic of real thought. It does not work in a performance form where the energy used by the performer is non-functional and extra daily.
In the work that followed in 1998-99, Brhannala, Adishakti was able to overcome this problem after an exploration of the Koodiyattam performance techniques which use breath for the generation of each bhava / emotion, and for its expression in the face.
The logic behind this now lost practice in Koodiyattam seems to be that if breath is the physical expression of thought and emotion, or alternatively if the way we think/feel reflects in the way we breath, then a manipulation of breath could stimulate the necessary emotion required. And with this in mind certain Koodiyattam performers
{chiefly Amanur Mahdev Chakyar of Irinjalakuda Kerala at that time the only surviving practitioner of breath and emotion} have at hand particular patterns of breath which generate particular emotions--- mainly eight generic ones mentioned in the Natya Shastra.
Veenapani had undertaken to investigate these secrets of breath while learning from Amanur Mahdev Chakyar, in 1987. She wanted also to extend its use beyond that of being a stimulating device to express emotions in the face. Though the Chakyar gave her some theoretical advice regarding the codified breath for emotions, he would not reveal all his secrets and she was left to work things out somewhat by herself.
She felt that the of breath daily behavior possibly informs the codified patterns of breath used by the Koodiyattam performer. And later when she learnt the breath patterns from the Chakyar’s disciple Usha Nangiar she found that she was right. Thus the quick gasp of surprise is the generic root on which the breath for bhayam /fear is based in Koodiyattam; and the locking of breath in the mouth, refusing both intake and output, is an expression of disgust both in everyday life as well as in Koodiyattam performance.
This was a very useful discovery because she was then able to abstract the breath from the culturally specific expression and use it in contemporary performance. She did this to a lesser extent in A Greater Dawn and in Impressions of Bhima.
She went even beyond this. The Koodiyattam breath patterns were variously held or locked or concentrated at particular points of the body. And these points correspond in their location to the centers or chakras of the Tantra. Veenapani was curious to know whether the energy centers of the body, which motivate action, the voice resonators and the psychological centers or chakras of the Tantra tradition; all of which are located in corresponding points in the body; were related to each other and connected by the breath in Koodiyattam expression.
The answer came to her in 1997 out of a series of exercises, which were an elliptical movement around the axis of the breath/ bhava co relationship in Koodiyattam. And at this time Vinay Kumar joined her in that he actually gave expression to her discoveries through performance.
We discovered that all three: psychological/satvika, vocal/vachika and bodily/angika expressions are indeed united by a common breath. That it is not merely a coincidence that the resonators of the voice, the centers of physical energy and the chakras/ psychological centers are located in related regions of the body. And this stands to reason when one accepts that breath is really the physical expression of thought and emotion. A particular kind of breath to express one bhava /emotion in the face will express the same emotion in the voice, in the mind and in the body. And in Brhannala we were therefore able to creatively extend the breath patterns used in Koodiyattam for facial expression, into bodily and vocal expression.
For example the same breath used in expressing karuna or sorrow in Koodiyattam facial expression or mukha abhinaya, was used by actor Vinay Kumar to express anguish through his voice in Brhannala when he cries as Arjuna at the death of Abhimanyu. In Koodiyattam, karuna is expressed through the face by a process in which the breath energy is pulled up from the base of the spine and stored in the chest region while the breath energy from the neck is compressed down on this concentration in the chest. The concentration of these two energies coming from physically different parts of the body results in the feeling of a load in the heart, it also visibly creates an expression of extreme pain on the face. This expression of pain feeds the emotional center and arouses real emotional pain. It is akin to watching yourself cry in the mirror, which makes you then cry more fiercely.
In the case of the voice, the breath, which is concentrated in the chest emerges in a strangulated sound, it emerges with extreme difficulty. This is a physiological replication of what happens to breath in a real life situation of emotional pain. The shock of tragedy robs the body of breath and the cry that emerges then is almost a plea for oxygen. Here again, in the performance situation, the sound the actor creates feeds the emotion and further helps the performer to take the expression of the emotion further.
The entire performance of Brhannala therefore was informed by a technique of breath. Whether the performer, Vinay Kumar, was making a transition from one thought to the other or was physically expressing something with his body or with his voice or imbuing a theatrical moment with an inner dimension--it was breath and its rhythms, which lay behind it all. Vinay Kumar was able therefore to achieve a level of detail in his performance that he had not reached before. Handling detail in performance is important ---for the number of things that a performer can do per minute is what makes his/her performance energized, complex and layered. With the physical help of breath as a motivation, therefore, Vinay Kumar could employ his body, his mind, and his voice all at the same time, in a hitherto unprecedented way.
Research into Rhythm
During the work towards Brhannala we realized that while breath was the Koodiyattam performer's craft to stimulate expression, rhythm was an impulse underlying all expression.
The most striking element in Koodiyattam music is the rhythm. It feeds the performer. It feeds his inner rhythms. The breath that lies behind the expression in Koodiyattam, is one with this rhythm. Each abhinaya/ is expressed through a particular kind of breath. And each abhinaya or expression of emotion or thought has its own patterns of rhythm on the percussion instruments. Every external expression, be it a mudra/gesture or facial or physical expression or a netra abhinaya/ expression of the eye, is informed by a breath which is rhythmic. Similarly all inner motivation is informed by rhythm. As the breath behind the abhinaya is the physical expression of thought and emotion, in the same manner the rhythm in Koodiyattam is behind the performer as an unwritten or unspoken text. It would seem then that rhythm is a text in Koodiyattam performance.
We explored this possibility through the production Ganapati in 2000.
Like the physical image, rhythm, embodies a preverbal stage in the process of our coming to grips with reality. When words supplant images/sound we loose contact with a direct and fresh experience of reality, for it begins to be provided to us through the indirect agency of the created word. And as rhythms come out of a different space within us and touch a different space in the audience/spectator they have to be employed in a different manner, than we do the verbal text or even body images, to communicate significance.
Research from 1983 -1997: Results- Aesthetic Pluralism
By 1998 Adishakti’s performance praxis, work on which had been initiated in 1983, reached maturity. And there also emerged a clear vision of Theatre as a summative art. Adishakti’s theatre productions now consciously used the other arts as signifiers of meaning rather than merely as decorative elements.
We realized that each one of the performer's instruments of expression, the word, the physical image, the aural sound, is sovereign in expressing a concept from a particular angle or a particular point of view, and each mode of expression has its own characteristic contribution to the unpacking of the central conceit, which the other forms of expressions cannot replace. The multi-dimensional, multi-layered content was revealed through simultaneity of expression by physical images created by the actor’s body, by the verbal text in juxtaposition to the physical images, and by aural images created by the live music.
Adishakti’s aesthetic pluralism, which gives sovereignty to all the modes of expression, is a reflection of the pluralism of the contemporary world, its’ multiple sightedness. For the modern mind can take in more viewpoints than one---even contrary ones----at the same time. It can see the same thing from all angles and distances.
Indeed we believe that if live performance has to remain valid as an art form, it must reflect the protean nature of the contemporary perception of truth and reality in its form and not only in its content. It must try to bring out the simultaneity of its multiple-sightedness, its tangled dynamism, through the very form and structure of the expression. We believe that this can best be done by employing as many modes of expression as possible to act as texts or as signifiers of content within a totality that would be a formal metaphor.
In 2007 Adishakti created a new work called The Hare and The Tortoise, which we believe was a mature expression of this Aesthetic Pluralism. It employed music, movement, visuals, space, light, the word and the screen reflecting shadows as various texts.
Other Research:
From 2000 Adishakti extended its research activity into disciplines such as old construction technologies, traditional medicine, environment protection for a healthy eco system and instrument building. It was the pragmatic needs of the hour---the construction of the infra structure on its campus, which compelled the company to undertake these investigations and they merely reinforced Adishakti’s growing awareness that knowledge creation is a crucial exercise for new creativity.
1. Hybrid Construction Technology & Adishakti
2. Construction of the Pancha mukha Vadyam
Research through Horizontal Connections:
Till 2003 Adishakti had focused largely on what one might call “vertical” interactions, viz.; those linking different historical times (e.g.; traditional-contemporary) for the creation of new knowledge.
From 2003 onwards Adishakti endeavored to provide bridging materials for “horizontal” connections, viz.; those, which are not chronologically divided. Thus in 2003 it brought together in a program called The Winter Workshop 2003----- a Koodiyattam performer, a Noh performer from Japan, poets, musicians, cultural psychologists, philosophers, historians from the UK and Australia, film makers, actors,---- so as to investigate how each of these views or uses ‘breath’ as a source of expression. The purpose for encouraging this inter-generic interaction around a meeting point was to stimulate ‘new creativity’ through the shock of different perspectives colliding with each other.
One important outcome of this interaction had ramifications for the connection between breath and emotional expression when speaking text. We started off on the premise that breath is really the physical expression of thought and emotion. Voice and Shakespeare expert Patsy Rodenburg’s contention was that a careful reading of Shakespeare text would reveal to the performer that the poet had incorporated patterns of breath in his poetry which if followed would express both the emotion and thought of the character. Hence one thought would require one breath---as in daily life one never runs out of breath in the middle of expressing a thought!
During the Winter Workshop of 2003, Noh performer, Wakita Haruko, corroborated this from the stand point of Noh poetry, by stating that the text of Noh poetry is marked by pauses for breath, which are distinct from the pauses for grammar; and these pauses facilitate dramatic expression. Adishakti along with Chhanda Shastra expert Sampadanada Mishra then investigated Sanskrit poetry and found a similar practice in it---the yati , a marker for breath and distinct from the grammatical pause and one which facilitates emotional expression. Adishakti has subsequently been doing research around the notion of one breath for one thought/emotion.
On the heels of the Winter Workshop Adishakti has encouraged other“ Horizontal” connections and interactions on its site. Thus there have been some such dialogues between Translators and Performers, between Visual Artists and Theatre Performance, between a Film maker and a Contemporary Theatre Performance, between Prosody and Percussionists, between Mathematicians and Musicians.
Indeed in the future Adishakti plans to create---as a part of its research through Horizontal connections-- the opportunity for other new and imaginative exchanges. Some of these could be between cultures which have shared origins or different origins but certain shared principles. In each of these initiatives, the profound hope is to revitalize performance itself as a powerful bridging agent, as a route between disparate worlds and knowledge systems.
Current Research: 2008
Supported by a grant from RDTT Adishakti is currently engaged in a research in the following areas:
A.We are currently deepening our research into the Tantric centers in the body and trying to understand how their use impacts body movement, voice and psychological expression. Towards this end we are revisiting Kalaripayattu.
Our belief is that Kalaripayattu is deeply linked to traditional spiritual practice. The alignment of the body in the structures and stances of the form is aimed at opening up thesel centers or the charkas of the Tantric tradition. Each stance involves a particular energy center of the body. For example the chauk or the stance used for Kathakkali involves the energy center in the abdomen. Corresponding to this center and to all the other centers in the body are the psychological centers of the Tantra. In performance one notices the veracity of this because the performer can release different emotions depending on the stances or structures that s/he gets into. The research work into Koodiyattam, which involved an investigation of breath and the psychological centers, led us onto this line of thinking with regard to Kalaripayattu.
Additionally to reinforce the understanding of these centers the performer swims everyday. Swimming helps in isolating and experiencing the centers in action and also in reinforcing them for use in daily life and performance.
Also as a means to know how to use individual centers in expressive behavior Adishakti performers are learning netra abhinaya or expression through the eyes, because the center in the forehead and the throat is used in this kind of expression. Koodiyattam actor Usha Nangiar has been teaching us this form of expression.
We are also expanding our research relating to Text and the pause for Breath, so as to evolve a vachika or sound pattern for the speaking of text in contemporary theatre. In this regard we have been interacting with practitioners of the following disciplines: Koranic recitation, Sama Vedic chanting, Chhanda Shastra {treatise on Sanskrit Prosody}, Tolkapiyam {treatise on Tamil grammar} and Koodiyattam vachika/ text.
The Chhanda Shastra expert has also taught the actors the location of Sanskrit vowels and consonants in the mouth and the quantity of breath that each of these consonants require. We have subsequently been exploring how far this paradigm holds for other languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and English.
The knowledge and experience of where in the mouth the consonants and vowels should be placed facilitates the sensuous experience of the word in the mouth, which then yields its meaning to the actor with a greater immediacy than if it comes out of a mental comprehension.
3. We have used our knowledge of Koodiyattam rhythms productively in helping the performer to break down speech into rhythm patterns so as to enable her to understand the particular rhythms of a language other than her own. Most of Adishakti’s performers come from different regions. This work has helped them achieve some measure of control over alien languages. The work is still in progress and needs a larger resource pool of rhythm patterns to be successful.
4. As mentioned above Adishakti has incorporated shadow puppetry into its latest production The Hare and The Tortoise as a text/ signifier of meaning. It is attempting now to unravel the principles of creating mobility in static forms {the puppets} through mobile lighting, which is what was used traditionally. Apart from having enormous implications for theatre and cinematic lighting it could also reverse the information towards shadow puppetry from theatre and cinema---after all shadow puppetry is pre cinematic form.
We are also exploring how the screen in theatre could act as a signifier.
Read some of the Research Articles
Tholkappiyam_ Lecture by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy
Tantric Knowledge about Sound _ Lecture by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy
Discussion on Sama Veda chanting
Reading of Quran By Mohammed Anvareeth
Discussion with Ottan Thullal performers
Chandasastra _ Lecture by Sampadananda Mishra
Discussion with Terukoothu performers
Padayani Rhythms – Kadammanitta Vasudevan
|