Fit Bit
Body of Work
"I love sharing my energy with dancers. Every session I learn something from my fellow dancer friends and have been growing along with them... Aangika is constantly evolving, every single day because of my students"
What was your inspiration to curate the Aangika series?
I have always been passionate about fitness. During my training for contemporary dance and ballet, we, dancers, worked the entire day on body conditioning, flexibility, strengthening and movement-based exercises.
But when I started my training of Bharatanatyam, I noticed that dancers directly jumped into the basic exercises or Alarippu without any warm-up. This, I recognised, is not good for dancers, especially in the long run. I also observed that many dancers had injuries of the knee and lower back and were unaware of ways to deal with it. That was when I decided that I had to do something for the dance community.
Along with my guru Vaibhav Arekar, I started working on the seventh Nattadavu (one of the basic adavus in the Bharatanatyam technique). We broke it down into smaller units - we worked on moving only the upper body or the lower body or worked only on the torso movement. We zeroed in on the muscles that worked for the stretch, the movement of the torso and so on.
This is how I started working on this project. The name Aangika came much later.
As a dancer, the body is a crucial instrument for expression. Why is it important therefore to nurture and hone it constantly for it to remain ship-shape?
As a classical dancer, we refer to our body as the vessel that carries forward the art form, taught to us by our gurus. But is that vessel strong enough, is a question that needs to be addressed constantly.
Many classical dancers often take their bodies for granted. When you look at sportsmen, they go through cross-training which is utterly necessary to train their bodies for sports.
Our dance is physical too. We too require specialized training.
Dancers, especially in Bharatanatyam, use Araimandi/ half-sitting posture in their dance, which is not a natural posture for the body and hence it requires one to build strength. We have to keep working on it.
Just as we eat every day — various meals at different points of the day — to sustain the body, these Aangika sessions are like fuel for our dance and are required for sustenance. To cut a long story short, Aangika is like the gym for your dance.
Photos : Sejas Mistry
It is important to work every single day to keep the body fit. Our dance forms are constantly evolving and we have to adapt constantly to keep pace with it. We need to work on our physical fitness. Few items in the Bharatanatyam repertoire require extreme stamina while few others require strength of the legs, core, etc. So we need to address each issue differently and work accordingly.
Only if the vessel is strong enough, will it carry forward to the audience; I mean the art that one wants to project. Else, it will also fizz away in a few months.
Is Aangika the series essentially focussed on the physicality of what constitutes dance or are there aspects within?
Aangika is an exclusive fitness module for classical dancers representing the styles of Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam.
I was fortunate enough to work on my own body before starting Bharatanatyam. I got a lot of training from The Danceworx, Mumbai founded by famous choreographer and dancer, Ashley Lobo and because of this scholarship for two years, I learnt how one could work on the body.
When I started Bharatanatyam, my guru, Vaibhav Arekar and I started exploring each and every adavu by going into its basics. How can we get this adavu perfect? Which muscles of the body are being used in this? Which part of the body requires strengthening? Where do we breathe out? These were some of the details that we worked on.
For example, when we have to do the first Sarukkal Adavu, we have to reach out with our torso, the hand has to throw out the energy and collect it back. This movement makes the adavu seamless. This way, many different exercises came along when I started thinking about making the movements effective. It is not just about physical strength but getting into the nuances of the movement.
As we went along, we figured out the starting points of each adavu; which part of the body leads and which follows; where to throw the energy and where to collect it. As we went along, we realised we could actually make an adavu of our own.
So Aangika is not just the physicality or flexibility, but beyond that.
Over the years of working on Aangika and with dancers, has this entire exercise been an act of sharing? Can you share a specific example of how sharing this energy with other dancers has helped you further develop Aangika.
My guru Vaibhav Arekar is a person who shares unconditionally and keeps nothing to himself. So from day one at the Sankhya Dance Company, I have experienced this energy and I want to spread the same joy of sharing in whatever way that I can.
Initially, I started trying these exercises with the core members of the Sankhya Dance Company and depending on the feedback I received, I tweaked the exercises.
The main motive of Aangika is to help the classical forms of Bharatanatyam, Odissi or Mohiniattam (basically those that use the Araimandi) to make them stronger. Audiences like good dancing and want to watch more. So our dance has to inspire and motivate them to join in our journey. Hence this training has to be continuous, That is also the reason, I don’t give days off for these sessions.
I love sharing my energy with dancers. Every session I learn something from my fellow dancer friends and have been growing along with them.
Over the years, more than 500 dancers have benefitted from this Angika exercise module. Aangika is constantly evolving, every single day because of my students.
To create a module for Aangika, talk to us a little bit about the research that went towards it and how you learnt to equip yourself to create and grow with it.
I was doing my Masters degree in Bharatanatyam in Pune and my thesis was Physical fitness for Bharatanatyam Dancers. I was always so fond of this subject that I dived deep into it.
I had one student at that time, Deepa More, a Physiotherapist who used to take dance classes, as a hobby. She would give me a lot of insights about the different muscles of the body and its functions. She made me understand the basic posture, taught me how using one muscle would trigger another and many other interesting works of the body. This is where my journey started.
Then I started creating small modules, initially only for warm-up, knee strengthening, glutes strengthening and that went on to different parts of the body. I put these together and submitted my thesis.
After this, I started conducting workshops. My friends, Priyal and Jyoti approached me for the same and I decided to do an Anga Shastra workshop. This then bloomed into regular batches. Later, Vaibhav Sir gave it the name Aangika.
It has been three years now and I have grown along with it. It is so fulfilling when dancers tell me, “I could do a Muzhumandi with ease” or “I could do the entire Varnam at a stretch”... I feel so happy and it has been the best motivation ever. This pushes me to work harder.
Photos : Sejas Mistry
I also keep watching videos of lectures by Physiotherapists, try to research on how swimmers, ballet dancers and sportsmen work and train their bodies. Everyday therefore is a learning process and it is truly never-ending.
Does curating the Aangika series require a deep understanding of the body and its anatomy? How did you study it and how do you manage your own injury and that of other dancers?
Frankly speaking, I am not a doctor and I don't deal with injuries directly. For example, if someone has met with an accident and asks for my help in treatment, I say No. I recommend they see a specialist, get it treated, get back to normal and then come to me. That is when I think I would be able to help out.
It is not that I don't have the knowledge about muscles and their functions but the entire module of Aangika is based on strengthening, improving flexibility and technique correction for your dance and not about treating ailments.
I have helped many dancers post injury to regain their strength.
And finally, different bodies have different abilities. Does a singular module of Aangika work for dancers one and all? Is there customisation within the Aangika module?
This is a very interesting question. Yes absolutely, no two bodies are the same but I believe everyone can do every exercise. But it requires patience and step-by-step progress towards achieving it.
I have exercises for different muscles of the body and we work on a particular muscle group every week. In my online classes, I am so accustomed to the screen. I keep watching dancers and figure out immediately, if someone is doing something wrong. If anyone is unable to do any exercise, I give them alternative exercises or help them do the same with props like a dupatta, chair, belt or even wall support. The only important point here is, one should start working on that muscle somehow, with or without support.
I encourage dancers to be very frank and share their problems with me. I too make an effort to explain why some exercise has to be done in a particular way or how the props would help them to do the exercise better. This in turn, convinces dancers and motivates them to do better.
Nothing is impossible and I can say this from my personal experience. I started dancing at the age of 27 and the journey has been beautiful. You just need to have the fire in you and the consistency to give in your time and practice.
Yes, there are different customizations done for different dancers. All my exercises are pretty simple. I don't ask my students to buy any equipment but try to use props available at home. I have split the module into two parts, working on the upper body and lower body and then combining them both to work together for dance.