Article

Dealing Performance:

(published)

Art installation-India, photo:Harekrishna, source:personal

Performance is a human activity, a display of a situation and it is intentional. To perform can be understood as being, doing and showing doing. It is an art of ‘showing authenticity’ or simply a phenomenon of ‘make-believe’.  In the field of Arts, performance means put on a show, a play, a dance, a concert. In everyday life to perform is to show off, to go to extremes, to underline an action for those who are watching. The performance sometimes reflects true when it is spontaneous in emotions specially when it is an experienced one. While it is a matter of performance it is imagined as an involvement of audience/spectators in the performing area. But most of the time we are the self-audience of self action. Because man is a self performing animal and his performance is reflexive. In performing he reveals himself to himself. This may come under an ordinary life or normal daily life. As such it can be considered as much more authentic.

Sculpture making at studio-India (cannot be said as performance)

Cultural performances posses certain features-a definite time span, a beginning and an end, an organised programme activity, set of performers, an audience, a place and occasion of performance. Generally, a scheduled stage performance has limitation in performing while actor cannot cross some boundaries, e.g.-he cannot beat his enemy genuinely if he is enacting an angry scene. He is angry, so he will act like an angry man. And that emotion (Rasa) is flavoured by the audience which is called a communication- meaning the audience are involving into it. But the performer should not completely merge with the role he enacts!

Performing Classical dance- India, photo: Harekrishna, source:personal

Ancient India did not leave the pursuit of arts to the mercy of occasional spark. Catushasti-kala was part and parcel of studies and grooming in ancient India. Every prince, princess and children of aristocrats had gain proficiency in almost all or at least most of these skills failing which he would not be honoured in the society.

Singing accompany in a classical event-India, photo: Bipul, Source: local photography

Performance may be any action. It may be reciting a poem, singing a musical staff, painting a portrait, laughing in a scene, dancing in a mood, staging any action, ballet, ritual, conjuring, weddings etc. Among them few can be established as an art uprooted from indigenous culture/tradition.

Food serving in a wedding ceremony- India, photo:Bipul, source: Local potography

The Art forms are also communicative. But, people don’t want to give total keenness for art physically where skills are always current for which the learning part remains partial. Though individuals aware of various events globally they get very less time for their attachment in the field of performance art.

Children workshop-India, photo:Pavitra Rabha, source:Facebook

Performing Assamese wedding ritual-India, photo:Banashree, source:Facebook

Silently, we have beautiful surrounds and all the way out they have academic value that’s what a painting or stone is needed to be displayed, a body movement is to be executed, a festival even is needed to be carried out. Art always demands skills and techniques. So, a form can be executed upto an art with the help of skills and techniques and explore its mere characteristics. One of the important and essential skills is how to get ability to communicate. Different objects, body language, setting are used as symbol or elements of communication. Workshops, Seminars on performing arts, soft skills and personality developments are helpful for raisings, marking and demanding requirements of performance.

In a workshop what is followed is basically rehearsed the learnt staff-Anusilan. Participants are taught respective/concerned subjects in a systematic manner. It helps out to make a vital production of performance. It also enables to recover body fitness and individual drawbacks/defects on performance. It activates ‘flow’ within the teachers as well as part takers. Various workshops, production based theatre have been observed even with children also. It is also observed that traditional performers ignore the creative forms and its evolution whereas a creative piece cannot be concealed between the traditions and traditional.

Children workshop-India, photo:Pavitra Rabha, source:Facebook

We are in the habit of organise meeting, workshops and throughout yield of resolutions. But often do not able to fulfil due to many reasons-may be for the society, lack of a concrete platform, sponsorship, funding etc. Still undertaking various seminars, workshops with a number of academicians, performers for a cultural milieu is really encouraging in Assam these days. Performers are tempted to give lessons on different respective performance genre. Presentation is again another part of it that the participants should not ignore. Presentation is an important phase of a performance whether it is a kind of food, seminars, conferences or music.

My personal experience of attending workshop and allied field enhanced the sense of performance of different forms of art left insight dealing the beauty. The consciousness for a particular form is very significant and so the objects of a workshop. I must have to mention about a theatre workshop by NSD (National School of Drama, Delhi) in an academic venue like North Eastern Hill University which was a production of a Greek play -experimented on Khasi culture. There the teachers did not teach acting, to deliver dialogue. Rather make the participant feel themselves about the context and so as to react spontaneous. So, 15 varieties of expressions have come out from 15 participants. There were taught alertness, discipline, punctuality, trust, imitation and how all these helped out to become a successful performance. Moreover a lecture on history of Theatre was also delivered. Learning the acting with these to   an idea of a production is a matter of appreciating. It is good to know that NSD with its small well organised group around the world-its various corners has brought the awareness of performance through theatre. Of course creativity has no boundary and no limit in expressing thoughts.

NSD theatre workshop, NEHU-India, photo: Savita Rani, source: Savita

Now-a-days, awareness for dying form of performance is also tried to establish in a more conscious way. Workshops on indigenous culture, folk dances may be mentioned in this regard. Disseminating various folk dances like Deodhani, Bagrumba, Tiwa- Barat can also be mentioned here. Also, we can cite out the examples of those workshops on theatrical performance for children given by some upcoming theatre personalities. For which the participants can own a different and separate world of existence. The performers of Satria Dance of this generation who grown up in a culture of Sattra institution spreading the beautiful dance form by organising workshops, establishing embryonic NGO etc. On the other hand, theatre workshops, workshops on Indian classical music and dance though few in numbers but they have started a revolution some way around in Assam.

Most of the time what is being observed that source is available. But ignorance of definite text and context performers misinterpret the exist text of a performing form. In case of dance as a performance, the text is -both the dancing sequence as well as rhythmic syllable. Also dramatic text (lyrics from epic or any traditional verse) are there on which the dancer performs Abhinaya. Of course, Art or Kala needs a higher elevation of thoughts, a kind of universality and knowledge of performing circumstances. In contrast, most of the performers/dancers from young generation unaware of text and miscalculate the context where they do not performs the traditional form rather make experiment through various unknown or known musical modern pieces, even hymns and mantras from the traditional Sanskrit text. The performer, to a certain extent, quite mentions it as a creative dance piece or sequence where the style of Satria dance and costumes are used. Without the original text a form cannot be a traditional art form. Moreover, an experiment is either relevant to the concept or totally outcaste concept. Again, the creativeness is considered up to a certain extent because it has some limits. For instance, if the Satria Dance form is devoid of the concept of Shaivism, then that thought should not be experimented in this form. And if it is so, it is quite obvious to term it as creative dance instead of Satria Dance.

What is being observed in the workshop organised by KKIPA (Tezpur) is really very appreciating. Students have practised almost the whole day. They have learnt the basic concepts of performing Odissi Dance in a traditional way. They have learnt basic contents (stances, neck movements, foot works, eye movements) in Sanskrit in a rhythmic way as if a song/mantra is chanting. The art of learning is important but much more is to act. Performance effects more or less in social surroundings too. But then, it is important how much you have learnt from a particular art than how many.

Classical Dance workshop-India, photo: Riki, source:KKIPA

Significant point is that a performer in its course of learning goes into a series of transportation. First, when they learn in a school in a scheduled and rehearsed period follows a performance. Second, the stage performance. In both of the cases they change inner self to be fit into the situation. It is also very important to make the students back to ordinary life from where they start their thoughts of performing. The students are asked to involve in the forms- characters so called as ‘concentration’. For which they are also taught rasa or aesthetic pleasure for themselves and the audience. It leads them to the performance with transportation -with a character/text-with a specific context. The audience may be one or many. And self is the eventual audience in front of whom we imagine a form liked to be or so.

Workshop on Traditional performance-India, photo:Purabi, source:personal

The world is growing more rapidly than yesterday and it will be much more on tomorrow. The forms are also disseminating themselves, experimented openly social issues. Again, merges in to one another where theatre is arisen. Most of the folk forms are dying due to peoples’ ignorance and lack of practisoners. They no longer interested in their traditional performances. In that case, it is really very encouraging where some consciousness amongst young generation is taking lead to make aware of technology with the help of folklore. e.g.-bihu songs. It works as a folk media today where essence of original Bihu song is found almost died. We have no more actual Bihu songs rather a kind of Bihu in the market with stories of Assamese folk life. That is a kind of transformation. All those definitely impact on human, society and civilisation.

People engage in performing different art form. In this rapid changing world, one may think about ‘performance’ event because we are gradually losing the practisoner in this dynamic field. People work with performance may not necessarily to be an observer for theoretical perspective or audience to get simply entertained all the time. Rather get a performance essence by performing events in front of the public domain. Once it is worked with as a supplement of a normal living life, I am sure it will impact on individual behaviour -adding to insightness.

Purabi Baruah

Research Scholar

NEHU, Shilllong