Dance Visionary Anita Ratnam On Building A Cultural Ecosystem For Indian Arts

Anita Ratnam is not just a dancer, but an arts entrepreneur and cultural architect who has dedicated four decades to building a cultural ecosystem for Indian dance. She is a true revivalist who ensures that tradition remains a vibrant, living, and utterly relevant force in the contemporary world.

Now, over a career spanning forty years, she continues to inspire artists to expand their horizons and race against the conservative notions our arts establishment has set for them. A visionary mentor to emerging talent and a powerful cultural leader, Ratnam has proven that Indian dance is more than just graceful postures on a stage.

In a conversation with SheThePeople, she shared her beginnings in the arts and also recounted her journey of thrashing stereotypes both on and off the stage.

Anita Ratnam In Conversation With SheThePeople

STP: You've built a remarkable career on the principle of keeping Indian dance both 'rooted in tradition and relevant to the present.' This is a challenge many artists face. What is your personal philosophy on innovation within a classical framework, and what do you believe is the key to ensuring these ancient arts continue to speak powerfully to contemporary audiences?

Anita: To be “rooted” and “relevant” are questions that face artistes daily. I have never consciously thought about these two words as contradictory. I look at myself as (in politically correct terminology) a person of colour, a woman, a privileged South Indian of Hindu faith. Now, each of these words is “loaded” with several possibilities.

My role as a creator has always been to harness my abilities, my advantages and my talent to create dance and theatre presentations that speak to me. Only if I am interested in what is being said can I hope that it could translate to the audience. Not every project works. Not every idea develops into fruition.

We are all contemporary women straddling several cultural flashpoints in our daily lives. As a dancer, I have the advantage of “speaking” through the non-verbal language of movement. This can be both powerful and vulnerable simultaneously.

The female body in motion has been dissected through centuries of patriarchy. Similarly, the women in our ancient stories are mostly cardboard cutouts without voice and agency. As one of the millions of inheritors of these magnificent tropes and tales, I feel that pulling them out of the page of history and giving them power and potential is my challenge. It is a constant tightrope walk that does not please either the purist or the modernist. But it intrigues them both to watch and comment. That is enough.

My work should provoke thought and discussion, not confront or collide with long-held beliefs. The flicker of curiosity that is alive in me after all these decades is what fuels me to wake up with hope and energy. 

STP: You speak of building a '360° Cultural Ecosystem' to support dance beyond the physical stage. Could you unpack that powerful concept for us? How do elements like mentorship, digital archiving, and curation create a sustainable environment where an art form can truly thrive?

Anita: To be a dancer takes a village. The family, the home environment and the teacher/guru. However, it is not enough. One needs an entire ecosystem of audience building, awareness through various demographics, to constantly work on visibility, writing, speaking, teaching and more.

The 360-degree ecosystem I speak about also includes Digital Literacy, which my generation did not grow up with. I have not had an easy time developing the basic tools to handle today's hyper-blur of social media.

I have developed several strands of cultural leadership through hands-on experience, rather than through formal courses. To choreograph and perform is only one aspect of the dance world. Today’s dancer has to develop so much more, and it is not being taught in the dance classes by the gurus and teachers.

In fact, all dance teachers born after 1985 should be regularly upscaling themselves just like the corporate world does. Today’s generation believes that one’s worth is only on social media. But the human body needs to be seen, not as an ant size on the mobile phone for 30 seconds, but in real time in the same physical space by warm eyes and open hearts. 

STP: Your artistry is celebrated for the way you connect dance to diverse fields like textiles, ecology, and craft. Can you walk us through your creative process? How does an idea from one of these realms spark a choreographic thought and find its way into the physical language of your dance?

Anita: My creative process starts with a blank page. I want every work to look and feel different. Most classically trained dancers look for a new topic, subject or theme and just use the familiar vocabulary, new costume colours and fancy lighting to make it feel like it's a brand new piece. In most cases, this does not really reflect the originality of the idea from start to finish.

With my movement vocabulary being drawn from the classical, folk, martial and meditative arts (yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong and Kalaripayettu), there is a wealth of movement possibilities to draw from. What is the concept? How can I tell it most effectively? How will it look? 

I am very influenced by textiles, texture, colours, fabrics and lighting. It comes from a matriarchal background of strong and beautiful women who took great pride in their dressing.

My mother was a fashionista in her days, creating a sensation in conservative Madurai and Madras with her organza sarees, white Hakoba embroidery and short skirts for tennis. She wore corals, pearls and semi-precious jewellery in a society obsessed with diamonds. She went against all conventions when she pushed me into dance at a time when it was frowned upon by prominent families. Today’s new look will eventually become a classic, as has been seen on numerous occasions. 

I think in movement and colour. I already know the image and template of how my new work will look. Dancers tend to be loners. Individuals are mostly obsessed with looking pretty. I have attempted to defy this monotype. 

STP: You've been a powerful advocate for folk and ritual performance, giving them a platform alongside classical traditions. Moving beyond textbook definitions, what do you see as the essential relationship between these streams? What unique power and voice do folk forms bring to the larger narrative of Indian performance?

Anita: I am so delighted to see the growing popularity of Indian folk and ritual forms in modern settings. Recently, a fashion show in London featured a performer who foregrounded the models with a folk performance using the traditional fabric that inspired the designer. Theatre directors and filmmakers are using these forms effectively.

Folk and ritual arts remind us of the potency of faith and the primal energies that are rooted in the soil and geography. The internet today has made most of us float in this fifth dimension called digital media. These practices are linked to a season and a particular deity.

They assume enormous significance in many older cultures like Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, Indonesia and Africa. The performers are also linked to family, hereditary practice and the idea of an unbroken lineage. It is so different from the idea of global citizenship of today. 

STP: As a mentor and curator with a keen eye for new talent, what qualities do you look for in emerging artists beyond just technical skill? What kind of work excites you today and gives you profound hope for the future trajectory of Indian dance?

Anita: I am astonished at how clever and worldly the younger generation is. Dancers in the age group of 30 to 39 are the generation taking this art forward. They have the energy and ambition to achieve. I am excited at the intersection of politics, contemporary issues and social impact that many contemporary dancers, poets and writers believe in. Classical dancers have to catch up to the present-day reality of how chaotic the world has become.

My best conversations have been with musicians, theatre directors, writers and those who believe in the power of the story. However, in a country like India, there is never one story.

There are multiple versions of the same strand. When I see young talent - dance, music, theatre, lighting, writing - I invite them to collaborate. It is this way that I find the most rewarding. To work across generations, especially those younger than me.

Intergenerational sharing is a way to grow. I seem to have a knack for attracting talent without really trying. I don't teach dance to 6-year-olds and don't have a dance school. There are thousands of dance classes in India.

What I have tried to create is a different pathway. Of finding a way to create, speak about, and dream dance. If you are truly passionate, you can find a way to stay in the circle of dance. Even if you don't make it as a dancer, there are so many more ways to contribute, support and be embraced by this demanding, fabulous and eternally fascinating art form.