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The classical indian dance FaculTy

The Classical Indian Dance Faculty (CIDF) of the ISTD

currently offers certified examinations in the classical

Indian dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, and

is in the process of developing examination and certification

syllabi in other Indian dance forms. The Faculty was established

in 1999 as the South Asian Dance Faculty and renamed in

November 2012.1 CIDF has been chaired by David Henshaw

(serving 1999–2002), Chitraleka Bolar (2003–2010) and Sujata

Banerjee (2010–present).2

Bharatanatyam is the sophisticated inheritor of the codified

Dasi and Sadir dance traditions that evolved over many

centuries in the temples and royal durbars of southern India. It

is hallmarked by its geometrical positions, extended limb lines,

strong footwork and complex rhythm sequences, embellished

by a ‘language’ of hand gestures and elaborate narratives

conveyed by stylised expressions of body and face.

Kathak originated as a danced story-telling form in

northern India in the precincts of Hindu temples, acquiring

in Mughal courts its now signature flourishes and charisma:

subtly held body and limb lines, and a delicate expressiveness

of face, showcasing a lyricism studded by bursts of intricate

rhythmic patterns executed by fret-like footwork, fleeting arm

movements and spins, punctuated by dynamic stillness.

Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancers require, respectively,

knowledge of classical Carnatic and Hindustani music from

southern and northern India.

The development of Indian dance in the United Kingdom

Over a period of a little more than 150 years, Indian dance in

the UK has made a stimulating and substantial journey. It has

developed from being exhibited as an exotic artefact of the

‘jewel in the crown’ that was India, to becoming an established

and exciting element of the contemporary British dance scene.

Established in 1904 the Imperial Society of Teachers

of Dancing (ISTD) is one of the world’s oldest and

most influential dance examination boards. Ever since

its inception the ISTD has developed new styles and

dance genres, and today with 12 faculties, no other

dance examination board has the breadth of genres

that the ISTD offers.

Our mission is to educate the public in the art of

dancing in all its forms, to promote the knowledge

of dance, to provide up-to-date techniques, and to

maintain and improve teaching standards across the

globe. The ISTD is always moving with the times to

keep pace with the latest developments in dance.

We regularly update our syllabi and introduce new

faculties to respond to changes in the world of dance.

The 2012 Misrana finale – all the

participants at The Lowry

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In 1838, traditional Indian temple dancers or devadasis

appeared in performance for the first time in Europe at the

Adelphi Theatre, London. Between the 1920s and 1960s, a

number of non-devadasi modern, professional3 Indian dancers

were presented and feted in the UK and Europe. These included

Uday Shankar,4 Ram Gopal,5 Ragini Devi, Mrinalini Sarabhai

and Indrani Rahman. Gopal’s was among the early attempts

to set up a fully-fledged Indian dance school in London but it

did not take root. By the mid-1970s, however, when Naseem

Khan’s seminal report on British ethnic minorities’ arts was

commissioned and published (1976), there were a significant

number of immigrant teachers from the South Asian diaspora

running thriving ‘Indian classical dance’ classes in the UK, and

during the 1980s these dance forms, their performers and

schools became extremely popular.

By the 1990s, Indian dance in the UK was firmly embedded

in the ‘contemporary’ dance category in arts policy, and, for

inclusivity reasons, officially and widely called ‘South Asian

Dance’. Thereon, the ethos of contemporary dance impacted on

the genre(s). For example, ‘hybrid’ works (that is, those which

drew upon mixed dance techniques and styles) were being

created by choreographers, heralded by Shobana Jeyasingh.

Jeyasingh, like other artists who followed her, was trained in

but contested the strictures and structures of classical Indian

dance. These new and exciting works attracted attention and

were offered public funding. Nevertheless, vast numbers of

South Asian-origin British youngsters continued studying Indian

classical dance as ‘authentic’ forms of their cultural heritage, and

these forms were holding fast to their place on the world stage.

The story of the Faculty

In 1996, the dance organisation Akademi,6 under the artistic

directorship of Mira Mishra Kaushik, sowed the seeds for

a South Asian Dance Faculty of the ISTD. Explaining her

impetus, Kaushik has said: “By 1995–96, South Asian dance

was beginning to flourish [in the UK] and bring many South

Asian qualifications [and] imported systems [which] suffered

from out-dated syllabi irrelevant to the British education

system and incoherent assessment infrastructures” (Akademi,

2009). Encouraged by Mike Browne, the ISTD’s Chief Executive

at the time, Akademi created, funded and managed a three-

year syllabus research project, led by Sushmita Ghosh. It

involved consulting over a hundred teachers of classical Indian

dance7 in the UK and abroad, and sampling their existing

curricula.8 Akademi offered to the ISTD proposed Kathak and

Bharatanatyam syllabi devised by Ghosh and Pushkala Gopal,

respectively, and helped recruit David Henshaw as Founding

Chair of the South Asian Dance Faculty in 1999.

Under Henshaw’s championing and meticulous

chairmanship, the Faculty Committee commissioned Ghosh

(Kathak) and Nina Rajarani (Bharatanatyam) to fine tune the

syllabi and formulate specifications in line with the ISTD’s

pedagogical and examination systems. CIDF acknowledges

the contribution of many teachers from within and outside

Left: Swati Youth Dance performing

at U Dance 2014 at the Nottingham

Playhouse. The festival celebrates the

talent of young dancers from all over

the country

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the Faculty to this significant endeavour.9

Examining in Kathak and Bharatanatyam

started in 2001 in various regions of the

UK, with expansion by 2014 as widely as

Amsterdam, Dubai, Johannesburg, Toronto and

Seattle. In 2012, the CIDF, in the way of ‘coals to

Newcastle’, presented its examination curricula

and criteria to dance teachers in Mumbai and

Delhi – the first initiative in India for the ISTD.

Hosted by the British Council in the two cities,

the reception was warm, with teachers asking

for examinations, especially at the professional

conversion level.

In 2009, CIDF celebrated its 10th

anniversary with a ticketed showcase entitled

Misrana at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London,

featuring its top-graded ISTD-examined talents.

Misrana now takes place at regular intervals.10

Of special note have been the Faculty’s popular

classical Indian dance teachers’ forums, started

in 2010,11 and held regularly in various cities

with local partners. These invite both members

and non-members to expand their teaching

skills, create a supportive network and recruit

non-members to the ISTD way of dance

teaching and examining. Another feature is

that the Department for Education’s national

Centre for Advanced Training programme

in South Asian dance takes into account

applicants’ CIDF grade level achievement.12 In

2013, CIDF had the special honour of bestowing

the ISTD’s rare International Fellowship award

on the Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj,

whose Ang Kavya text is prescribed reading

for CIDF Kathak examinations. Dubai hosted

the largest CIDF examination to date with

approximately 130 candidates for Kathak.

Dancing forward

Bharatanatyam and Kathak have taken root

globally, spearheading the spread of other

Indian dance forms. Their traditional ethos,

pedagogy, and customary practices, such as the

lack of insistence on warm-up and cool-down,

have also migrated alongside. Some of these

practices, if not adapted to new geographic

and cultural climates, might arguably

endanger students and teachers on health

and safety grounds, while adherences to other

traditions may restrict these practitioners

from flourishing by engaging with others in

the dance sector with confidence and agency.

It is in this context that the achievement

and mission of the Faculty is significant.

The CIDF respects and embraces traditional

techniques, repertoire and wisdom, while

incorporating in its pedagogy and vision

updated practices that foster understanding,

talent, curiosity, responsibility, growth, safety,

creativity, confidence, agency and, above all,

the promotion and enjoyment of proficiency

in dancing.

CIDF keeps abreast of changes in the

UK’s official educational qualifications

requirements, updating the syllabus and

specifications to ensure that students and

teachers are kept up-to-date. Three revisions

completed by Faculty members have been

undertaken to date. This is all part of the

Faculty’s aims, identified by its Chair, Sujata

Banerjee, as seeking “to advance our members’

teaching success, and grow our membership at

home and internationally”.

Chitra Sundaram

FooTnoTes1ISTD press release dated 19

November 2012.2Amanda Leon was briefly interim

chair between Henshaw and Bolar.3As opposed to those who inherited

their dance-driven livelihood,

these professionals crossed family

opposition and/or caste/class

boundaries to become dancers by

choice.4Uday Shankar (1900–1977) was

invited to Europe in 1923 by Anna

Pavlova to partner her in an Indian-

themed ballet Radha Krishna.5Ram Gopal (1912-2003; OBE 1999)

was anointed ‘The Indian Nijinsky’ in

the Salons of Europe and appeared

in the UK and Europe from the

1930s–1960s. 6Set up by Tara Rajkumar as

‘Academy of Indian Performing Arts’,

it was renamed ‘Akademi – South

Asian Dance in the UK’ under the

stewardship of Mira Kaushik. 7Teachers of Bharatanatyam, Kathak,

and Odissi (Priya Pawar) were

consulted.8Nina Rajarani supplied her dance

school Srishti’s fully developed

syllabus up to Grade 6.9These included Sujata Banerjee,

Chitraleka Bolar, Pali Chandra,

Uma Chandratheva, Nilima Devi,

Pushkala Gopal, Sushma Mehta, Dr.

Nithyanandan, Pratap Pawar, Anusha

Subramanyam, Vidya Thirunarayan

and Gauri Sharma Tripathi.10Misrana showcases have taken

place on 22 February 2009 at QEH,

London and 4 November 2012 at the

Lowry, Salford Quays.11These began in 2007 as Skills

Sharing days for members, as offered

by other ISTD Faculties.12Centre for Advanced Training (CAT)

offers a selection-based programme

for young talent in a variety of music

and dance genres including Kathak

and Bharatanatyam.

ReFeRencesAkademi, 2 June 2009, email

attachment to Anita Srivastava for

Chitra Sundaram’s report on Misrana

for the Confluence newspaper.

Khan, N.,1976, The arts Britain

ignores: the arts of ethnic minorities

in Britain.

Arts Council of Great Britain,

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Great

Britain: Community Relations

Below: Laban Theatre Congress 2008