At home in alien arts

Norwegian, Julie Gwortz Howden, fascinated by the delicate dance form, Mohiniattam, decided to stay put in Chennai not only to learn the art but to understand its beautiful philosophy and concept.

"When the Devas went to Vishnu, unable to control the asuras, he took the form of Mohini, the enchantress, and tricked the asuras into submission. Thus, delicate and swaying movements are characteristic of Mohiniattam", explains dance teacher Jayashree Mundkur.

``I was completely taken in by this graceful dance form," says Julie Gwortz Howden. She has come from Norway to learn Mohiniattam. A Norwegian learning this Kerala dance form from a Bengali (married to a Konkani) in Chennai? Interesting combination! So I went to see the performance that Julie was giving for a few friends and was pleasantly surprised by her understanding of the nuances. Though tall for a dancer, Julie seemed to have put in a lot of hard work.

She is in India with her friend Malik Rumeau, a French mime artiste, who studied Kathakali at Kerala Kalamandalam while Julie learnt Mohiniattam in Chennai. Her guru Jayashree is extremely impressed by Julie's efforts to understand the philosophy of the art form, the symbolism, the concept and the stories generally depicted.

Julie met Malik at the International Mime School of Lecog in Paris. Malik remembers his mother reading the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to him when he was a child. While he was in school in Paris, there was an India Week celebration with projects focussing on Indian history, mythology and cinema. ``I was nine years old then, but the experience is still fresh in my mind and the fantasy for India grew.'' He developed an interest in theatre and mime and decided to visit India to study the theatrical forms here.

Julie had been a performer since she was three years old. She assisted her magician father in his shows and became a solo theatre performer. She studied theatre in high school and went to Paris to join the mime school. There she met Malik.

Both worked for a year to earn enough money to make their India visit possible. Malik had seen a Kathakali performance in Paris and also a documentary on the Kerala Kalamandalam. So it was Kerala that they first came to. Malik joined a Kathakali course and Julie a Bharathanatyam dance school. But within three days, Julie was advised to learn Mohiniattam as it made the body more flexible. Two Bengali boys who were learning Kathakali and Mohiniattam at the Kerala Kalamandalam told Julie about Jayashree in Chennai and brought her here.

``The gentle movements of Mohiniattam enchanted me,'' says Julie. ``The body language is fascinating. It's an invocation to Nature. An idea, an emotion or a character can be intensely visualised through this dance. Though the stories depicted are mythological, they are relevant even in modern times.''

One thing that Julie and Malik disagree on is that one has to be an Indian to be able to perform these dances well. "The best mime artistes are not French though the mime tradition is rooted in the French culture". Both hope to come back to learn more.

V.R.DEVIKA

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