Her passion for dance transcends all boundaries. Dr. Tina Tambe has dedicated her life to dance. Her academy, Ninad, encourages youngsters to look at dance as an art form professionally.
Excerpts from the interview:
Inspiration behind Ninad.
I was learning kathak from the age of 7-8 years and after learning, practicing and performing for many years, to achieve some financial stability, I started taking private tuitions and also had my stint as a dance teacher in a couple of schools and private dance academies. This was helping me monetarily but there was less work satisfaction.
Then I realised the need to establish my own work place from where I can properly share my knowledge to the right and deserving learners of the younger generation, execute my creative ideas into new thematic presentations and choreographies and also continue my own practice. So I established my own institute, Ninad Centre for Performing Arts in Vile Parle East Mumbai where I started teaching independently under my own banner.
Parallel to that, with the intention of preserving, promoting and propagating our rich cultural heritage of Indian classical dances and to bridge the gap between audiences and classical Arts, Ninad Shastriya Sangeet Samiti came into existence, which is a registered non profit organization and I started organizing a series of concerts named ‘Ninad Concert Series’ and workshops of senior dance teachers under its banner.
Eventually, I also formed my own dance company by the name ‘Ninad Group’ which professionally performs my creative works at various dance and music festivals.
Which form of dance excites you most and why?
Amongst the classical dances of India, I love Kathak the most. It belongs to the Northern part of India, its language is Hindi and the music used is Hindustani Classical. Being born and brought up in central India, that’s Indore, Madhya Pradesh, I got introduced to and was naturally inclined towards Kathak, as it was the only dance form that existed in Indore.
Eventually while learning kathak for years, I fell in love with it.
On one hand the strength of footwork, fluidity of movements, the energy of spins, spontaneity in the repertoire and coordination with musicians etc. is just magical which fills my heart with joy and excitement and on the other hand, the depth of emotions shown through wide range of expressions takes me to a divine spiritual world.
Kathak enjoys the freedom of movements and expressions even while following the bindings and restrictions of Shastras.
Amongst the folk dances, I love Bhangra for its energy, Garba for its flow and coming together of a large community for religious purposes, Lavni for its rhythmic beats on dholki, vibrant attire and sensual yet subtle style (अदा), Ghoomar for its grace and flow.
Which part of the world is most receptive to dance performances and why do you think so?
On a global level, it’s difficult to take one name because every part of the world has their own dance traditions which are popular amongst their people so each country has their own set of receptive audiences in culturally dominant areas. I have come across dance festivals and workshops of Indian dances being organised in London, New York, Srilanka, Greece, Japan, Korea, Poland etc.
In India, I think South India is most receptive to dance performances. The classical dance started as a temple tradition and there are the largest number of big and prominent temples in the South, which were spared by Mughal invasion, where these classical dances have been performed for centuries. There was this tradition in the South that the eldest daughter of the family served as a devdasi who learnt, performed and lived in the temple. Till today at least one child of each family learns a classical dance form. Even if they don’t take it as a profession but turn out to be learned audiences for dance. Apart from South India, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and many other states also have a good and receptive audience due to the presence of art loving and culturally inclined people all around.
When you experiment with formats and stories to match and blend, what’s that one thing you keep in mind?
Actually we have to take not one but many factors in consideration while experimenting with various themes or formats. Many a times, we have to come up with something new and out of the box without diluting the purity of the form or compromising on the quality of content as well as performance yet blending it well with other form or altering and modifying the content to make it more interesting, exciting and understandable for the contemporary audience.
So every time we work on new projects, we think of making it interesting, understandable and reachable to class as well as mass audiences without diluting a particular style and without compromising on the purity of the original form and story or content.
Along with the dance form and content, the use of appropriate music and instruments is also one of the very important factors while working on new ideas as it increases the impact manifold.
Costumes, lights, makeup etc. are other important factors to be taken into consideration while experimenting with new ideas.
If I have to mention one thing or factor, I would say ‘to be able to connect well with the audience without diluting the form and without compromising on the quality of performance and authenticity of content’.
Which western dance form intrigues you and why?
I like Flamenco and Tap dancing. Having similarities with stances, vibrancy and footwork of Kathak, I got a chance to see and understand these two forms more than any others.
Salsa, Tango and contemporary dance also interest me.
