Indian dance Bharatanatyam is only one of the eight styles of Indian classical dance officially recognized by the government. Even if it comes from the region of Tamil Nadu, after its reformation in the Thirties, it spread all over the subcontinent and is practiced also in Sri Lanka, in the Mauritius and wherever there is an Indian community. In fact it is a symbol of Indian identity. In the Natyashastra, one the most important and ancient theoretical texts on this topic, it is written that god Brahma originally imparted the science of gesticulation and dance so that knowledge of Vedas could be accessible to all the castes. Depicting all the human passions, even the negative ones, and representing myths, it has the power to educate and to make men better as much as prayer, fasting and rituals. Although, in the course of centuries, it has lost part of its spiritual inspiration and has been corrupted in the eyes of Indian people – in 1947 the Supreme Court of Madras approved a law that prohibited the execution of danced rituals in the temples, relegating them to the theatres- it has maintained its religious meaning. In fact, subjects of dances are taken from the Hindu epics, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana. Every show has to begin with a prayer to Ganesh, and there has to be a dance dedicated to Shiva Nataraja, Lord of Dance. The problem related to the specific language of Bharatanatyam and its translation into another religion is an issue of great interest. It is necessary to learn an ancient and complex code and to adapt it to a new spirituality. Bharatanatyam, in fact, does not use only the expressions of the face and the movements of the body, but utilizes positions of the hands called mudras or hastas, which are similar to language of signs of the dumb. We have about fifty-two hastas, but it is possible to add other mudras from other styles of dance and some that are borrowed from medical or religious fields. The problem is that for every hasta there is a list of meanings, determined by their position in the space, movement, orientation, context. Only those who are trained can understand this complex language and this makes it hard the communication with the audience. About thirty years ago when Fr. Francis Barboza decided to systematically adapt Bharatanatyam to Christianity, first of all he created new deva hastas, particular gestures that are unequivocally dedicated to a specific god or religious concept. His method is based on the combination of traditional gestures with profound theological concepts. Today, many Christian dancers utilize his “creations”, but I found that in India other dancers depict the same concepts with different movements and gestures or use deva hastas created by Barboza without knowing their exact meaning. This attempt of inculturation poses many problems also at the theological and cultural level. Even if there are not explicit approvals or formal prohibitions by the Vatican on the introduction of Bharatanatyam into the liturgy, theologians and dancers – some are part of the clergy – continue the experimentation making effective transformations, and nowadays Christian Indian dance is practiced both in India and in the West, mainly in paraliturgical situations. On one hand, these innovators take inspiration from the Vatican II, which promotes inculturation of the evangelic message; on the other hand, the innovators support a political claim and highlight dynamics of power, which exist between the centre represented by the Roman Catholic Church or the centres, that is to say the institutes where the experimentations take place, and the periphery or the peripheries. Baharatanatyam has also a great importance for the problem of castes. Since it is considered a Brahmin’s form of art, it is considered as a potent mean to socially promote the Untouchables, but it ends to a sort of “brahminization” of Christianity.
Il Bharatanatyam è uno degli otto stili di danza classica indiana ufficialmente riconosciuti dalle istituzioni indiane. Anche se proviene dalla regione del Tamil Nadu, dopo la riforma negli anni Trenta e Quaranta, si è diffuso in tutto il subcontinente ed è praticato anche in Sri Lanka, nelle Mauritius e ovunque ci sia una comunità indiana. E’ ritenuto un simbolo dell’identità indiana. Nel Natyashastra, uno degli antichi testi teorici su questo argomento, è scritto che il dio Brahma avrebbe originariamente insegnato la scienza della gestualità e della danza in modo che la conoscenza dei Veda potesse essere accessibile a tutte le caste. Attraverso la raffigurazione di tutte le passioni umane, anche quelle negative, e la rappresentazione dei miti, aveva il potere di educare e di rendere gli uomini migliori tanto quanto la preghiera, il digiuno e i rituali. Anche se, nel corso dei secoli, ha perso parte della sua ispirazione spirituale e l’opinione comune ritiene che si sia corrotto, tanto che nel 1947 la Corte Suprema di Madras ha approvato una legge che proibiva l'esecuzione di rituali danzati nei templi, portando la danza sui palcoscenici, il Bharatanatyam ha mantenuto il suo significato religioso. I soggetti di danze sono tratti da poemi epici indù, come il Mahabharata e il Ramayana. Ogni spettacolo deve cominciare con una preghiera a Ganesh, e ci deve essere una danza dedicata a Shiva Nataraja, Signore della Danza Cosmica. Tradurre il linguaggio specifico del Bharatanatyam in un'altra religione è una questione di grande interesse. Quest’arte, infatti, non utilizza solo le espressioni del volto e i movimenti del corpo, ma anche le mudra o hasta, posizioni delle mani che sono simili al linguaggio dei segni dei sordi. Abbiamo circa cinquantadue hasta, ma è possibile aggiungerne, prendendole in prestito dal campo della medicina e dello yoga. Per ogni hasta ci sono molteplici significati, determinati dalla loro posizione nello spazio, dal movimento, dall’orientamento e dal contesto. Solo coloro che hanno studiato a lungo questa lingua complessa e articolata possono comprenderla, il che rende arduo l’atto comunicativo. Una trentina di anni fa, quando p Francis Barboza ha deciso di adattare sistematicamente il Bharatanatyam al cristianesimo, prima di tutto ha creato nuove deva-hasta, ovvero gesti che sono dedicati inequivocabilmente a un dio o a un concetto religioso. Il suo metodo si basa sulla combinazione di gesti tradizionali con profondi concetti teologici. Oggi, molti danzatori cristiani utilizzano le sue "creazioni", ma ho trovato che in India altri raffigurano gli stessi concetti con movimenti e gesti o deva-hasta diversi da quelli creati da Barboza o li utilizzano senza conoscerne il significato esatto. Questo tentativo di inculturazione pone molti problemi anche a livello teologico e culturale. Anche se non esistono divieti formali da parte del Vaticano sull'introduzione del Bharatanatyam nella liturgia, teologi e danzatori, alcuni dei quali fanno parte del clero, stanno portando avanti la sperimentazione e al giorno d'oggi la danza indiana cristiana è praticata sia in India che in Occidente, soprattutto in situazioni paraliturgiche. Da un lato, questi innovatori prendono ispirazione dal Concilio Vaticano II, che promuove l'inculturazione del messaggio evangelico; d'altra parte, sostengono una rivendicazione politica ed evidenziano dinamiche di potere, che esistono tra il centro (rappresentato dalla Chiesa romana) o centri (vale a dire gli istituti dove le sperimentazioni hanno luogo), e la periferia o le periferie. Il Bharatanatyam ha anche una grande importanza per il problema delle caste. Dal momento che è considerato una forma d’arte dei Bramini, è ritenuta un mezzo efficace per promuovere l’ascesa sociale degli Intoccabili, ma di fatto ciò che si ottiene è una braminizzazione del cristianesimo.
(2016). Il Bharatanatyam cristiano: Una forma d'inculturazione del cristianesimo attraverso la danza-teatro indiana. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2016).
Il Bharatanatyam cristiano: Una forma d'inculturazione del cristianesimo attraverso la danza-teatro indiana
MORTILLARO, MARIA CATERINA
2016
Abstract
Indian dance Bharatanatyam is only one of the eight styles of Indian classical dance officially recognized by the government. Even if it comes from the region of Tamil Nadu, after its reformation in the Thirties, it spread all over the subcontinent and is practiced also in Sri Lanka, in the Mauritius and wherever there is an Indian community. In fact it is a symbol of Indian identity. In the Natyashastra, one the most important and ancient theoretical texts on this topic, it is written that god Brahma originally imparted the science of gesticulation and dance so that knowledge of Vedas could be accessible to all the castes. Depicting all the human passions, even the negative ones, and representing myths, it has the power to educate and to make men better as much as prayer, fasting and rituals. Although, in the course of centuries, it has lost part of its spiritual inspiration and has been corrupted in the eyes of Indian people – in 1947 the Supreme Court of Madras approved a law that prohibited the execution of danced rituals in the temples, relegating them to the theatres- it has maintained its religious meaning. In fact, subjects of dances are taken from the Hindu epics, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana. Every show has to begin with a prayer to Ganesh, and there has to be a dance dedicated to Shiva Nataraja, Lord of Dance. The problem related to the specific language of Bharatanatyam and its translation into another religion is an issue of great interest. It is necessary to learn an ancient and complex code and to adapt it to a new spirituality. Bharatanatyam, in fact, does not use only the expressions of the face and the movements of the body, but utilizes positions of the hands called mudras or hastas, which are similar to language of signs of the dumb. We have about fifty-two hastas, but it is possible to add other mudras from other styles of dance and some that are borrowed from medical or religious fields. The problem is that for every hasta there is a list of meanings, determined by their position in the space, movement, orientation, context. Only those who are trained can understand this complex language and this makes it hard the communication with the audience. About thirty years ago when Fr. Francis Barboza decided to systematically adapt Bharatanatyam to Christianity, first of all he created new deva hastas, particular gestures that are unequivocally dedicated to a specific god or religious concept. His method is based on the combination of traditional gestures with profound theological concepts. Today, many Christian dancers utilize his “creations”, but I found that in India other dancers depict the same concepts with different movements and gestures or use deva hastas created by Barboza without knowing their exact meaning. This attempt of inculturation poses many problems also at the theological and cultural level. Even if there are not explicit approvals or formal prohibitions by the Vatican on the introduction of Bharatanatyam into the liturgy, theologians and dancers – some are part of the clergy – continue the experimentation making effective transformations, and nowadays Christian Indian dance is practiced both in India and in the West, mainly in paraliturgical situations. On one hand, these innovators take inspiration from the Vatican II, which promotes inculturation of the evangelic message; on the other hand, the innovators support a political claim and highlight dynamics of power, which exist between the centre represented by the Roman Catholic Church or the centres, that is to say the institutes where the experimentations take place, and the periphery or the peripheries. Baharatanatyam has also a great importance for the problem of castes. Since it is considered a Brahmin’s form of art, it is considered as a potent mean to socially promote the Untouchables, but it ends to a sort of “brahminization” of Christianity.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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