French dancer Martine Kaisserlian's journey to India

She knows the dance of life well. Having taken measured steps for decades, 65-year-old Martine Kaisserlian is now a well-researched exponent. An eminent French educationist, choreographer and director of OffJazz dance company in Nice (France), Kaisserlian has worked in the field for several years and collaborated with many cultural organisations. Two of them being The Alliance Française du Bengale and Rhythmosaic School and Dance Institute in Kolkata.

She visited the city in March to conduct a workshop and address a talk on ‘Dance in Europe: Evolving Patterns’. About her visit to India, she says, “This time, my main objective was to keep going through the progression in contemporary dance with students via a training programme that includes technique, style, body awareness and precision in understanding of movements. With a groundwork of strong fundamentals, these pupils will be able to keep moving forward and work by themselves.”

However, this was not her first trip to India. She had rendered her choreographic creation Buddha in Kolkata in 2014 and was invited to tour with the production in November across south India and other places, including Kolkata of course. However, the tour programme is not yet finalised, she says.

About Buddha, she says, “It is a great adventure because of its epic story. Also, at the behest of Dr Mitul Sengupta of Rhythmosaic, we are considering and concentrating soly on the principal cast of characters to be able to develop the story from a mythological point of view. In this piece, it is absolutely amazing to note and derive how a number of genres like Kathak, contemporary and jazz dance are finely interlinked into an exceptional scenography.”

Kaisserlian journey began at the age of 10. “I did a long training in education for dancers starting from age 10 with ballet, and then gradually on to modern character dance etc. At the risk of sounding pompous, I can say that I have attained expertise in contemporary dance with an in-depth education base in modern dance, improvisation and compositions too,” she says.

“I must admit that I had the good fortune of meeting some of the most famous masters and great human beings from all over the world, which acted as a catalyst in the process,” she adds.

Acknowledging that the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) (originating from the works of Rudolf Laban) has been very helpful, Kaisserlian says that it enlightened her with respect to “the relationship between movement awareness and dance techniques”.

In Europe, she says, “The most ancient dance form is court dance, dating back to the 15th century… This dance style further led to the ballet form in 18th century and since then, dance is taught in academies with a specific vocabulary in French across nations like Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and so on. From the 20th century onwards, national schools and conservatories were created where other genres like folk dance, social dance, academic dance, modern dance, contemporary dance, tap dance, jazz and urban dances were also imparted.”

“Wholehearted perseverance towards the art is all that matters as the driving force… We can’t mix commercial endeavours with theatre works after all. So in France, it is compulsory for all teachers to acquire a diploma first and then qualify as a teacher,” she says.

Talking about collaborations with globally-recognised artistes, she says, “We work very often with musicians, actors, singers, but also with famous institutions such as the Ballet de Monte Carlo. Our joint ventures are extended to international exchanges as well.”

She adds that they are collaborating with Morocco for a new piece with 80 musicians from the Philharmonic Orchestra and a troupe of 25 dancers. Apart from this they also engage in artistic exchanges with national museums, festivals and invite well-known choreographers like Wayne Mc Gregor, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Marie Chouinard and Alexander Ekman to co-ordinate over new choreographic items.

It is also through dance that she met her husband Gianin Loringett, also an illustrious contemporary dancer. That is how the foundation of their dance company was laid.

Speaking about Indian dance, she says she is attached to Indian nrityakala. “I discovered that traditional Indian dance can be very elegant and precise in technique, expression and musicality. However, some artistes are still caught in a time warp and have sadly remained confined to the past. Their style and interpretation need to be adapted to our society at large.” She also feels that long elaborate concerts and exaggerated expressions often spoil the beauty of a conventional performance

“I have seen Kathak, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam performances and enjoyed all. Back home in France, I frequently collaborate with a new-age Bharathanatyam dancer whose style is visibly pure, but she has also adapted to new paths and is ready to share the stage within the scope of new scenography. I always appreciate this novel

quality,” she says.

“A performer should be open to all other styles of dance and embrace them to compliment her own. Thus, evolution, which is a key trait of dance, can happen without any inhibition. One must make efforts to break free of the strict perimeter of one’s vocation,” she adds.

When she returned from India, Martine says that she had 10 days to prepare a performance for six contemporary artistes in paintings and sculptures, who collaborated with scientists. “I conceptualised Dance for Search by stringing in six small pieces using the main idea of each artiste. A group of nine able dancers with the right personality was roped in to partly improvise upon a given script and partly perform under directions,” she says.

Currently, she is putting up a national museum show for a evening woven around Fauvism painters. “We are literally on the move as the month of May will see us busy with the rehearsals, followed with the finale in June.”

Come July, she will work with children for a project. “I shall cull a dozen young dancers between 11 to 14 years of age who are regular students and inculcate a habit of studying dance on a daily basis. The programme will be held at the prestigious theatre in Monte Carlo,” she says.