July 6, 2013: Sufi Kathak, a very unique dance form is either unheard by people these days or many misunderstand it as being the child of Kathak. But, Manjari Chaturvedi, the creator and inventor of this dance form clears all these misunderstandings. Sufi Kathak is her brainchild and she clearly says Sufi Kathak and Kathak are two different forms of dance. The only similarity they have is that they belong to Northern India. Manjari Chaturvedi, a dynamic lady shares her experiences of introducing Sufi Kathak in India and also what dance means to her.

Presently, Bollywood has been the mainstream dance which has been dominating the other dances as well as the entertainment sector. But, Sufi Kathak is a form of dance which is very different from dancing on a peppy song or wearing lavish dresses with a large amount of makeup and presenting yourself as a show piece in front of the audience. Sufi Kathak is like “entering some other world” or, you can say “going in to a trance”. This dance form is based on spirituality, meditation, deep thought, and transformation into the state of ecstasy and a sacred place. According to her, a dancer can only be called a dancer when he/she knows how to transfer that energy that they feel inside and how they convey that energy yto that audience so that they feel the same. A dancer doesn’t dance through steps or energy, they are the physical dimension, a true dancer dances from his/her soul. 

Manjari Chaturvedi told that classical dance is based on two bhaktis – Sarguna Bhakti and NIrguna bhakti. While Indian classical dance forms like Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Odissi are based on Sargun Bhakti, Indian classical Music is based on Nirguna Bhakti. Nirguna Bhakti has been never a dominant part in Indian dance forms, but, Sufi Kathak is the only dance form which is based on Nirguna Bhakti and doesn’t have a particular form.

Although, it was not an easy journey for Manjari Chaturved to bring Sufi Kathak infront of the audience in India which does not easily  to accept a new dance form challenging the power of the other Indian classical dance forms. It took her almost 15 years to make her own identity. Her philosophy is very simple and that is to bring together the physical training and philosophy. It is very important for a dancer to be physically trained and to be technically sound, but, at the same time, he should have an understanding of the Sufism philosophy and also to have an understanding of dancing from the soul and not just moving hands and legs.

She believes in observing with clear mind and thought. If you are clean and clear from inside it does reflect in your dance. She says, one can learn the best by observing and shares with us that she believes in sharing her experiences with her students as that makes them learn more and they get to know what mistakes not to make, as well. She believes that one should actually go and watch the performances, be it good or bad, bcause it makes you learn the do’s and don’t’s in the performances. She believes sharing of dance experience and learning can be done in two ways, through performances and through words. These are the two best ways. 

She further clears that Sufi Kathak is not Kathak on Sufism. There are similarities but they are two different dance forms. Sufism and Kathak both have been prevalent in Northern India and in Sufi Kathak there is hardly any footwork you can see which is more dominant in Kathak. Kathak tells a story about god but Sufi Kathak doesn’t have any form it is just devoting yourself to God for that particular moment and completely enter into a new world. 

Sufi tells stories about Sufi saints, incidents in their life, tell their stories, while Kathak is storytelling, thus, apt name. Sufi kathak has completely different attire as well. Manjari Chaturvedi does not quite believe in the bling costumes and believes that body is a language but it is not as important as the physical attribute of the dance, so why concentrate more on the costumes and make-up than dancing. Black attire is mainly chosen by her for her performances because it negates physical attributes. 

She was quite upset about the fact, that these days, the creativity in the entertainment industry has just disappeared. People just believe in cut, copy and paste and there is zero creativity which has made her hopeless of the dance in the entertainment industry. She doesn’t want to get into Bollywood as it is getting into commercialization but she wants to focus on her dancing and performing in concerts where her audience understands her and appreciates her for what she is bringing forward to them.  She performs in many languages like Hindi, Urdu, Awadhi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Kashmiri as these are the languages which belong to many Sufi saints. 

Manjari Chaturvedi has also been a part of Rekha Bharadwaj’s song “tere Ishq mein”, but is not that keen to continue to perform in songs or enter Bollywood. She takes classes in Saket at her school called Sufi Kathak Foundation where she takes people who have had a prior experience in dance and takes only workshops or weekend classes as her main focus is her concerts. 

She is a lovely lady with lots of experiences to share and also gives so much of knowledge which a well established dancer might be lacking as well.

Source: India News, DT. July 6, 2013.