Dances of Pakistan

CLASSICAL DANCERS OF PAKISTAN

Madam Azuri

Anna Marie Gueizelor, better known as Madam Azuri, is one of Pakistan's classical dance pioneers. She was born in Bangalore in 1907, the daughter of a German doctor and an Indian mother. When her parents separated, Anna remained with her father, who did not approve of Eastern classical dancing, but admired the ballet and love music.

Anna was encouraged to study ballet with a group of Russian emigrants, and to practice the piano. As a young girl, she became aware of Eastern dancing during a rare visit to the cinema, but her father did not allow her to practice classical dance. When Anna reached her teens, the family moved to Bombay. Her father became a member of the Three Arts Circle organized by Begum Atiya Rahman from her palatial home, Aiwan-e-Riffat. Atiya Begum was the answer to Anna's prayers. She arranged for Anna to study the arts of the subcontinent in her home. After her father's death, Anna stayed with Atiya Begum and later became known as Azuri.

Azuri studied different schools of dance from renowned teachers and explored the rich field of Eastern music. She joined the Bombay film industry and was featured in numerous films. When her career was well established, she married a cultured Muslim gentleman who shared her interests.

After independence, Azuri settled in Pakistan with her husband and then opened the first Academy of Classical Dance in Pakistan. She appeared in a few Pakistani films but soon abandoned them. She toured a number of foreign countries, taking a small troupe with her. In Islamabad, Azuri was a member of the board of the National Council of the Arts. In Karachi, she was founder member of the Pak-American Cultural Centre, where she taught classical dance for a number of years.

Nahid Siddiqui

Nahid Siddiqui, a renowned classical dancer, was born in 1949 in karachi. She started her training at the age of 15. She began dancing under the guidance of Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak of Lahore. After graduating from the Lahore College of Home Economics, Nahid was invited to join PIA Arts Academy, then known as the National Ensemble of Music and Dance. As a member of the Academy, she travelled widely, performing in many capitals of the world. Her reputation as a dancer of rare distinction grew, and a television series, “Payal”, was initiated in 1978 in which Nahid danced variations of classical Kathak.

In 1979, she left Pakistan for London, where she started teaching Kathak at the Birmingham Arts Council. During her own dance recitals, she became well known for pausing to explain the meaning of her gestures and the philosophy behind Kathak dance. Nahid has won many awards. The prestigious Time Out Award was presented to her at the National Theatre in London in 1991, and she also won the Digital Award, a much coveted honour. But the award most dear to her heart she received from the Happy Home School, where she was once a student. She was delighted to be declared the "Most Distinguished Ex-Student."

Nighat Chaudhry

Nighat Chaudhry was born in 1959 in Lahore. Whe she was hardly a year old, her parents left Pakistan for London. Nighat was a born dancer whose talent started flourishing in early childhood. Living in London enabled her to study ballet and contemporary dance at the Laban Centre. After taking a foundation course at the Laban Centre, she opted for Kathak.

Impressed with Naheed Siddiqui's poise, her grace, and the ambiance of her style, Nighat moved to Birmingham, where she lived with her teacher for two years, learning the nuances of the art and culture of Kathak. After studying with Naheed Siddiqui, she became a disciple of Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak in Lahore. Then she won a three-year scholarship to learn Kathak at the prestigious Kathak Kendra in Delhi, where she studied under Pandit Durga Lal, the doyen of the Jaipur gharana, until his death. She left for Bombay to continue polishing her skills under Uma Durga, an eminent pupil of Pandit Durga Lal.

In 1985, Nighat Chaudhry represented Pakistan in Seoul, South Korea, where she performed the famous folk legend "Heer." In 1987 she performed in the Great Hall of China in Beijing, and in 1992 in two dance festivals in Bombay.

Sheema Kirmani

Sheema Kirmani was born in Rawalpindi in 1951, living in various army cantonments until eventually her father settled in Karachi. She began learning the piano at a very early age due to her father's interest. Her mother was from Hyderabad, Deccan, and was fond of dancing, so from childhood, Sheema saw musicians and instructors coming and going. Later, when she became keen on dancing, she began to take lessons at Ganshyam's Dance Academy in Ghanshyam's Karachi at the age of 13, eventually becoming a teacher there until the Academy was closed.

Sheema studied Fine Arts for two years at the Gordon School of Arts in London. She enjoyed painting, but her main concern was always dancing. In 1981 she went to New Delhi to study Bharat Natyam and Odissi, two classical dance forms. She began teaching a few students at her home, performing and holding recitals occasionally. She visited New Delhi again in 1985 for six months, then spent a year in 1989 as part of a cultural exchange programme, training in Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, and Bharat Natyam at the Art Kendara Institute under Guru Aloka Pannikar.In 1989 Sheema was invited to participate in the International Choreographers Workshop of the American Dance Festival at Duke University, where she performed and conducted workshops.

For nearly a decade now Sheema and her husband Khalid, who studied drama in London, have succeeded in creating a wider public awareness of the significance of theatre as a powerful and effective medium of communication. They have appeared in stage and television dramas and lent their support to activist theatre groups such as Tehrik-i-Niswan. The couple also started Sau Rang, an academy where Sheema teaches dancing and Khalid teaches drama to students.

Tehreema Mitha

Tehreema Mitha was born in 1962. She received a strict education from the age of seven in the classical dance style of BharataNatyam from her mother and guru, Indu Mitha: who was trained in the Uday Shankar style by Zohra and Kameshwan Sehgal at Lahore; and in BharataNatyam, initially at Sangeet Bharrati, Delhi with Vijay Raghava Rao, later from Shrimati Lalita Shastri (of Kalakshetra, Adyar). Tehreema has taken voice training from Ustad Hafiz Khan of Talwandi Gharana, Lahore.

After a BA in Philosophy and Literature, and a MA in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Tehreema Mitha took up teaching. Her teaching career spanned both the Fine Arts and Performing Arts, besides classes in Painting and Art Theory and History, she coached actors and development workers in the propre uses of movement, drama and dance to enhance their work.

Since 1990, when she was invited to participate in the International Choreographers Workshop of the American Dance Festival held at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, Tehreema has taken up dance as her full-time career. Pioneering modern dance in Pakistan, Tehreema has been choreographing and performing since 1991. In this six year span, she has produced over 30 new dances and the accompanying music, in both her repertoires. Tehreema has performed in Pakistan's major cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, India and China. Throughout, she has continued to teach in Islamabad and as of 1994, has been performing with some members of her student group.

In 1992, Tehreema Aabvaan Dance Productions (TADP) was created, as a non-profit organization to promote and enhance dance and the associated arts in Pakistan. Pakistan's first ever National Dance Festival which toured Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi at the end of 1995, was a brain-child of TADP. The company continues to nurture this and other projects, concentrating its efforts on fund-raising and networking. It hopes to transform the festival into a regular biennial and international event.

While adhering to the basic tenets of BharataNatyam, as choreographers and dancers in Pakistan, Indu and Tehreema have felt the need to bring this classical form closer to home. Thus began a long and continuing experiment of mixing the southern dance technique with the more familiar and -to Pakistan ears- more pleasing music of the north of the sub-continent. Thematically, concepts and stories have shifted away from the Hindu myths -which are alien to Pakistan's predominantly Muslim culture- to more contemporary concerns and issues. By doing so, Indu and Tehreema have sought to imbue BharataNatyam with the spirit of the modern age and its concerns, and to break the barriers of religion and ethnicity.

Tehreema is Pakistan's only avowedly modern dancer and choreographer. She developed the contemporary dance style, which does not conform to any particular modern Western school of dance, to release both her imagination and her dancing from some of the strictures of the classical framework. Experimenting in her daily practice, she has developed her own techniques of modern dance: while the footfall, distribution of weight, posture and movement are clearly rooted in the sub-continent's own indigenous styles (not only BharataNatyam), the choreography is radical and daring with respect to both emotion and presentation.

FOLK DANCES

Folk dances generally follow the cycle of the seasons, portraying the mood and emotions of the people tending the soil, harvesting the crop, and winnowing or processing the yield. In all its varied forms of exultation, folk dancing in the different regions dances of Pakistan reflects the mood, occupation and surroundings of the people. Jhumar and Luddi, for instance, are popular throughout Pakistan.

Bhangra (Punjab)

Do-Chapi/Chap (Balochistan)

There are few traces of weather, harvest or thanksgiving dances among the Baloch. Dances are always collective and associated with groups. The main dance is the Do-Chapi. Men gather and dance, clapping their hands and moving the feet, neck and head to the rhythmical beat of the dhol (drum). This dance is performed mainly for the enjoyment of the dancers; it is not a spectator dance. Balochi women also dance on many occasions. They move in a circle, clapping their hands, but without any body movements such as those in the Do-Chapi.

Jhumar/Ghumar (Punjab and Sindh)

Jhumar or Ghumar (meaning spinning, or going round and round) is danced by the women of Multan, Muzzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, and other areas of Punjab and Sindh. Jhumar is danced in a circle, accompanied by clapping synchronized with the movement of the feet, the swirl of the body and the rhythm of the beat. As the dance progresses, the participants break into different patterns until a crescendo is reached and the circle is re-formed through a graduated process of reversal.

Jhumer is popular among women, but is danced with equal facility and greater vigour by men. The men's version of the dance is different from its feminine counterpart. It is danced on dark nights by the light of flickering torches. The drummer stands in the middle, and the dancers begin their circular movement at a swift tempo, singing in unison. The dance is carried to a terrific pitch, with much stamping of feet, clenching of fists, and waving of arms.

Khattak (NWFP)

Khattak is perhaps the most famous of male folk dances of Pakistan. The colourful spectacle of dancing Pathans has drawn attention of people everywhere in the world. The Pathans are a picturesque people, with their extraordinary qualities of courage, chivalry, determination and simplicity. Their famous dance, Khattak, is essentially a vigorous dance of the mountains and wide open spaces. It is danced with great fanfare during tribal festivities. In earlier times, it was danced before going into battle.

Performed to the rhythm of a drum, Khattak is hypnotic. Up to twenty tribesmen swirl and turn, swishing their sabres to and fro as if preparing for war. The dance originated with the Khattak clan of Pathans, but it has been adopted and developed by other Frontier tribes also. Each clan has its own special variety of Khattak. The dancers' hair is parted in the middle and arranged in a neat bob. They wear embroidered waistcoats over baggy trousers, usually in white, and they tie coloured silk handkerchieves around their wrists while dancing. The main dance consists of numerous variations. The dancers advance in two columns and begin circling round several groups of drummers and pipers, who provide a very thrilling music. The dancers form a number of patterns, sometimes breaking forth in solos and duets. Their swift, gliding movements have interludes of exquisite sword-play.

All this is executed with a perfect sense of rhythm and artistry, combined with fluent grace. Khattak dancers are extremely nimble on their toes. They spin, float and whirl around like a troupe of polished ballet dancers. The drummers and pipers, playing highland tunes, spur the dance onward in a full frenzy of rhythm and music until the dance reaches its climax. The circle grows wider as more and more men join in and the tempo quickens. Everyone joins in; Khattak is a community dance in the real sense.

Kikli (Punjab)

Kikli, usually danced by teenage girls, is very lively in its execution. The dance is performed by two or more girls and consists of a whirling movement to the rhythm of a song known as Kikli. The Kikli song is a simple folk rhyme sung to a fast beat of 2/4, repeated again and again. Often the theme of the song satirizes the in-laws.

Two partners stand facing each other with their arms crossed, their fingers interlocked and the toes of their feet touching one another. Then they stretch themselves backward and begin whirling together in full swing. The dance continues until one of the partners drops out on account of dizziness. Kikli is danced and sung in an atmosphere of great frivolity and cheerfulness.

Leva (Makran)

The Leva was originally performed on festive occasions by the people of the Makran coast. Later, it was picked up by dance groups who performed it in front of the tribal chiefs. Eventually, it was brought to the urban stage and television, where it became the most popular Balochi dance outside Balochistan.

The Leva reflects the graceful movements of the camel and is performed mostly by men. Women dance it only at home. The Makrani people are famed for their love for music and their free expression in their folk dancing.

Luddi (Punjab and Sindh)

The Luddi is danced all the year round by both men and women, but separately. Any kind of celebration, whether a wedding or a victory in a wrestling match, is occasion enough for the Luddi. It is danced more frequently when the fields have been prepared for sowing. The women's version is slower and more graceful than the men's.

To perform the Luddi, the dancers position themselves in a circle, snap their fingers and clap their hands, moving in short jumps and half-turns. They accelerate their rhythm according to the beat of the dholak, an oblong drum. While dancing, they sing a joyful folk song.

Sammi (Punjab)

Sammi is a romantic dance popular with the women of Jhang district in Punjab. This "dance of moonlight" produces an effect of romantic sadness among the spectators. It is usually accompanied by nostalgic songs recalling husbands or fiances who have gone away on long journeys, or unfaithful lovers who have betrayed their love. This is also danced in a circle.

1. Marjorie Husain, Tuesday Review, DAWN, 22 Decmeber 1992.

2. The Nation Friday Review, 17 May 1991.

3. Sarwat Ali, Frontier Post, 1 November 1991.

4. Shahzad Ahmed, Muslim, 4 May 1991.

5. Star Weekend, 17 January 1991.

6. Talat Ahmad, Pakistan Times, 15 March 1991.

7. A. B. Rajput, Social Customs and Practice in Pakistan (RCD, 1977).

8. Folk Heritage of Pakistan, vol. 1 (Islamabad: Institute of Folk Heritage, 1977).

9. Jam Ahmad, The Baloch Cultural Heritage (1982).

10. Pakistan Past and Present (Stacy International, 1977).

11. Syed Arif Jaffery, Transmission of Oral Tradition (1992).

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