A conversation with classical dancer Tehreema Mitha

A Mind in Motion

Tehreema Mitha is among Pakistan’s handful of professional classical dancers. She has trained in the Bharatanatyam style with her mother and guru, Indu Mitha, herself an accomplished performer. Tehreema has performed, trained, and choreographed extensively, both in the United States and in Pakistan. In 2002, she formed the Tehreema Mitha Dance Company in Maryland, where she resides, specializing in classical dance and contemporary, modern Jazz.

NOTE: This interview was first published in the Summer 2005 issue of Chowrangi Magazine.

Tehreema, how were you introduced to Bharatanatyam?
From the age of three, I’ve been watching my mother teach. Wherever we [were posted] (my father was in the army), my mother would start classes. There were always women who were interested, either for their children or for themselves. People are still interested but things were so much more relaxed in those days.

I formally started my dance training [with my mother] at seven. I certainly didn’t think, for a long time, that I would ever have a career in dance.

"The problem of marginalization of Bharatanatyam exists on both sides [of the border]. [For example], a small segment of Indian society has a problem with my doing Bharatanatyam. Firstly, because I am a Pakistani, secondly, I am a Muslim, and thirdly, I am not doing Hindu mythology when I do it. From our side, because of Bharat, [people] think, 'This is all to do with India.'”

How is Kathak different from Bharatanatyam?
[They are] so different that visually, one can tell them apart in two seconds. Some [other] styles are closer [to Bharatanatyam]: Kuchipudi, Orissi, and Mohini Attam.

The whole premise of Bharatanatyam is based on the triangle of the body, whereas Kathak is much more upright and flowing. Its gestures are much softer, hand gestures are not so clearly defined, the elbows are dropped. In Bharatanatyam, the elbows never drop. The Kathak dancer is mostly standing with a slight bend in the knees.Then, there is the difference in instruments. Bharatanatyam is done to South Indian instruments, the mridangam, violin, and flute and vocals set to South Indian raagas. Kathak is done to the tabla and to North Indian music.

The content, however, is very often the same. If you see Birju Maharaj [doing Kathak], he would be doing the same story of Krishna and Radha that is done in Bharatanatyam.

Is Bharatanatyam associated with Hinduism?
All the dance forms that come from the Indian subcontinent [originally] came from Hinduism because that is the area’s oldest religion. All the dances started in temples. But because India has taken the word Bharat, the word Bharatanatyam is automatically linked to India. They call it their national dance.

The problem of marginalization of Bharatanatyam exists on both sides [of the border]. [For example], a small segment of Indian society has a problem with my doing Bharatanatyam. Firstly, because I am a Pakistani, secondly, I am a Muslim, and thirdly, I am not doing Hindu mythology when I do it. From our side, because of Bharat, [people] think, “This is all to do with India.”

If the name causes such controversy, do you educate people on its origins ?
It’s explained on our website and during lecture demonstrations:‘Bha’ comes from ‘bhaav’ (expression), ‘ra’ from ‘raag’ (melody), ‘ta’ from ‘taal’ (rhythm), and ‘natyam’ (drama).

Of course, there is also a belief that Bharat was the author of the treatise from which ancient traditional dance in the area comes, the Natya Shastra.

So the word doesn’t have anything to do with India [in particular], but with our common background [as Indians and Pakistanis].

"If you have something to say, you should dance. I have a lot to say!... If my dance is not saying something about human nature or history and the lives we live, then to me it’s meaningless.”

You have often performed in Pakistan.During General Zia’s regime in the 1980’s, there was a clampdown on dance and music. How did that impact you?
I did my Arangatram in 1986, …when your teacher presents you to the public as a serious student - traditionally,…a two hour solo. I presented mine at The Goethe’ Institut [in Lahore] because we were not allowed to dance anywhere that was considered Pakistani soil. So, we had to ask, beg, the Institut. My mother and I swept the place ourselves to get it ready for the performance.

To perform in Pakistan, you need an NOC (No-Objection Certificate), which is a difficult process. It all depends on which [helpful] police superintendent you know, etc. How often can you go through this?

[Though] we have often had to dance on what is considered non-Pakistani soil, we have never lacked an audience, never had trouble selling tickets. At the same time, there has been absolutely no support from cultural organizations in Pakistan. None! Producing a performance once in a blue moon is not [enough]. You need continuous support for the arts. There is a lot of talk but that’s all it is.

Let’s talk about your dance company here in the U.S. Are you doing a mix of classical Bharatanatyam and modern dance?
Well, let’s clarify one thing, [which I] explain to audiences as well. I don’t do a mixture of modern jazz and Bharatanatyam, [but] two clearly different styles of dance. One is pure classical Bharatanatyam, but done to North Indian music and with our own themes. The other is the contemporary style which is my own. Our performances are not what you [would] call ‘fusion,’ with a little bit of classical and a little bit of modern dance mixed together.When you produce a dance that comes out of you, yourself, and your body, I don’t call it fusion.

Our music, [however], is definitely fusion because we are consciously putting things together [that] don’t belong to the same culture.

How do you select your dancers? Do you have your own musicians?
We have auditions. I have six dancers right now. I would like to add a few more but I am very picky. [Many] dancers find it hard to switch between the two styles. Those who are trained in Bharatanatyam are very often too stiff for anything else. Then people who are trained in modern jazz look at Bharatanatyam and say, ‘Gosh, that hurts!’

I work with different musicians, depending on the type of performance. I usually find them through word of mouth or when I see someone play at a show and like them.

Mostly, for classical pieces the music is pure classical and the musicians and I compose it together. For contemporary pieces, I mostly use classical but sometimes mix it with a folk instrument. In one of the last dances we premiered, In the Fabric of Being,. a dhol is coupled with a surbahar and a dholki is played with the sitar. We have a wonderful time creating the music and we do a lot of new things.

Who are your mentors? Who inspires you?
My mother. She is one of the most educated dancers that I know of, certainly from Pakistan, but even from India. She has done her Masters in philosophy, read widely in both Urdu and English, understands rhythm and music. She [has] a lot of humility. She learned dance pre-partition, initially in the Uday Shankar style, then went to Kalakashetra, came back to Delhi and learned from Lalitha Shastri, the first South Indian dance teacher for Bharatanatyam to come to North [India]. My mother is 75 now…and still teaching.

What is the future of classical dance among the younger generation, both in Pakistan and the diaspora? Is your work appreciated by the Pakistani- American community?
[In Pakistan], if certain people don’t wake up and start finding ways of supporting it, there is no future. The educated, upper middle class are very blasé about what’s happening. With MTV-style [satellite] TV becoming so dominant, classical music and dance are dying. A [recent] new channel wanted to show something [classical]. But if we haven’t nurtured something for the last twenty five years, what do we have to show? Nothing!

[In the U.S.], there are very few segments of [Pakistani- American] society who take dance with any respect. Otherwise it is entertainment [for] a charity show,…to make money,…or to celebrate some particular day. There are a few people in every community who understand…quality dance, and they’ll try to introduce something like our group. But that’s rare.

There are more than enough [teachers in the U.S.]. In D.C. alone, there are many teachers and styles of Bharatanatyam. A few parents have consulted me and I always refer them [on]. Last year, I heard of two [Pakistani] sisters who did their Arangatram with an Indian teacher. They tried to do new things [like] performing to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music.

But we [usually] get e-mails like “I would like to learn to dance in four days” or “I would like you to come and dance at my brother’s wedding.” [People] think that they’ll pay a $100 and you’ll come and dance for half an hour. I often suggest a bhangra group to them because that’s more of what they’re looking for.

I have worked with the Pakistani embassy in the past, [but] they have not been too responsive. The beautiful new embassy, with a courtyard and fountain, looks like a place that’s meant for music. I’ve suggested…beautiful performances [to embassy personnel], with Pakistani musicians who are living right here in the States, but never heard from them.We have a long, long way to go [and] we can’t do it alone. The more we perform the more people will get to know us.

Why is it important to you to keep this art alive?
Junoon hai, pagalpun hay thoda sa (It’s my passion, a bit of madness too). Our dance is very emotional and topic-based. If you have something to say, you should dance. I have a lot to say!

Dance is about more than just love stories. It doesn’t always have to be ‘boy chasing girl’ or the traditional [theme of] ‘Sanyaan mujhe chhor kay chala gaya (My lover has left me).’ That drives me crazy because we are past that stage. We have much more assertive women now. Then, you have the exact opposite, [which is] that everything has to have a feminist slogan. That also I can’t stand because dance cannot be a slogan.

One of the classical dances [I have done] is about the environment. It has a mother and daughter (its one in which my mother danced with me so it’s very precious to me). The daughter says to the mother, “All my life, I have been hearing you tell me about this hill that you lived on when you were a child, the trees that are there, the water that hits the stream, and how you played in it. Well, take me [there] now. I am grown up.” So the mother takes her daughter to this place and she is devastated because the hill is half gone away and the water is polluted and the trees don’t exist anymore.

In the Fabric of Being is a dance about looking at somebody and saying ‘Is there really such a thing as a good person or a bad person?’ Because isn’t it true that both things exist in all of us ?Another is called Ay ri Maan (Oh, Mother). It has a beautiful raag. The daughter addresses her mother: “Mun mora hurly hay. O dukhwa kaa say kahoon ri. (My heart is heavy. To whom shall I tell my sorrow?)” The daughter’s lover has abandoned her and she finally tells her mother, “There is a seed within me. I am pregnant.” The dance is about [changing from a girl] into a woman overnight. Yesterday, she was having a romance. Today she has to make a [real] decision.

If my dance is not saying something about human nature or history and the lives we live, then to me it’s meaningless.

What would you like to say to Pakistani-Americans about supporting your art?
Call us. We want people to understand that to us dance is more than just dancing. It’s a reaching out.