The trend of elaborate dance shows has been ruling for a while now.
Hundreds of dancers on stage, in colour coordinated vibrant cloths, with
extravagant props, accessories and styling. Well, putting all this together is
a Hercules task and there is one maverick who does it all with ease. I am
talking about the very creative Mr. Ankur Pathan, who is a folk dancer,
choreographer and today a renowned show director, who with his show
expertise of stage craft, light design and set design has been presenting
the most memorable shows by the Government on India.
Ankur’s name is a part of Asia book of records, India book of records and
Guinness books of records. He was awarded with the National Award in
2011, Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Kalakar Puraskar, Event Management
Federation Award in 2014, 2015 for the use of technology in folk. We all are
aware that Garba is going to be soon announced as a UNESCO World
Cultural Heritage, as an Awardee in folk, Pathan will soon lead the dance
performance at the announcement. I met with the distinguished artist,
excerpts from the interview:
Tell me about you dance training and your early days of dance?
I started my career as a dancer with Aavishkar Academy of Performing Arts
in Ahmedabad. I attended umpteen workshops with authentic Folk and
Tribal Performers at their homes, schools and institutes. I am happy to
share that I visited 34 countries through ICCR and also several parts of
India through Zonal Centres. My folk dance took me to every corner of
India and most beautiful places in the world. My initial days of dancing,
performing at various stages are something that molded my mind to what it
is told.
Why did you choose folk dance as your career?
Oh! I can go on and on about my love for the folk dance art of India. But the
most important thing I feel what attracted me and made me choose folk
dance as my career is the power it brings. Folk dances are filled with
energy not just normal energy but high voltage energy, it has varieties of
colors, the instruments are popular as well as some very rare ones, the
music is soul touching and the purity that it holds can never be matched
with any other art form.
They say the world of dance is more for the ladies, how do you feel
being a man in the world donimated by women?
Well not going to lie, indeed it is! Every moment is challenging, you need
to be excellent in your merits and perfection but to be precise in my field
there is space for both, it is welcoming to both males and females. For
example, Garbo is for only females and Garbi is for only males and then
there is Raas where both males and females come together and perform
for lord Krishna and Radha. So we can find a good balance if and only if
the art is pure and kept unpolluted.
You are one of the favorite dance show directors for stage shows and
events organized by the Government, which has been most
memorable and why?
I literally have a long list, a never ending list of memorable events and
shows that I have choreographed, well picking up a few is going to be a
task. But nevertheless I will be mentioning a few of them that I found to be
extremely satisfying. ‘Statue of Unity Launch’, with 800 musicians and
dancers from various parts of India, maintaining a common rhythm and
variations in other instruments, I can still hear the sounds of it. ‘Vibrant
Navratri’ in 2014, a multimedia spectacle in multilevel stage with all types of
special effects on stage, with 400 local dancers which included their Arial
fight, Arial Raas in sky above 200 ft from the ground which was the
highlight of the event. ‘Swarnim Gujarat’, a Government of Gujarat’s
celebration at Sardar Patel Stadium in 2010, co-ordinated and
choreographed the mega event with bollywood choreographer Chinni
Prakash ji and Rekhaji, plus managed 6000 dancers for 1 month with
rehearsals and then the show itself was the first of Indian events, before I
did the commonwealth games opening ceremony. Then there was
‘Namaste Trump’, the 8 km long road show of the US President with 2000
Dancers and cultural folk performance in the stadium in front of over two
lakh crowd, was unbelievable moments for me. Oh Sandip! I better stop
now, I can go on and on. This even makes me emotional, it is almost like
planning a baby and seeing it being born, totally an unbelievable feeling.
Tell me more about your recent show of Gujarat Day and what is next
in your pocket?
My most recent one is again for the Gujarat government, where I designed,
choreographed and managed Gujarat Government State Level celebration
of Gujarat day, I took place at the beautiful city of Jamnagar, here I worked
with 90 percent of local dancers and drama artists, on 12 different level
stages. Next for me is The G20 summit at Gandhinagar and in Diu which I
am currently focusing on.
How do you feel when folk dance and dancers are treated differently
to the classical ones?
There are a lot of differences, it is painful not only for me but also for my
late Guru Bansi Kaul ji. One dance type (Folk) is ground rooted and the
second one (classical) is sophisticated and the treatment given to both are
also the same, which does hurt, pierces like an arrow right into the heart.
The beauty of folk dances is its purity, colorful costumes, rhythm, music,
and energy of performance. Which should not be taken as a difference in
treatment.
