Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 28, 2006
Introduction: In her letters and speeches,
La Meri poignantly summarised her life in terms of the Bhagvad Gita, Chapter
Three: "Verse 8 - action is superior to inaction; Verse 9 - perform action
without attachment; Verse 25 - the wise should be devoid of attachment, desiring
only to help mankind... The beauty one sought all one's life is realised in
dance."
Alone and palely loitering behind the glittering
classical dances at the ongoing Festival of India at Brussels is the forgotten
shade that wrote the first modern book on the subject, Gesture Language of
the Hindu Dance. She "was serious and painstaking, the first to found
a serious school for a systemised training of Indian dance, particularly Bharata
Natyam," says dance scholar Dr Kapila Vatsyayan. And 'she' was a beautiful
American.
Russel Merriwether Hughes (1898-1988), born
in Louisville, Kentucky was later known as 'La Meri'. A dancer, poet, writer,
teacher and choreographer of repute, she travelled thrice around the world.
While in India, which she called her 'dreamland',
she managed to learn Bharata Natyam and Kathak from worthy traditional gurus.
She wrought upon dancer Ram Gopal to partner
her and together they set stages ablaze in Europe and America, like Anna Pavlova
did with Uday Shankar. These adventures, after much physical and mental toil,
were achieved when Indian temple dances were banned by the Raj as decadent
and worthless.
Under the aegis of Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, the
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Performing Arts (IGNCA) acquired the
letters, dairies, news clippings and photographs of La Meri for its archives,
collated into a monograph last year.
From these, we learn how she summarised her
life in terms of the Bhagvad Gita, Chapter Three: "Verse 8 - action is
superior to inaction; Verse 9 - perform action without attachment; Verse 25
- the wise should be devoid of attachment, desiring only to help mankind...
For 30 years I have ploughed through a sea of obstacles from simple misunderstanding
and bitchy remarks to sheer unethical dirty work. But I say, 'To the dancer,
the stage becomes the entire universe and by her magic she creates in her
performance the abode of the gods, the beauty and profuseness of nature, the
joy and sorrow, humour and ethos of man. As each muscle and nerve relaxes
after being taxed and stretched to the limit, comes the satisfaction of knowing
that the beauty one has been seeking all of one's life has been realised."'
Others thought so, too. Writer Pearl S. Buck
wrote, "La Meri is doing a remarkable and unique work in using the dance
to interpret people to one another."
And Eleanor Roosevelt said of her work, "The
future of the world depends on our knowing more about each other... and the
arts are the best bridge between people of different races."
Why did La Meri go to all that trouble? In
a lecture in 1943, she said: "If you are asked, what is Indian dance,
the answer is, 'the most complete dance art'. If you are asked, 'why do Indians
dance', it is to worship God. If you are asked, 'what sort of thing is Indian
dance', the answer is 'it is visually beautiful, scientifically accurate,
intellectually complete and spiritually exalted.' If you are told, 'that sounds
like too much for me', the answer is, 'the key to it is in the little games
your mother taught you' (it belongs to all)."
Source: The Life and Times of La Meri, a monograph
by Usha Venkateswaran, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts & Aryan
Books International
