Run Riot's Beth Wood chats with Ash Mukherjee on his latest choreography for Akademi's dance production, Song of the City, which celebrates musician, poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary.

Beth Wood: Song of the City was performed at the beginning of August at the Southwark Playhouse, inspired by Rabindranath Tagore, how did this opportunity come up?

Ash Mukherjee: 2011 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Followers of his music and poetry the world over are celebrating this occasion in many ways. Mira Kaushik the director of Akademi wished to mark this occasion as well and asked me to create an experience for a London audience inspired by Tagore. We both wished to do this in an unconventional way and in an unconventional setting and above all in a way that may be relevant to 21st century western audiences, which is exactly what I strive to do with my own work in my company Ash Dance Theatre - Temple dance for the 21st Century.

Beth Wood: When were you first exposed to Tagore and what were your initial thoughts?

Ash Mukherjee: An aunt wanted me to do a turn at a family gathering. But instead of the usual song and dance act she asked me to learn rather a long poem by Tagore. The poem was entitled Vir Purush (The Man of Valour) and was about how a young boy rode on horseback guarding his mother's palanquin from highwaymen. Written in the first person in concise and yet lyrical verses, you can imagine the effect this might have had on a rather precocious boy. It was an exciting but slightly daunting prospect to memorise it all and then recite it with conviction in front of our large and extended family and needless to say I was nervous and felt rather like the boy who stood on the burning deck. I did not have any expectations of Tagore or his work as I was a 6 year old. But I was hooked from the first line. It was so... romantic....and even now, I am a romantic dancer first and then a classical dancer. This poem made me feel brave and chivalrous. And above all it painted a very magical and vivid picture as the story unfolded. It was like being there. It made me want to give it a visual form by creating the ballet or the film version of it. When they told me that it was Tagore who had written it I visualised him to be a 6-year-old boy just like me but dressed like a prince.  I asked to see a picture of him. Imagine my shock when they showed me a picture of a rather Gandalf like gentleman in long flowing robes and a great white beard wearing a Fez! Looking back at it now, I think yes, I fell for it, I completely believed him. And I think that's the true test of a great artist.

Beth Wood: What influence has he had on your own work and on this piece?

Ash Mukherjee: His pioneering spirit has influenced me. But above all it was his elegant and magical style. I feel Tagore in his infinite wisdom could see beyond the illusions of the mundane. He went beyond society's expectations. He could tell the difference between everyday reality and everlasting truth. Tagore wanted to experiment, his nature was playful and in his songs especially there was a hybrid and seamless blend of Bengali music tradition with Hindustani, Carnatic classical, Indian folkloric, and even western music technique and practice. He had the rare combination of being a Renaissance man and being well trained in the arts along with having a shaman like quality to channel truth, magic and beauty in a truly joyous and calm manner.

As far as I am aware, nobody was doing anything like Tagore in India, or maybe even the world at the time, and in such a vast scale. He wrote around 2230 songs along with countless poems, short stories, novels, plays, operettas and dance dramas. We always felt, if there is an emotional situation, Tagore had written about it and in a way that was unconventional for its time. His poetry hints at an inner divinity and rebellion against religious and social orthodoxy. For me, he was part of the movement in Bengal that promoted individualism and free thought. His work came from an almost childlike wisdom and was expressed in ways that were simple yet meaningful. Tagore himself maintained that his plays, were plays of feeling.  Now that I am rediscovering his work all over again, I see him hinting of the same high and lows that I experience on a daily basis as a dancer in London who's vision is to present temple dance and its practice in ways that are unorthodox but relevant all the same in society today. When we started creating this piece, I knew I did not want to simply try and imitate Tagore and create movement for his music with tried and tested methods. I feel Tagore would have wanted us to have created something unique and unconventional that came from an authentic place. A piece that would try and engage the audience and portray the emotional truth behind his philosophy and poetry, despite the fact that it is sung in Bengali for Western audiences in London.

Click here to read the full interview
(c) and courtesy: Beth Wood and Run Riot
First published on Run Riot

Click here for more information on Ash's company

Click here for details of tour dates for Song of the City 
The production will return to the Southwalk Playhouse in spring 2012.