NAYAK

The NAYAK live online training course facilitated by BSDC offers international dance professionals the rare opportunity to learn iconic choreographies of Pratap Pawar MBE. This initiative raises critical questions about how we understand and define quality in the arts. By engaging with the profound expertise and artistic mastery of Pratap Pawar, NAYAK aims to transfer this rich legacy to a new generation.

Fostering Respectful Innovation

NAYAK, BSDC’s live online training course is a multi-dimensional ambition that seeks to explore and establish what quality in the arts looks like. The course emphasises the importance of embedding these high standards into practical training, ensuring that next-generation artists are not only skilled but also deeply rooted in the traditions and nuances of their art form. At the same time, NAYAK encourages creativity and the desire to push boundaries, recognising that innovation is essential for the evolution of any art form.

Through NAYAK, participants gain invaluable insights into the complexities of Kathak, learning to balance tradition with innovation. This holistic approach nurtures artists who are capable of preserving the essence of Kathak while also contributing to its contemporary evolution. Thus, NAYAK plays a crucial role in shaping the future of dance, ensuring the legacy of great artists like Pratap Pawar lives on through the creative endeavours of new talents.

Padmashri Guru Pratap Pawar is an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer and teacher, and is one of the world’s greatest proponents of the Kathak form. He is the first disciple of the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj.

His own disciples include Balbir Singh as well as Asavari Pawar, Akram Khan, Riaz Rhemtulla, Sandra La Espuelita, Sheela Kakkad and many others. Known as ‘India’s Divine Dancer’, Padmashri Guru Pratap Pawar is both a master of classical Indian dance and a natural storyteller, who beguiles audiences with his entertaining and accessible presentations of Kathak in its purest form.

Padmashri Pratap Pawar has performed to countless audiences throughout the world in a distinguished career that has spanned six decades and as many continents. He continues to perform internationally today.

Words from Balbir

“

Nayak began as an online teaching programme during the pandemic initiated by myself. The Guru Disciple relationship took on a different role with providing insight, knowledge and technical understanding on how to use Zoom technology for teaching. How to present, on a flat screen, technical material in a different way than it would be performed for 3D effect and learning where face to face was not possible.

For Guru Pawar gaining confidence and knowledge in this as a format of teaching opened up a whole new world of possibilities, reach and impact. I remember him saying he would never have considered teaching online were it not for the pandemic. Now it has become a regular part of teaching and allows for more international connection and geographical teaching across the country whilst being environmentally friendly and reducing travel costs; having people from around the world in the same virtual classroom space. Developing a WhatsApp group to share teaching resources, post footage of practice for feedback and organise practice has become a part of online teaching.

Over the last year BSDC has lead on engaging with a number of artists from the UK and abroad at various stages of careers and varying levels of experience of Kathak and Indian dance to turn learning opportunities into choreography, expression and use of face, hand gesture, musicality and character building.

We hear from Kuldeep Dubey who BSDC has supported extensively in his career path and guided Guru Pawar in teaching techniques online to go deeper into what it means for a Guru Disciple relationship, primarily through an online engagement programme of regular activity, conversation, pacing and development of teaching and performance practice and high quality teaching. Aspects of this intensive approach with Kuldeep and Guru Pawar have been applied to other artists in varying blocks of activity over the last year. It would be hard now to imagine teaching without online activity.

”

Words from a Kuldeep Dubey, a NAYAK Student

English

“

Before I speak about the education I received from my guru, I would like to say that I consider myself very fortunate to have been a disciple of such a great guru, Padmashri Pratap Pawar Ji MBE. It is a matter of great pride for me. To learn any traditional art, a guru is essential, but when a disciple has the fortune of having a guru who himself is a tradition, his future looks extremely bright. Saying anything about Guru Ji is like showing a lamp to the sun.

My education under Guru Ji began in his beloved city of Ujjain. It can also be said that Guru Ji was my source of inspiration to pursue Kathak further; otherwise, dance would have become separate from my life. Along with Ujjain, I had the opportunity to stay with Guru Ji in various other cities across India and learn the traditional knowledge of dance. Subsequently, by Guru Ji's grace, I stayed at his home in London and received invaluable knowledge about dance, music, and the art of living.

Hindi

“

गुरु जी से हुई शिक्षा के बारे में बताने से पहले कहना चाहूंगा कि में अपने आप को बहुत भाग्यशाली समझता हूं जो की मुझे इतने महान गुरु ( पद्मश्री प्रताप पवार जी mbe ) का शिष्यत्व प्राप्त हुआ, जो मेरे लिए अत्यंत गर्व की बात है किसी भी पारम्परिक कला को सीखने हेतु गुरु की आवश्यकता होती है पर जब किसी शिष्य को शुरुआत से ही ऐसे गुरु मिल जाये जो खुद एक परम्परा हो तो उसका भविष्य अत्यंत उज्ज्वल दिखाई पड़ता है, गुरु जी के बारे में कुछ भी कहना या बताना तो सूर्य को दीपक दिखाने जैसा ही है,

गुरु जी से मेरी शिक्षा उनके प्रिय शहर उज्जैन में ही प्रारंभ हो चुकी थी, यह भी कहा जा सकता है कि कथक नृत्य को आगे सीखने के लिए गुरु ही मेरे प्रेरणास्रोत रहे, अन्यथा नृत्य मेरे जीवन से अलग हो जाता, उज्जैन के साथ- साथ भारत के अन्य शहरों में गुरु जी के साथ रहकर नृत्य के पारंपरिक ज्ञान को सीखने का अवसर प्राप्त होता रहा, उसके पश्चात गुरु जी की ही कृपा से लंदन में गुरु जी के घर में रहकर नृत्य संगीत एवं जीवन जीने की कला का अमूल्य ज्ञान प्रात हुआ,

During the pandemic, when meeting in person was impossible, Guru Ji provided training in the core subjects of Kathak dance to numerous Indian and foreign disciples through online workshops. His simple method of imparting his vast experience had an immortal impact during such a difficult time. In these online workshops, I received training on various subjects such as traditional Gat Nikas, Nayika Bheda, Kram Laya, Gharanedar Tode, Parhmelu, and Paran, along with the essence of Kathak presented through Nayak Bheda.

उसके बाद कोरोना जैसी महामारी में सभी का मिलना असंभव हो हुआ तब गुरु जी ने अनेक भारतीय एवं विदेशी शिष्यों को ऑनलाइन कार्यशालाओं के माध्यम से कथक नृत्य के मूल विषयों का प्रशिक्षण बड़े मेहनत उनके ज्ञानानुभव की सरल विधि से दिया जिसने ऐसे कठिन समय में अमरत्व का प्रभाव डाला गुरु जी द्वारा ऑनलाइन कार्यशाला में पारंपरिक गत निकास, नायिका भेद, क्रम लय घराने दार तोड़े, परमेलु, परन आदि विषयों के साथ कथक के मूल को प्रस्तुत करता नायक भेद का प्रशिक्षण प्राप्त हुआ ,

Guru Ji never shies away from completing any challenging task. He undertook such a task 50 years ago with his guru, Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj. The special feature of this creation was the accompaniment of great artists under the music direction of Maharaj Ji, including the late Pandit Durgalal Ji on pakhawaj and Shri Rajkumar Rizvi Ji’s singing. Such a creation cannot be made again. Learning and teaching a composition like Nayak Bheda is extremely difficult, especially since it was online, but Guru Ji successfully trained all the disciples.

For me, learning it was a great achievement because in 2019 I had seen Guru Ji's performance on stage, where I had done the lighting. I had also seen old footage which made me feel that learning this was a dream. However, Guru Ji fulfilled that dream and created a new milestone. Credit for this goes to Guru Ji along with Sunil Bhaiya (Sunil Sunkara) and Balbir Bhaiya (Balbir Singh), whose hard work and supervision ensured the workshop’s success with full dedication. At the beginning of the workshop, I was given the responsibility of Guru Ji's assistant, which was a great achievement for me. However, I also had to learn along with everyone else and provide supporting materials for teaching.

गुरु जी कभी भी किसी चुनोतिपूर्ण कार्य को अंजाम तक पहुचाने में पीछे नही हटते, ऐसा ही कार्य गुरु जी ने आज से 50 साल पहले उनके गुरु पद्मविभूषण पं. बिरजू महाराज के साथ मिलकर किया, महाराज जी के संगीत निर्देशन के साथ महान कलाकारों की संगत इस रचना की विशेषता रही जिनके स्वर्गीय पं. दुर्गालाल जी पखावज, श्रीराजकुमार रिज़वी जी का गायन आदि रहे ऐसी रचना जो अब कभी बन नही सकती, नायक भेद जैसी रचना को सीखना ओर सिखाना दोनों ही अत्यंत कठिन था, क्योकि आमने सामने ना होकर यह ऑनलाइन था ! किंतु गुरु जी ने बड़े अच्छे से सभी शिष्यगणों

का इसका प्रशिक्षण दिया मेरे लिए भी इसे सीखना बहुत बड़ी बात थी क्योंकि 2019 में मैने गुरु जी की मंच पर प्रस्तुति देखी थी जिसमे मेरे द्वारा ही लाइटिंग भी की गई थी, साथ ही पुराने चल चित्र भी देखे है जिसे देखकर ही लगता था कि इसे सीखना एक सपना है, लेकिन गुरु जी ने उस सपने को भी पूरा कर एक नया कीर्तिमान रचा जिसका श्रेय गुरुजी के साथ सुनील भैया Sunil Sunkara ओर बलबीर भैया Balbir Singh को जाता है जिनकी मेहनत और देखरेख में यह कार्यशाला तन- मन -धन लगाकर सम्पन्न हुई, कार्यशाला की शुरुआत में मुझे गुरु जी के सहायक के रूप में मुझे जिम्मेदारी दी गई थी जो कि मेरे लिए बहुत बड़ी उपलब्धि थी, पर मुझे भी सभी के साथ सीखना ही था, सीखने के साथ ही इसे सीखाने में सहायक सामग्री उपलब्ध

This topic is closely related to the essence of Kathak—“katha kahe so kathik kahave” (one who tells a story is called a Kathak), which includes stories, scriptures, the nine rasas, the five elements, and more. In a way, it is a complete Kathak dance. The invaluable knowledge and creations I gained from NAYAK started during the pandemic led to the birth of new compositions in my life, such as the presentation of Ramcharitmanas chaupais, dohas, and chhand in the Kathak style. This knowledge also gave a new direction to my performance of the stories of Ramayana devotees, Bhakta Vatsal Shri Ram, prepared with full live music, leading to opportunities for performances at numerous special ceremonies and stages.

”

कराने का प्रयास मेरे द्वारा किया गया, यह एक ऐसा विषय है जो की कथक के मूल - कथा कहे सो कथिक कहावे ( कहानी कहने वाला ) से जुड़ा हुआ, जिसमे कथा है, शास्त्र है, नवरस है, पंचत्व आदि सब है, देखा जाए तो यह पूर्ण कथक नृत्य है, कोरोना काल से प्रारंभ हुई आनलाइन सुविधा से मिले अमूल्य ज्ञान से और रचनाओं का गुरूकृपा से मेरे जीवन से जन्म हुआ जिसमें कथक शैली में राम चरित मानस की चोपाईयों दोहा छंद पर नृत्य की प्रस्तुति, रामायण के भक्तों की कथा भक्त वत्सल श्री राम, संपूर्ण live संगीत के साथ तैयार की गई आनलाइन कार्यशालाओं में प्राप्त हुए ज्ञान से ही मेरी प्रस्तुति को एक अलग दिशा प्राप्त हुई और अनेक विशेष समारोह एवं मंचों पर प्रस्तुति का अवसर प्राप्त हुआ ।

”

Words by Kuldeep Dubey, Student of NAYAK

Dancers

Kuldeep Dubey
Padmashri Guru Pratap Pawar

Photographers

Kuldeep Dubey
Robert Bloomfield