Swati Youth Dance 2014

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Interview with Nicole Battelle Van Hook – Whispers the Paper BalletJane Cuppage asks the sculptor about her paper ballerinas

Nicole Battle Van Hook is a paper sculpture artist

who specialises in full scale sculptures depicting

dance in all its forms. Her creations pay homage

to famous ballets, theatre productions and flights of

her imagination.

Is ballet your favourite dance genre?

I love any dance style that combines strength and grace,

and of course, passion. I am very drawn to the storytelling

in ballet; I am a romantic at heart and I love movement.

How did sculpting paper

into costumes come about?

The very first sculpture came about

when I was managing a store and we

needed an eye-catching window display.

I created a dress out of discarded

invitations. I was invited to participate

in local design events and I started

creating my paper ballerinas. No one

knew what to make of them at first, but

I kept getting requests to make more.

I love the medium of paper, it is like a

beautiful pas de deux, it marries strength

and fragility, and each cut feels like a

piece of choreography.

How long does it take

to make your pieces?

The full scale ballerinas are time

consuming. Each piece involves

careful planning; a sketch, working

closely with my welder, and paper

selection. Then the cutting and moulding

can begin. Elaborate sculptures such as Odette the

Swan or Frankie the Firebird took months to complete. Photo: Odette the Swan with Swarovski crystals

Can you briefly explain your process?

Usually an idea begins to form and I piece concepts together.

I share my concept and sketch with my welder; he then

creates the base to my specifications. I start selecting papers

and an overall texture. Then the cutting and sculpting begins.

I like to work with glittered pieces and crystals. Part of the

magic of watching a live performance is watching the way the

light dances off the costumes. I love to add in the detail work

whether it’s hand painting an element, adding glitter,

or adding Swarovski crystals.

How heavy are your sculptures?

They vary in weight, most full scale pieces range anywhere

from 100 to 150 pounds. They are created on a metal base

and are quite heavy, however, my pointe shoe sculptures

are very light; three to five pounds.

Other than dancing, do you find this is the best way

to express your love of dance?

My love of dance has always found a way to express itself.

I think in many ways I infuse it into the way I walk, speak,

listen, and carry myself.

How have you transferred your dancing skills to creating

sculptures?

I am not sure I transferred them as much as sculpting keeps

them alive. I often dance a bit while sculpting, it helps the

creative process. I might feel something in a movement; I

may translate that into the placement of a piece of cut paper.

Are your pieces displayed to the public?

Yes. I am honoured and excited by any opportunity for the

public to view my work. I have a permanent exhibition at

The National Museum of Dance in New York.

Have any dancers commissioned you to create a piece?

I am just beginning to delve into that avenue. I think, given an

opportunity to design a piece to emulate the personality of a

specific dancer would be an interesting experience. I design

custom paper pointe shoes to recognize the special moments

in a dancer’s life.

If you could choose a famous dancer to create a sculpture

for, who would it be?

That is a hard question; my initial response will always be

Baryshnikov as he inspired my early stages of art. He inspires

me to this day, as he has found new ways to express himself

through other art forms. Julie Kent is another dancer I would

enjoy sculpting for. I would like to translate her grace and

willowy movements into a piece to pay homage to her

career. I find myself continually thinking about creating

a pas de deux sculpture in honour of the partnership of

Fonteyn and Nureyev.

What advice would you give to others who love

to dance but may not be able to pursue a dancing career?

First and foremost, dance. Never stop dancing, it feeds the

soul and fuels the imagination. It is not important that you

are defined by dance, it is important that you define your

own dance; whether you express dance through art or any

other vocation.

Above: Nicole’s male costume and pointe shoe creations

Follow Nicole’s sculptures and career on her website

www.whispersthepaperballet.com.

Nicole has kindly offered a sketch to give away. If you would like to win

this unique sketch, email marketing@istd.org with your name and address.

Do you have other ways of expressing your passion for dance through

the arts? Why not tell your story in DANCE. Closing date: Monday 31st

August 2015.

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The Classical Indian Dance Faculty

(CIDF) of the ISTD currently offers

certified examinations in the classical

Indian dance forms of Bharatanatyam and

Kathak, and is in the process of developing

examination and certification syllabi in

other Indian dance forms. The Faculty was

established in 1999 as the South Asian Dance

Faculty and renamed in November 2012. CIDF

has been chaired by David Henshaw (serving

1999–2002), Chitraleka Bolar (2003–2010)

and Sujata Banerjee (2010–present).

Bharatanatyam is the sophisticated

inheritor of the codified Dasi and Sadir dance

traditions that evolved over many centuries

in the temples and royal durbars of southern

India. It is hallmarked by its geometrical

positions, extended limb lines, strong

footwork and complex rhythm sequences,

embellished by a ‘language’ of hand gestures

and elaborate narratives conveyed by stylised

expressions of body and face.

Kathak originated as a danced story-

telling form in northern India in the

precincts of Hindu temples, acquiring in

Mughal courts its now signature flourishes

and charisma: subtly held body and limb

lines, and a delicate expressiveness of face,

showcasing a lyricism studded by bursts of

intricate rhythmic patterns executed by fret-

like footwork, fleeting arm movements and

spins, punctuated by dynamic stillness.

Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancers

require, respectively, knowledge of classical

Carnatic and Hindustani music from

southern and northern India.

The development of Indian dance in the

United Kingdom

Over a period of a little more than 150

years, Indian dance in the UK has made a

stimulating and substantial journey. It has

developed from being exhibited as an exotic

artefact of the ‘jewel in the crown’ that was

The Classical Indian Dance Faculty historyThe fifth in our series of faculty histories

Above: The 2012 Misrana finale –

all the participants at The Lowry

“Indian dance in the UK has made a stimulating and substantial journey”

Left: Swati Youth Dance performing

at U Dance 2014 at the Nottingham

Playhouse. The festival celebrates

the talent of young dancers from all

overthe country

India, to becoming an established and exciting element of the

contemporary British dance scene.

In 1838, traditional Indian temple dancers or devadasis

appeared in performance for the first time in Europe at

the Adelphi Theatre, London. Between the 1920s and 1960s,

a number of non-devadasi modern, professional3 Indian

dancers were presented and feted in the UK and Europe.

These included Uday Shankar, Ram Gopal, Ragini Devi,

Mrinalini Sarabhai and Indrani Rahman. Gopal’s was among

the early attempts to set up a fully-fledged Indian dance

school in London but it did not take root. By the mid-1970s,

however, when Naseem Khan’s seminal report on British

ethnic minorities’ arts was commissioned and published

(1976), there were a significant number of immigrant teachers

from the South Asian diaspora running thriving ‘Indian

classical dance’ classes in the UK, and during the 1980s

these dance forms, their performers and schools became

extremely popular.

By the 1990s, Indian dance in the UK was firmly embedded

in the ‘contemporary’ dance category in arts policy, and, for

inclusivity reasons, officially and widely called ‘South Asian

Dance’. Thereon, the ethos of contemporary dance impacted

on the genre(s). For example, ‘hybrid’ works (that is, those

which drew upon mixed dance techniques and styles) were

being created by choreographers, heralded by Shobana

Jeyasingh. Jeyasingh, like other artists who followed her, was

trained in but contested the strictures and structures of

classical Indian dance. These new and exciting works attracted

attention and were offered public funding. Nevertheless, vast

numbers of South Asian-origin British youngsters continued

studying Indian classical dance as ‘authentic’ forms of their

cultural heritage, and these forms were holding fast to their

place on the world stage.

The story of the Faculty

In 1996, the dance organisation Akademi, under the artistic

directorship of Mira Mishra Kaushik, sowed the seeds for a

South Asian Dance Faculty of the ISTD. Explaining her

impetus, Kaushik has said: “By 1995–96, South Asian dance

was beginning to flourish [in the UK] and bring many South

Asian qualifications [and] imported systems [which] suffered

from out-dated syllabi irrelevant to the British education

system and incoherent assessment infrastructures” (Akademi

2009). Encouraged by Mike Browne, the ISTD’s Chief

Executive at the time, Akademi created, funded and managed

a three year syllabus research project, led by Sushmita Ghosh.

It involved consulting over a hundred teachers of classical

Indian dance in the UK and abroad, and sampling their

existing curricula. Akademi offered to the ISTD proposed

Kathak and Bharatanatyam syllabi devised by Ghosh and

Pushkala Gopal, respectively, and helped recruit David

Henshaw as Founding Chair of the South Asian Dance

Faculty in 1999.

Under Henshaw’s championing and meticulous

chairmanship, the Faculty Committee commissioned Ghosh

(Kathak) and Nina Rajarani (Bharatanatyam) to fine tune the

syllabi and formulate specifications in line with the ISTD’s

pedagogical and examination systems. CIDF acknowledges

the contribution of many teachers from within and outside

the Faculty to this significant endeavour. Examining in

Kathak and Bharatanatyam started in 2001 in various regions

of the UK, with expansion by 2014 as widely as Amsterdam,

Dubai, Johannesburg, Toronto and Seattle. In 2012, the CIDF,

in the way of ‘coals to Newcastle’, presented its examination

curricula and criteria to dance teachers in Mumbai and

Delhi – the first initiative in India for the ISTD. Hosted by the

British Council in the two cities, the reception was warm,

with teachers asking for examinations, especially at the

professional conversion level.

In 2009, CIDF celebrated its 10th anniversary with a

ticketed showcase entitled Misrana at the Queen Elizabeth

Hall, London, featuring its top-graded ISTD-examined talents.

Misrana now takes place at regular intervals. Of special

note have been the Faculty’s popular classical Indian dance

teachers’ forums, started in 2010, and held regularly in

various cities with local partners. These invite both members

and non-members to expand their teaching skills, create a

supportive network and recruit non-members to the ISTD

way of dance teaching and examining. Another feature is that

the Department for Education’s national Centre for Advanced

Training programme in South Asian dance takes into account

applicants’ CIDF grade level achievement. In 2013, CIDF had

the special honour of bestowing the ISTD’s rare International

Fellowship award on the Kathak maestro Pandit Birju

Maharaj, whose Ang Kavya text is prescribed reading for

CIDF Kathak examinations. Dubai hosted the largest

CIDF examination to date with approximately 130

candidates for Kathak.

Above: Laban Theatre Congress 2008

Dancing forward

Bharatanatyam and Kathak have taken root globally,

spearheading the spread of other Indian dance forms. Their

traditional ethos, pedagogy, and customary practices, such

as the lack of insistence on warm-up and cool-down, have

also migrated alongside. Some of these practices, if not

adapted to new geographic and cultural climates, might

arguably endanger students and teachers on health and

safety grounds, while adherences to other traditions may

restrict these practitioners from flourishing by engaging with

others in the dance sector with confidence and agency. It is in

this context that the achievementand mission of the Faculty

is significant. The CIDF respects and embraces traditional

techniques, repertoire and wisdom, while incorporating

in its pedagogy and vision updated practices that foster

understanding, talent, curiosity, responsibility, growth, safety,

creativity, confidence, agency and, above all, the promotion

and enjoyment of proficiency in dancing.

CIDF keeps abreast of changes in the UK’s official

educational qualifications requirements, updating the

syllabus and specifications to ensure that students and

teachers are kept up-to-date. Three revisions completed

by Faculty members have been undertaken to date. This is

all part of the Faculty’s aims, identified by its Chair, Sujata

Banerjee, as seeking “to advance our members’ teaching

success, and grow our membership at home

and internationally”.

Chitra Sundaram

“The CIDF respects and embraces traditional techniques, repertoire and wisdom”

ERRATUM

We apologise for the incorrect

caption that was published

alongside this photo in last

issue’s feature. It should have read:

Josephine Bradley with Frank Ford

in 1930.