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A Conversation with Ileana Citaristi
Introduction
I became aware of Ileana Citaristi's talents, during her 2003
tour of the USA, with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. I was able to locate some
information from her official web site, but as with most artist sites, the
information did not provide an insight into the depth of her commitment to
her art, and her journey with it. Most of it dealt with her achievements
and repertoire.
I have to confess that I was curious and intrigued, as to how and why an
Italian would have bonded to Odissi. I have that natural curiosity for any
passion, but in this case, I thought that her journey must have been an
unusually interesting one. While dance
appreciation/aesthetics is a very new area for me, I was able to see that
her form was as good as any other dancer trained by guruji. Odissi seems
very natural part of her.
Audio Interview
The interview took place in Houston, in the
Spring of 2003 at the home where the dancers were staying. I reviewed the set of
topics with Ms. Ciraristi, and I was impressed by how little interaction was
needed during most of the conversation. She remembered the questions and wove
her responses seamlessly. She was very candid and lucid. It was enjoyable, as
well as an interesting conversation.
She begins with a description of her artistic background in Italy. Her
academic experiences in symbolism and psychology were described next. This was
followed by the journey of her first trip to
India. The second visit to India
came next. We transitioned to her exposure of Indian
dance. The next trip to
India and her Odissi training were described. Memory of her debut performance
was followed by her attachment to
Cuttak. Some time was spent going over her
adapting to a less familiar world. Her journey with Chhau came next. Ileana's
approach to choreography and her repertoire (personal compositions) were talked
about. The Making of a Guru is a fascinating book on the life of Guru Kelucharan
Mohapatra, and also provides insight into the evolution of modern Odissi. Ileana
described the genesis of this work next. She went on to talk about
some of her
projects, institutions and challenges. Activities during a year, especially
highlighting 2003 followed. Presentation approaches to a non-Indian audiences
were discussed, leading into her future
projects. The interview ended with
details of challenges encountered as an non-Indian, in the professional arena .
Click here to listen
to the complete interview.
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Photo Album
I photographed the performance in Houston
and Dallas. The Houston performance was the first time I
photographed a dance. Having seen the performance, and getting a
decent vantage point in Dallas, I think that the Dallas photographs came
out better. This is a subset of the full set. Guruji's photos
will be published at a later date.
Links
Credits:
Indo
American Association (IAA), of Houston Texas for permission to
photograph the Houston performance and publish them
The organizers of IAA, especially Somdutta for arranging the interview
India Fine Arts, Dallas
and COPAA, Dallas (especially N. Tripathy) for permission to photograph
and publish the event
Anita Thakur for assisting with the logistics of the publication.
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The contents of this interview are Copyright © of Amitava Sarkar and may not be reproduced in any form without his prior written permission.
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