Dasiyattam and the
first professional performances by an Indian dance troupe in Europe - 1838
1838 was a year of many events, some routine but some of
greater importance. For example it was the year when the world’s first
photograph of a person was taken by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of the
Boulevard de temple. It was of a person in a top hat, getting his shoe shined
at the corner. It was also the year when The Times of India, the world's
largest circulated English language daily newspaper was founded as The Bombay
Times and Journal of Commerce. The Morse code had been invented, Queen
Victoria’s coronation took place, proteins were discovered and the Duke University
was established here in N Carolina. On the colonial end, the French were
negotiating with India on new slaves for Mauritius after a British ban on
slavery. The British were not too happy either, for they had lost the first
Afghan War. The French presence in India was miniscule, with just Pondicherry
near Madras and Mahe in Malabar.
But this is not about all that and traces the travails of a
young girl called Ammani, starting at Pondicherry and across the seas to France
and other European cities.
At Tiruvendipuram or Tiruvaheendrapuram - 6 leagues away
(33km) from Pondicherry, ceded to the British (In 1712, by the Raja of Ginjee)
by its previous rulers and now in the Cudallore Taluk, the Tengalis and the Vadagalai
sects were feuding as usual, and the priests of the Devanatha temple would soon
be asked to intervene, as it had high standing in the South Arcot district. The
2000 odd year old Devanatha Vishnu temple planned and developed by Adisesha and
dating back to the period of the Chola ruler Vikrama, was busy and as usual,
during prayers, the singers sang devaram while the dancers danced (like many
other Vaishnavite temples, this one too had a number of temple dancers and
singers in their payroll).
As I mentioned previously in the article on the Tanjavur
Quartet, the history of Devadasis is very often misunderstood and confused with
anglicized definitions of courtesans and prostitutes due to the influence of zealous
missionaries of that time. But I will not get into that study as yet, let us be
content with the fact that these dasis in the service of the lord actually sang
and danced (let’s not dwell upon other aspects of their decadence, as yet).
Their dances were usually conducted in temples and palaces, to the
accompaniment of Devaram singing set to ragas or older panns. The 1800’s were a
period when the Devadasis were decried, stigmatized and their art forms
derided. Their nautch (Natch in Hindi, anglicized) dance otherwise known as
dasiyattam was on the chopping block. Father away, in Tanjore, the Quartet had
finished laying the margam for the new attam, (known today as Bharatanatyam)
and some dancers were slowly adapting to it. However the musicians in
Tiruvendipuram were perhaps slow on the pickup of new instruments like the
violin. In any case, Ramalingam a nattuvanar of the area, continued with his
old methods and managed his small troupe ably.
The nattuvanar, most usually male, was integral to a dasi’s
performance, he was the troupe conductor and dace choreographer who also knew
the music aspects intimately. His nattuvangam involved playing the cymbals,
holding the rhythm with jatis (tha dhi dhinna…), sometimes singing the song and
controlling the laya or tempo of the dance. Now as you can imagine this was a
tall task and required one to know and master so many sub arts, so it took a
long time for one to become a nattuvanar and not many made it. And dasis were
also particular, for the dancer needed to be familiar with the style of a
nattuvanar before performing with him, so this led to creation of teams
performing dasiyattam or in later days Bharatanatyam.
His troupe comprised himself, Ramalingam Mudaliar, Tillammal
the Taikelavi in charge of the girls aged 30 (perhaps 50 in reality), a Thooti
player and singer Saravanan, a maddalam player Devanayakam and three young
dancers. The dancers were Ammani aged 18, two sisters Sundaram aged 14, Rangam aged
13 and accompanied by a little understudy aged 6, Ramalingam’s granddaughter
named Vedam. Tille was apparently the mother of the two sisters and Ammani her
niece.
Whether they expected the invitation from the French in
Puducherry is not clear, but it came like a bolt from the blue and was fraught
with all kinds of danger and social issues. It involved crossing the seas to
France and Europe and spending a period of 18 months singing and dancing in
those unknown places. It also involved crossing the oceans. The troupe acceded
to the request, perhaps due to economic hardship or some other reason such as
repression by the British. Much effort was put in to secure their release from
temple services and eventually they reached the French Notary’s office to sign
a well preserved contract, written in French. The event organizer or promoter to
acquire their services was one EC Tardivel who had come all the way from France.
Tardivel had decided to bring these exotic dancers (by this
time the Portuguese term Bayladeria or female dancer shortened to Bayaderes was
used to signify Devadasis) after he felt a certain interest among the French
populace to see these dance forms of the orient. Marie Tagiloni, the ballet
dancer had already portrayed the part of the temple danseuse in her act.
As events would transpire, the agent in Pondicherry (One
Kanakambaram) established contact with Ramalingam and worked out a contract
agreement. A decent contract, it was clear in daily and starting/ending
emoluments for each member, other allowances, facilities offered as well as
penalties for any girl falling pregnant (they would be sent home without any
share of the profits).
Interestingly you can see that the girls were literate,
they signed their names in Telugu (Saravanan signed his name in Tamil). The
contract period was 18 months from the date of embarkation, free travel and
maintenance, and not including per diem, a sum of Rs 500.00 per head in addition
to an advance payment of Rs 500.00 per head, all in all a handsome compensation
in those days.
A report in the ‘Word of fashion’ dated Sept 15th provides
some more details. Tillamal the taikelavi, was not happy about the young girls
leaving, even after signing the contract. A lawsuit threat however brought her
to her senses and she acceded. A Brahmin boy besotted (one sided attraction
apparently) with the pretty lass Ammani came to the harbor with entreaties for
her not to leave and even jumped into the water, but eventually swam back
ashore after the ship departed. The girls were nonplussed, proved to be merry
on the voyage, even though the men were melancholic and seen praying often.
They arrived in Bordeaux on 24th July 1838 after a long
voyage, and at this juncture one may of course wonder if the members ran a risk
of losing caste as a sea voyage would typically entail. Perhaps the
purification costs were part of the remuneration, perhaps they were already
excommunicated and lost their temple positions.
The group are soon reviewed, with reports on their looks,
likes, dislikes, food and manners. Tillammal is considered surly, one who has
surpassed the love of men, one who never smiled. Ammani from the outset is
hailed as the perfect creature, noble and gentle. Vadyam, Vedam or vaidyam, is
cast as an impish tot. They are shown around Paris, and eventually quartered in
a little bungalow near the Seine with a guard in front, lest they be kidnapped
or people climb over the fence. Some even suspected that they were imposters and
Ribaud even rubbed their skins to check if the black would come off to ensure
they were indeed from India. The French who had until then seen a localized
version from Tagiloni, were all agog seeing this entourage.
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier a French poet, dramatist,
novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic was the person who got much
involved with the press portrayal of the Bayaderes, for he tracked their
performances and was smitten by Ammani. Perhaps he was already influenced by
Baudelaire about the greatness of the Orient and mentioned India in his
writings, though he had never visited the country. As Figueira puts it – He
found their dancing an endless enchantment, with his poetic fantasies coming to
life. Interestingly, Ammani impressed not only Gautier, but also his friend
Gerad de Nerval who mentioned Amany often in his works.
We get a nice description of Ammani from Gautier who met
them at the cottage for a private performance – He mentions the olive gold
color of her skin, silky rice paper texture to touch, rounded hips, pure in
blood compared to the mixed European, oval head, straight nose, pointed chin,
low cheekbones, lovely face all in all with a true small mouth. The eyes are
simply beautiful, ecstatic languorous and voluptuous and a half smile completes
a glorious look. Huge pendants, adorn her ears and the holes still leave a gap,
where one could insert a thumb. The lobe top is riddled with openings plugged
with small wooden bits for keep it open. In addition, what upsets them all, the
left nostril was pierced and a diamond ring inserted. Two or three copper bangles are seen around
her wrists; the upper arm is fitted by a kind of bracelet of an inverted V
shape. She wears a sari and between her blouse and pants, the space showing
bare flesh is much appreciated. Amber and sandalwood incense smells complete
the experience.
A lot of mysteries are cleared here, that dasiyattam dancers
were not bare breasted, that they wore their hair in a bun behind and that they
wore white saris for the dance. They were dressed a little differently in the
sense that they had dancing pants on, North Indian style under the sari. The
thootti provided the sruti, which the French found boring (Gautier mentions
that the music is soft and only enjoyed if the dancers are dancing round you)
and a monotone which it is supposed to be, since its holes except for one are
plugged. Some of the songs used were dreamy, and light (lilting Devaram –
tevaram verses). The dance itself is very original and involves much eye and
head movement, and steps in synchronism with the drum beats and cymbals used by
the musicians. The last number, perhaps a tillana or a kummi is similar to a Celtic
waltz.
The public performances in August that year got tongues to
chatter in Paris. The playbill details the events - A salutation, Robing of
Shiva, Dance of the melancholy, The doves and the Malapou. The dancer’s days
were full and no less than two dozen performances were completed in a month,
spanning the theaters of Paris, Versailles and Tivoli. Many articles are
testament to their popularity and Ammani’s (known as Amany, Ammale or Amani to
the press) statue was soon cast in bronze by Jean August Barre. The statue
itself is interesting. As you can see below, an early sketch of the same shows
her wearing an Andhra style checkered sari, while the bronze statue is a mirror
image of the former. Perhaps Barre made a set of two, I am not sure.
A report in Le Figaro 27th August stated - the
ticket sales for the shows set a record and they were sold out days in advance
with the result that the season was extended. The Bayaderes it seems took Paris
by storm – for the Figaro report says - One finds the word ‘Bayadère’ printed
and lithographed everywhere; paper, marble, cloth and plaster reproduce their
names, their traits.
Nevertheless, the music is not considered great and is
remarked as somewhat primitive. Hector Berlioz states (translation by Inge Van
Rij, acknowledged with thanks) - I don’t
know if you still remember the peculiar music that accompanied the movements of
the Indian bayadères who appeared, around ten years ago, at the Théâtre des
Variétés? It consisted of some faint sounds murmured in a low weary voice by
those of the bayadères who weren’t dancing; chanting that wavered exclusively
on the minor third, around a single tone, continuously sustained by a fife into
which an Indian blew, while the rhythm of the dance was marked with the fingers
of his right hand on a small drum. If someone had told us that the flute of the
Indian musician only produced a single note that was prolonged indefinitely
like the buzzing of a wasp, and that his drum only produced a feeble and muted
sound, comparable to that obtained by lightly hitting the fingers against the
body of a hat; that the bayadères, in the supposed song that accompanies their
dance, contented themselves by murmuring every now and then, in an undertone,
some words on the note prolonged by the flute of their musician, while
embellishing only as required this note by means of two other sounds that form
with the main sound the interval of a second or minor third, like la la la—ti
do, la la—do ti do la, and continued in this way for an hour, most likely we
wouldn’t have wanted to believe it.
It is almost clear that the performance had a Vandanam or
invocation, Jatiswaram, Varnam and a Tillana. Perhaps the small girl performed
a Padam.
Athanaeum - Paris, Aug. 1838. A performance before the monarchy - the Bayaderes whose performance at
the Tuileries, before the Royal Family, is elaborately discussed this morning
in the Journal des Dibats, after that journal's most flowery fashion. These
nymphs are five in number….. While dancing, they are accompanied by three male
musicians, of an inferior caste, each of whom bears his part on an instrument
of but one note; the band consisting of a tiny pair of cymbals, almost hidden
in the hollow of the hand, a pipe, and a tamtam. ………… But, nevertheless, their
dancing and their costume, as first displayed to a select set of connoisseurs,
underwent considerable modification and veiling before they were exhibited to
royalty. On the former occasion, the breast and shoulders were closely covered
with gold tissue, and immense petticoats perfectly concealing the shape were
gathered round the hips, but all between these two masses of drapery lay bare.
To present thus the torrid zone of the human form at court and upon the stage,
was pronounced not comme il faut; when, therefore, they danced before Louis
Philippe, the Bayaderes were totally enveloped in scarfs.
The writer questions - Everyone in Paris, however, will go to see them once, which will suffice to make their trip lucrative. But, after all, was it fair in M. Tardivel to kidnap these poor creatures, and bring them to Europe, where they must lose caste, and where their devotional pirouettes can only last as long as other nine days' wonders?
Yates’s son explains what happened next (though I do not
believe they lost any money in the bargain since all shows were full) - On one occasion a rumor reached London that
a great success had been achieved in Paris by the performance of a set of
Hindoo dancers, called "Les Bayaderes," who were supposed to be
priestesses of a certain sect; and the London theatrical managers were at once
on the queue to secure the new attraction. Three of them—Laporte, of the
Italian Opera; Alfred Bunn, of Drury Lane; and my father set out for Paris much
about the same time; it was diligence-traveling or posting in those days, and
the man with the loosest purse strings went the fastest. My father had
concluded his arrangement with the "Bayaderes" before his brother
managers arrived in Paris. Shortly afterwards, the Hindoo priestesses appeared
at the Adelphi. They were utterly uninteresting, wholly unattractive. My father
lost £2000 by the speculation; and in the family they were known as the
"Buy-em-dears" ever after.
The dancers thus moved on to perform at the Adelphi in
London where mixed reviews came out. Some liked it, but many did not.
Finally we get a decent description of the dances as
understood by the western eye from the Spectator V 11- First, the two young girls, Sundaram and Rangam, advance, and their
performance maybe regarded as a type of the rest; for though slight variations
of action distinguish each dance, the general character of the style is the
same in all. They keep time to the music with the simultaneous movement of
every muscle in their bodies and limbs, rolling their lustrous black eyes, and
muttering a low chant incessantly, like beings under the influence of some
magic spell. Their motions are not so violent as to seem to require effort, and
are entirely free from contortions; yet, notwithstanding the air of Oriental languor
and repose, the muscular energy that is thrown into every movement makes the
process exhausting; and on one occasion we detected what appeared to us an
indication of fatigue on the part of one of the girls, attended with a
momentary pause, which the other seemed to recognize; and the final salaam,
when they bend themselves almost double, the hands meeting over the forehead,
seemed a welcome relief. They scarcely stir from the place they occupy, and
their principal bodily movements consist of turning round and crouching down,
and in this position throwing out first one leg and then the other, resting on
the heel: they use the heel as much as the toes. The prevailing movement of the
arms is horizontal, crossing the face, and seeming to touch the nose; the long
slender arms, and taper fingers pointed with sharp nails, darting to and fro
with angular action. There is very little if anything of flowing and serpentine
movement of the limbs: nearly all is abrupt and rectilinear, but continuous.
The inflections of the body are graceful, but its twining’s are not developed
by corresponding movements of the limbs: one action resembles the effect of a
choking sensation ; the upper part of the spine curving, the head poking
forward, and the eye-lids and brown being drawn upwards. This dance is called
"The robing of Vishnu “ The pas dc deuz concluded, the sweet little Vedom
performs an elaborate dance of less violent action, termed “The Salute to the
Rajah;" her brilliant eyes and teeth of dazzling whiteness seeming to
light up her infantine countenance with pleasure. The tall graceful AMANY then
steps forward, with a melancholy aspect, and an air of languishment, and rolls
her lustrous eyes, that seem suffused with sorrow as if they would literally
dissolve with melting tenderness: her movements are more grave and slow, for
she is performing “The Widow's Lament;" and she chants audibly a measured
strain of woe. The matron TILLE, who all this while has not ceased waving the
horsetail fan before the image, now resigns that task to the infant Vedom, and
joins Amany, and her daughter and niece, in " The Malapou, or Delightful
Dance;" a sort of Indian quadrille, in which the four performers keep
their respective places, and the principal movement is bending the body from
side to side, and making the arms meet in a graceful curve above the head.
Meanwhile, the two cousins have performed “The Dagger Dance, or the Hindoo
Widow‘s Excitement to Death; " which is of a more theatrical character
than any other, but without the vehement and startling action of
ballet-dancing. A fifth dance, “The Carrier Doves," has not yet been
performed at the Adelphi: this, we suppose, is kept in reserve.
It is clear from the above that many of the moves are from
the dasiyattam routine….
The new sporting magazine was distinctly unsporting - What utter—abominable—inexplicable nonsense.
Yet again, what clear—nice—perfect managerial humbug! It is quite clear that
the blacks will be slaves; Inkle, Mr. Yates—Yarico, Miss Bayadere!— "White
man don't leave me,"—and depend upon it my dear Saundorouna, Ramgoun,
Veydoun, Amany, and Tille,—as long as white man can get one single farthing out
of your dingy persons and most unpoetical postures—white man will not leave
you. Money, and money alone, will, according to the proverb, make the Bayaderes
to go, as well as the mare. The thing is a dead failure as a dramatic
exhibition…………. So disreputable an attack upon the gullibility of the English
public has not been attempted since the man advertised to enter into a quart
bottle, at the Haymarket Theatre—or since Yates proposed enacting the part of
Cassius at Covent Garden! I wish I had my entrance money safely back in my
pocket again.
James Ewing Ritchie wrote - The dancing Bayaderes, who visited London some fifteen years back, were
shocked at what they conceived the immodest attire of our English dames, who,
in their turn, were thankful that they did not dress as the Bayaderes.
Let us look at their daily routine. Quoting the Spectator
v11 - The Bayaderes have not changed
their custom since their arrival in Europe. They live on rice and vegetables,
cooked by themselves. Each morning they rise with the sun, descend to the
fountain, or the imitation of a fountain, which is prepared for them, and there
make their ablutions. They return then to their apartment, and remain there the
whole day. The day is passed in singing or sleeping. They do not know how to do
anything, and they do nothing. But they are gentle and sweet-tempered, and
their indolence does not create either jealousy or quarrels. Their conversation
is as quiet as their manners. It is a kind of whispering, timid and monotonous,
of which their countenance renders the expression more faithfully than their
lips. A day thus passed should be very tedious, but they do not know what ennui
is; and it is quite clear that their health is not injured by that idleness.
The men keep company with them, but at a respectful distance. The law forbids
their approaching or touching the Bayaderes. At night they all lie down to
sleep in the same apartment, upon mats, rolled up in their cloaks; the men at
the top of the mat, the women lower down. In a few minutes all are asleep— for
their simple hearts know no passions—they have neither love our jealousy;
still, Tillé watches over all, and remains awake till they are sound asleep
Others focused on their customs - On the arrival of the Orientals in London, their (oriental) feelings
were greatly shocked at seeing the flesh of the ox (a sacred animal in their
country) exposed for sale, and lying familiarly by the side of unhallowed
mutton. We would ask the concoctor of this piece of romance how it was possible
for the young ladies (never having witnessed the dissection of the beast from
which beef cometh) to discover that the formidable sirloins, briskets, and
steaks before them, belonged to an animal at all analogous to the magnificent
and sanctified ox of their native country? This is drawing the long bow with a
vengeance…………..
Some others opined that it was much better to watch
Taglioni’s or Duvernay’s imitations. The Aldine magazine was forthright - The leading speculation at the Adelphi, this
season, has been the exhibition of the Bayaderes; a failure, we presume, so far
as the treasury of the theatre may be concerned. To us, the dancing of our own
chimney-sweepers on May-day is a thousand times more amusing. Still, as the
bona fide dance of a foreign, remote, and very ancient nation, the display of
the Bayaderes is not without interest.
The London program comprised the acts of laws of Brahma
(actually the play - Widow of Malabar), Robing of Vishnu, Salute of the Rajah,
the Hindu Lament, the dagger dance and the Malapou.
Actors by daylight stated over many reports - At Adelphi, the young women appeared in A
Race for a Rarity, The Law of Brahma; or, the Hindoo Widow, and Arajoon or, The
Conquest of Mysore, whose plots were merely frames upon which to present
occasions for the Indians to dance. The Bayaderes received unanimous praise in
the London press for their exotic dancing and they remained at the Adelphi
throughout the fall. Most of the nobility went to watch it. Some opined that
the dance by Amani should have been done by the whole group, others liked the
dagger dance by Sundaram and Rangom. They received good applause and the scenic
effects of the last two acts great. Lady Morgan, the prince and the princesses
attended. Since the troupe do not touch utensils touched by Europeans, the
entire kitchen of the Yates home is allocated only to the Bayaderes supervised
scrupulously by Tillammal.
Then they moved on to perform at the Egyptian hall,
Piccadilly. The announcement read M.
A conclusion is worth reading - This Hindoo dancing is totally different from either; it is the
pantomime of emotion-exhibiting the flow of soul, not of the animal spirits.
Regarded as one style of the poetry of motion, it is to European dancing what
we suppose the Greek music to have been in comparison with that of modern
times-rude and limited, but withal expressive.
Holloway’s ointment were perhaps sponsors for Yates’s exertions (note that contemporary Swati Tirunal ordered a consignment of 6 jars). An advertisement followed (Fly p23) - Secret of the Elasticity of the Bayaderes -These surprising dancers have astonished the Parisians and Londoners by their unparalleled elasticity of movement. Taglioni, Duvernay, and the Elslers, celebrated as they are, must in this instance give place to their Indian rivals. Now, the question is, how is this accomplished? We must let the public into a secret. There is an unguent in great repute for an immense variety of external disorders, such as gout, rheumatism, glandular complaints, scrofula, wounds, &c, which is also admirable in giving suppleness to the joints land limbs; and, of course, the Bayaderes, at the suggestion of Mr. Yates, were only too happy to avail themselves of its use. The unguent alluded to is Holloway's Ointment…ta ta……
They covered many more parts of Europe, but from some of the
reports, they were not very well received.
Finally let’s get to Strauss and the Indian Galop - The malapua
– malpua delightful dance, a quadrille by the bayaderes …..Perhaps danced to a tillana
at the end of their performance. As the description in the CD explains - In the
summer of 1839, the Bayaderes reached Vienna and performed at the Theater an
der Wien. All kinds of Indian festivals were arranged and Strauss wrote a
composition as well, commemorating the event. Whether he was inspired by Ramalingam’s
Tillana or not is unclear (I doubt it) but he had more success selling it
compared to the Indian troupe who by then were doing dances based on their
managers whims and far from the margam they set out with.
But the Indian Malapou Galop remained – a chirpy piece (hear it by clicking this link) composed in the honor of the Bayaderes which many opine,
had no connection musically to anything remotely Indian.
In all they covered a good distance from Bordeaux to Paris
to London to Brighton, and from there to Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, The Hague,
Rotterdam and Amsterdam. They also performed in Frankfurt, Mannheim, Karlruhe,
Aschaffenburg, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mainz, Weimar, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin,
Potsdam, Wroclaw, Prague, Vienna, Linz, Munich, Augsburg, Stuttgart, Strasbourg
and Bordeaux. I look forward to the works of Joep Bor and Tiziana Leucci who
are working on the project reconstructing their complete tour.
What happened at the end? Did they return and live on
happily ever after? Perhaps, though Gautier wanted his heroine to meet a tragic
end, at least in his thoughts and mind. He mentions that Ammani hung herself in
a fit of depression on a foggy day in London, which was most certainly untrue since
no death record exists of such an event. But Gautier remembered Ammani for the
rest of his life and mentioned her often in his writings.
References
- There is no anachronism: Indian Dancing Girls in Ancient Carthage in Berlioz’s Les Troyens- Inge Van Rij
- Mamia, Ammani and other Bayaderes: Europe’s portrayal of India’s temple dancers – Joep Bor
- Les Bayaderes – Gautier (Le Orient – Tome second)
- The Exotic: A Decadent Quest By Dorothy Matilda Figueira
- Widows Pariahs and Bayaderes – Binita Mehta
- Fifty years of London life: memoirs of a man of the world - By Edmund Hodgson Yates
- Revue universelle: bibliothèque de l'homme du monde et de l'homme Politique, Volume 35 (Pages 201-203)
- Gautier on Dance – Ivor Guest
- Etudes et Recherches Sur Theophile gautier Prosateur – Jean richer
- Translating the orient – Dorothy Matilda Figueira
- Charlotte Ackerman – Otto Muller
Notes
1.
While it is stated in the contract that the
dancers are from Tiruvendipuram which is 6 leagues from Pondicherry and that
they danced for the Perumal temple there, there are some inconsistencies.
a.
The girls are grouped as pagoda Brahmins, but
they are most certainly isai vellalars or kaikolars if they were weavers.
b.
It is intriguing that they were wearing white
clothes, more like Mohiniyattam dancers. Ammani’s dance feature is somewhat
reminiscent of Mohiniyattam.
c.
The contract mentions witnesses from Malabar -
They are Appuchetty and Subramania Pillay son of Parasurama Pilla, Malabar
inhabitants residing in Pondicherry, who are well known to and have accompanied
the dancers. So did they come from Malabar? Was Ammani really Ammini from Malabar?
2.
The Holloway ointment aspect is intriguing. How
did Swati order 6 jars around the same time? Did he hear about it from the
returning dancers, and have it ordered for his own court dancers?
3.
Barre’s statue of Ammani is described as follows
by Sotheby’s - its auctioneers - An exotic statuette of the Indian dancer
Amany, by Barre, portrays her dancing the Malapou, or dance of delight, in a
public performance at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, in August 1838. Beautiful
details such as the coils of her hair and sparkling brilliance of the tinsel
and glass jewelry that adorned her make this a truly sumptuous piece. Signed
and dated 1838, it is estimated to fetch £6,000-8,000
4.
The Otto Muller book provides an interesting
amount of detail of the dances themselves though it is a work of fiction.
Images
-
The Bayadères, Amany, Saundirounn, Tillé,
Ramgoun & Veydoun dancing the malapou, accompanied by the bard Ramalingan
and musicians Saravanini & Devenayagon. By Hamerton, Robert Jacob, courtesy NYPL
collections
-
Other pictures from the web
