Sandhya Purecha is not the conventional classical dance tutor. With a doctorate in the subject, she has seen the dance form evolve and taught these forms to students. She says, ‘Classical dancers do have some restriction, but it is important to define the kind of entertainment one is looking for. Classical dance offers satvik anand'.
Reiterating on the need for change, she says, “I believe people have lost interest in classical dance because performers have stopped evolving.” But she has kept up with the times and focuses on getting the youth interested in classical dance. She says, 'My only goal is to impart a fresh perspective by passing on the tradition of abhinay darpanam and its application in the traditional and contemporary dance'.
'Abhinaya Darpanam' is a unique experiment in bringing on to stage, a presentation that is largely meant for teaching fundamentals in the classroom, and is a welcome experiment. One hopes it will bridge the wide gap that exists between theory & practice. Presenting the Abhinaya Darpanam on stage is to create a well-defined visual dictionary for dancers'.
Sensing Sandhya's passion for dance, her father Sri Virsinha Purecha, who always encouraged and supported her, took her to the folk dance maestro, Sir Ramesh Purav, where she had her first formal training in dance. Realizing her urge to learn more, Sri Ramesh Purav handed her over, in 1978, to his Guru, Acharya Parvati Kumar, to learn classical dancing. Sandhya, to this day, remains truly indebted to her Gurujis for their training and guidance.
Sandhya Purecha took an active part in her Guruji's research work on ‘Abhinaya Darpanam’ and has performed his choreographed version of the text onstage at ICCR Delhi, Krishna Gaana Sabha at Madras, and at venues in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Pune. She simultaneously acquired a Master's Degree in Sanskrit at Bombay University and subsequently a law degree . Presently, she is working on her thesis for a Ph.D in Bharata Natyam, under the guidance of her Guru.
Sandhya has also endeavored to bring about a wider appreciation of the art through seminars, workshops, lecture demonstration and write-ups on dance. She has written a number of papers on various dance topics over the years, Since 1994 she has been demonstrating at the Government Teachers' Training Program at Natyashala on ‘Rasa’ theory and also at various Teachers' Training Programs on aspects of Abhinaya.
She has founded the dance institute ‘ Kala Parichaya’ and has been its Director for the past fifteen years. Today, the institute caters to its students at seven branches in Mumbai and one at Amaravati with eighteen of her students having performed their Arangetram.
Sandhya Purecha has endeavored to maintain a distinct quality of technique and style in Bharata Natyam. Her basic search in the field of choreography has always been to explore and express Indian dance in the contemporary context, to enrich it with notable compositions and a thought-provoking approach. Her innovative efforts in bringing together all seven Indian classical dance styles in the new ballet ‘Ashtanayika’, based on the Natyashashtra, has won her admiration from all quarters. As a practical student of classical Indian dance, Sandhya found it necessary to examine and understand the theoretical basis on which the tradition of dance and the traditional techniques have been built.
Abhinaya Darpanam is a key ancient Sanskrit text for Bharata Natyam. It includes many things pertaining to the tradition of Bharata Natyam which are not even mentioned in other texts. After learning the shlokas of Abhinaya Darpanam in audio-visual form, Sandhya felt the need to co-ordinate the Shastra & Sampradaya. Through her experience in the dance field, she found a big gap between the theoretical tenets and its application into dance practice. Dance students know the shlokas but how to apply them to the traditional repertoire is unknown.
This is her sincere effort to bring the Sanskrit verses from the different treatises onto the stage along with its application into a traditional Bharata Natyam repertoire and fill the bridge between Shastra & Sampradaya.
After years of painstaking effort, her Guru Acharya Parvatikumar has set the Shlokas to music and choreographed them in dance form. He has attempted, with the help of his wife, Smt. Sumati Parvatikumar, to compose the music according to the essence of the text, using appropriate ragas and different jatis of talas to break the monotony of the lengthy text.
The composition of the text has been based mainly on the literal meaning of the words in the Shlokas or the 'Shabdartha' or the deeper meaning or connotation of the words; with the incorporation of the Vyabhichar. Many interpretations of a word or line are possible but on account of constraints of time, only one composition has been chosen for each word or line.
The idea behind attempting work of such a nature is to generate a more serious approach to the study of dance so that a deeper understanding of the theory of dance can lead to a more mature and perceptive level of performance and appreciation.
The method of approach towards the representation of each word of a shloka has been a painstaking and thorough one. The various meanings of a single word have been sought, the appropriate meaning selected and its connotations worked upon. Then after considerable research amon various texts, the appropriate posture has been selected for definite reasons, and along with the posture, the eye, neck, hand and foot movements. The choice of each being carefully analysed and scrutinised before its selection, so that each posture, each hand, foot, neck and eye movement can best enhance the meaning of the word.