Tropicana Mar-Apr 2018 #117 Edge of Excitement

THE GAME CHANGER
“When Datuk Ramli first
arrived in Bhubaneswar
in 1976, it was a bare
and dusty city, a wild
contrast to Europe
where he had just
finished a ballet tour
with the Sydney Dance
Company.”
Odissi is the oldest surviving dance form
in India, and a distant precursor to today’s
Odissi was practised in the shrines by female
temple dancers called mahari or devadasi.
The ceremonial aspect of the dance was lost
during the state’s turbulent history with
successive foreign rulers and was replaced
by the gotipua, a traditional dance of Odissi
elements and acrobatics performed by
young boys dressed up as girls. This style of
dancing would have a heavy influence on
what is practised today.
Datuk Ramli’s journey with Odissi
started in Australia in the 1970s. Whilst
studying for his engineering degree and
pursuing a career in ballet, he fell in with
fellow Malaysian student, Zamin Haroon
(who would later become celebrated Indian classical dancer, Chandrabhanu).
One afternoon, while hanging out at Zamin’s home and listening to records,
Datuk Ramli heard his first Odissi song, a track by renowned vocalist
Raghunath Panigrahi, and he was hooked. “ I fell in love with the music first
and it triggered my interest in Odissi,” he says. As a perfectionist, it was
inevitable then that the young Ramli Ibrahim would make his way to Orissa
to learn from the gurus.
“ I met with the great dancer Indrani Rahman who told me that if I was
learning Odissi, I must meet with Debaprasad Das,” remembers Datuk Ramli.
Debaprasad Das is one of the pioneering Odissi gurus in India, known for his
naturalistic style. “ Eventually I met with him in Bhubaneswar. When I saw his
then-student Gajendra Panda performing, I knew that this was the style that
I wanted. I took to Debaprasad and started learning from him,” relates Datuk
Ramli as we settle in for our interview at the spartan reception area of the
Odisha State Guest House, where he has a suite.
When Datuk Ramli first arrived in Bhubaneswar in 1976, it was a bare and
dusty city, a wild contrast to Europe where he had just finished a ballet tour
with the Sydney Dance Company. But he was unfazed. “ There was no culture
shock,” he insists. “ I love the chaos and flexibility of life.”
By now he is comfortable in this city that he regards as a second home,
constantly pointing out landmarks as we travelled around Bhubaneswar. “ The
city has changed a lot since then. One of the differences I’ve seen is that the
city has gone through a greening campaign. It wasn’t so green before. There’s
been a great improvement in town planning here and it’s on the cusp of being
a Smart City,” he says.
In 1982, Datuk Ramli returned to Kuala Lumpur and embarked on a
stratospheric career as an Odissi dancer and choreographer. A part of the
dynamic 1980s arts scene in Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Ramli was certainly a
force to be reckoned with, introducing a little-known Indian classical dance
to Malaysian audiences and single-handedly nurturing it to become a part
that is well entrenched within the local Malaysian dance industry today.
In 1983, he formed Sutra Dance Theatre, followed by the Sutra Foundation
in 2007, under which umbrella he now operates the dance company, an
academy and an art gallery.
TM | MARCH/APRIL 2018
108