Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Femina Mystica
Femina Mystica was a special event in 'Come to your senses', International Conference on Sense, the Senses and Sensuality. The theme of this programme of dance, music, narration, dialogue, and new electronic media of representation was devotion in India.By R. de Groot
Femina Mystica focused on female devotees to the Divine, in particular the South Indian devadasis (female dancers dedicated to the service to God in temples, active until 1947 when their way of life was forbidden by law) and the North Indian mystic Mīrābāī (16th century, who is still very popular in present-day India reaching across caste, religion, and gender). The form in which God is worshipped by these devotees is that of Lord Krsna (devadasis also know other forms). Since God is worshipped in an often very beautiful form, the senses play a key role; the sensory and sensual being sanctified by this very devotion.'Femina mystica' was a special event at the international conference 'Come to Your Senses', organized by the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, Theory, and Interpretation (ASCA), Cornell University, and Felix Meritis. The event was made possible by the financial support of the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS), the Board of Governors of the University of Amsterdam, and the Musicology Department of the University of Amsterdam. It was a public performance, also open to people who were not participating in 'Come to Your Senses'.
The programme was also a contribution to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of India as an independent state. At the same time it underlined the importance of practising both research and performance at a university, to the mutual reinforcement and amplification of the one by the other.
'Femina mystica' presented traditional Indian arts combined with both new multimedia and Western contemporary music. As a bridge between the two, Saskia Kersenboom performed a puja ceremony.
The programme was performed before a full house, and was well received by the public and the board of ASCA (see enclosed letter).
'Femina mystica' was composed of the following items:
Dance and multimedia. Saskia Kersenboom conducted a tour through the South Indian Brhadisvara temple by means of her recently released CD-ROM Devadasi Murai: 'Remembering Devadasis', while she danced the appropriate devadasi dances herself.
Music. The soprano Lucia Meeuwsen, the clarinettist John Anderson, and the viola player Elisabeth Smalt performed a composition by Rokus de Groot on texts by Mīrābāī 'I Have Torn off the Veil of Worldly Shame'. This composition highlights various aspects of Mīrā's life as a mystic.
Discussion. Burcht Pranger and Rokus de Groot carried on a dialogue about the lives and contexts of female mystics in Western Europe and India.
Exhibition and video. Miniatures of Krsna and his devotees were exhibited in the café of Felix Meritis. A film of Mīrābāī's life by Gulzār (1979), featuring the renowned actress Hema Malini, and Saskia Kersenboom's CD-ROM 'Debvadasi Murai' were played on video.
About the organizers: Prof. Rokus de Groot studied ethnomusicology with Frank Ll. Harrison and contemporary music with Ton de Leeuw. As a composer he is mainly self-taught. He conducts research on the aesthetics and techniques of contemporary composition. His PhD dissertation Composition and Intention of Ton de Leeuw's Music: From an evolutionary to a cyclical paradigm deals with the transformation of concepts from Indian classical music traditions by a Western composer. He teaches musicology at the University of Amsterdam and holds a personal chair at the University of Utrecht, 'Music in the Netherlands since 1600'. He has given guest courses and lectures at universities and conservatories in Western Europe, the USA, Mexico, Russia, India, and South Africa. His recent compositions are based on Mīrābāī's poetry. He published the book Verliefd op de Donkere. Leven en liederen van 7 Mirabai (1998). Dr Saskia Kersenboom has performed widely in Europe and America, and her professional debut was conducted by Smt. Nandini Ramani in Madras. She has taught at conservatories in Holland, Poland, and the USA, and was a visiting professor at the Sarojini Naldu School for Performing Arts and Communication in Hyderabad. Her books on the temple dancers of South India (Nityasumangali, 1984,1995) and their art (Word, Sound, Image, The Life of the Tamil Text with Compact Disc interactive, 1995) underline her commitment to this tradition. At present she is Associate Professor of Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and International Consultant to The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (New Delhi). She has her own dance school, Parampara, in Holland.
Prof. R. de Groot can be reached at
Socratesstraat 5
1064 ZG Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-20-525 4445