This title, suggesting the coming of age of the thinking dancer, is not
meant to infer that the majority of them don’t think. In
fact, even for a visceral, body-centric art like dance, the cerebral
content has always been amply evident in the careers of most good
dancers, not to mention great dancers like Balasaraswati, Birju
Maharaj, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Padma Subrahmanyam, Rohini Bhate, to
mention only a few. What I am saying is that perhaps this itself, a
new emphasis on thinking about dance rather than just dance, is a
marker of our times. Also, that this process has shown a
discernible, steady and upward growth, specially in the first decade
of the twenty-first century.
Dancers have realised that to compete with or rather stay on the same
course in attention grabbing as some of the other Arts, such as the
visual arts, they too must create an image that reflects their
personality and their artistic vision. They have long known that
classical dance has the substance and possibility to go beyond the
mechanical, ‘by rote’ kind of movement. They have now understood
that, however perfectly done, 21st century dance without evidence of the
thinking cells and the ‘conscious’ sinews, will steadily be at a
discount and unable to attain the gravitas that distinguishes the great
from the good. Even when the well-trained dancer wins ecstatic
exclamations of approval, the knowledgeable sit up only when they find
evidence of a larger, personal vision, of an artiste who knows that
behind those perfectly aligned karanas and taut adavus there has to be
another awareness, an intuitive knowledge that the physicality of the
body must be in perfect sync with a planned, structured, deeply
thought-out, personal style and ‘look.’
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As explained by Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam is an artistic yoga, a
means to reveal the spiritual through the corporeal and the Tanjore
Quartet margam is the space created to divulge the knowledge about the
spiritual self. To elucidate this sequentially:
Alarippu corresponds to Vedanta philosophy. “The Vedanta
philosophy, in one or another of its forms is closely bound up with the
religion (bhakti tradition) of India…The Vedanta Sutra deals with
Vedanta or the final aim of the Veda. It is also called the Brahma
Sutra, since it deals with the doctrine of Brahman. The Self (Atman) is
existence, knowledge and bliss…Atman is the same as Brahman; the essence
of the subject, the deepest part of our being is one with the essence
of the world. ”
.....
Put in a Nutshell
“Spirituality in Hindu philosophy …defines spiritual practice as one’s
journey towards moksha, awareness of self, the discovery of higher
truths, true nature of reality, and a consciousness that is liberated
and content.”[16] The Tanjore Quartet margam imparts this knowledge
through its structure or lineup of items. It makes an effort to
understand life and reality, which is the function of natya, by
analyzing human emotions in its innumerable tones through abhinaya. It
has made a judicious use of rhythm, movement and feelings and thoughts
for the expression of the inner self or the embodied being. It puts
forward at the outset the truth of the human life (allaripu), then the
zenith that a human being has the possibilities to reach (varnam) and
then the realities of life (padams and javalis) and ends expressing the
hope to attain or regain the epitome of life (shloka). It explains Hindu
philosophy through bhakti marg by which the common man can contemplate
on God - the Supreme Truth, goodness and beauty of which perfect
happiness essentially consists easily.
Tanjore Quartet margam educates and elevates society by giving the
spectator a foretaste of moksha, the ultimate spiritual experience
through rasa - experience. This elevating experience perhaps can be
credited for the increase in viewership for Bharatanatyam; for
encouraging the spectators to view the art for the charm and magic that
envelops them after a presentation; and stimulating them to take keen
interest in the presentation.
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The obsession of the royal families for expensive things and their crazy
spending habits are funny stories for the present generation. Their
fancy for big, expensive cars, too, is well known. Between 1907and
1947, around 900 Rolls-Royce cars made their way to India. Most of
these cars have very interesting stories linked with them. Some of them
are outrageous, others funny.
Perhaps little known is the saga of how even an adornment of the
maharaja’s stable, like a Rolls Royce, always the world’s most expensive
car and the ultimate symbol of luxury, could be used by an Indian
royal to humble the white man and teach him manners!
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This ready reckoner of Sattriya, the classical dance of Assam, is the
first English version on Sattriya dance published by the Publication
Board, Assam. The author, being a Sattriya dancer, critic and a scholar
herself, is at her best in describing the striking features of the dance
form together with its major aspects and historical background in easy,
lucid language. Altogether, twelve chapters concisely cover the
essentials of Sattriya, complete with a short glossary of terms, an
essentially long bibliography and photographs at the end of the book.
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Having written for a decade for narthaki, I re-read some of my Dance
History columns and reports and reviews and realised while, as a
specialist, I was sharing snippets of our history and heritage, what
also interested me were trends and young India. The word - TRENDING -
caught my attention. Trending Now. Young India is trending says Twitter.
The nation wants to know! The people of India want to know...!
Young India wants to do, not merely know. It wants to know what its
future with dance is. Their future. Period. Most are not interested in
heritage and history and even seeing other’s work. Young India just
wishes to perform and get known. Young India has the brains for being
smart and enough substance to get by but most are increasingly
outsourcing their wares. Smart phones are no substitute for smart
people. Young India is on another trip. A trip of self discovery and
self projection. Add self absorption. When an sms can go viral, a visual
can cause an epidemic, what of a million mutinies that the dance world
exposes one to?
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The Margam can never lose its appeal. But what worries me are the
changes being made to the format by way of new interpolations. It’s not
that I am against creative ideas but these ideas need to be backed by
complete understanding of the structure of the composition. The final
outcome should be an embodiment of aesthetics. The other aspect that has
come into vogue is elaborate storytelling in place of subtle sancharis,
quite often irrelevant and unnecessary to the lines of the poem, a
disturbing trend indeed.
- Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar
(‘Which way, Margam?’ by VV Ramani, The Hindu, Dec 1, 2014)
A sense of insecurity is prevalent among artists. Self-confidence and
determination clubbed with hard work can take an artist to a peak at an
early stage. As a mridangam artist, you have to give your best to make a
concert a success. To do that, you have to spend several hours with
your instrument. When I was employed at the Accountant General’s office
in Chennai, between 1952 and 1961, my routine was to get up at 4 am and
practise for three hours. Musiri Subramania Iyer was also working at the
AG’s office then. He predicted a bright future for me. That he never
gave me an opportunity to play for him is another story….A raga can be
showcased in just three to four minutes. Didn’t Chembai and Ariyakkudi
do it? It is not necessary for you to go on for 20 minutes or more to
establish a raga. Beyond a point, it becomes repetitive.
- TV Gopalakrishnan
(‘Crowning glory’ by V Balasubramanian, The Hindu, Dec 1, 2014)
Who knows, if webcasts become close to the real thing, people may be
willing to pay to watch concerts from the warmth of their homes abroad.
But can the canteen ever be replaced? Several admit that the South
Indian fare is an equal attraction for them.
- V Sriram
(‘Mighty migration,’ The Hindu, Dec 1, 2014)
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