Trend: National awards are becoming notional and notional awards are becoming national.
When relevance is lost, when anyone with push and pull can get their own
children or students or favourites, national awards like the SNA or
other state awards, then these awards become meaningless. 30-40 years
ago, we used to think that ultimate honour and sign of professional
arrival, for a performing artiste, were the SNA awards. It was given in
the name of the President of India. The ceremony was simply done in
Delhi’s only halls of note: the Sapru House or Mavalankar Hall or the
Constitution Club. When not available, a shamiana (wedding-type tent)
used to be constructed in the lawns on Rabindra Bhavan itself, where the
3 Akademis are housed (the elegant and airy building itself designed by
famous dancer Indrani Rahman’s architect husband Habib Rahman) in 1960s
and 70s and the likes of great historian and culture/education
ministers like Maulana Azad or Prof. Nurul Hassan or cultured talents
like K.P.S. Menon or Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (who were also its
Chairman) used to bestow the awards, when and if the President could not
do so.
Read the article in the site
Lakshmi Mani is considered one of the finest of Kuchipudi dancers,
having received acclaim for her grace and abhinaya. A tete-a-tete with
Lakshmi Mani, who was in Bengaluru recently as the chief guest for the
Kuchipudi Parampara Natya Utsav.
How do you find the Kuchipudi scene here in Bengaluru?
Bengaluru has been very encouraging and welcoming to all forms of dance.
Kuchipudi is particularly popular here and this is something I’ve been
observing ever since my first performance in this ‘Garden City’ almost
two decades ago in the famed Chowdiah Hall. Even today, I see a lot of
enthusiastic, committed learners here. However, to rise above
mediocrity, it is the responsibility of the local gurus (many of who are
my good friends) to channelize the energies of these young aspirants in
the right way.
Read the interview in the site
Whenever you come across a young brilliant, starry-eyed dancer with passion and commitment, your flagging hope on the future of our classical art form gets resuscitated. But as you delve into the present environs under which dance has to be nourished and advanced, well, your spirits sink! The big question mark rises to a point blank range and one is bound to wonder if this is a level playing field at all?
In my two decades-old career, I have acquired the sensibilities to assess an artiste’s potential within the first 15 minutes, an up-and-coming dancer or musician being no exception. And I’ve also seen them make a mark in the field another five years later. Meteoric rise is not possible under normal circumstances in any creative arts field.
Read the article in the site
(This editorial by chief editor Madhavi Puranam in the Nartanam -
Quarterly Journal of Indian Dance - issue Volume XV, # 3 – July-Sept
2015 - has been reproduced here with permission)
The aggressive spokesperson of a political party whose aim is to argue
even if he strays from reason and ethics while making his case, the
brash neta whose tirade is far removed from any finesse, wisdom or
culture, the compulsive jargonmuttering corporate executive obsessed
with graphs, pie charts and figures working at a lightning pace, the
busy corporate doctor who forgets that a humane touch could work wonders
in the treatment of the patient, the ever so humble artiste who can
transform into a belligerent expletive-mouthing socialite, all seem to
be the often-seen prototypes of the respective professions. The recent
utterances of our Culture Minister have done nothing to dent this
prototype. Today the common thread in the work culture is the aggression
and the “competitiveness” in the pursuit of fame/propaganda which is
often confused with “success”. In this issue (Nartanam Vol XV
no3.) we bring a moment from the past—the 1954 Inter-University Youth
Festival—which underlies all the values that one knows to be sterling
but which one seldom encounters within ourselves and all around us—the
spirit of discovery, wonderment, and competing within the ambit of
inquiry, sharing and unity. Arshiya Sethi, in her effort to chronicle
the events of the first ever youth seminar in post independent India and
its landmark artistic fallout, beautifully brings out the finer
sensibilities of the times and the thrust behind the event.
Read the article in the site
This year I had a very special start to my summer holidays. From the
20th to the 25th of July, I travelled with my dance teacher, Usha
Raghavan, and six of her students (along with their guardians) on a
temple tour around Tamil Nadu. We visited four temples: first, the
beautiful Thillai Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, then the quietly
resplendent Gangaikondacholapuram temple, the impressively grand
Brihadeeswara temple at Tanjavur, and most significantly, the seat of
dance, Thyagaraja Temple at Thiruvarur.
Teacher has organised trips like this before: taking her students from
UK and Italy on a tour of temples which are associated with
Bharatanatyam and sometimes even other dance forms. This trip, however,
was different, in that the first week would be spent in Tamil Nadu, and
the second would be touring dance performances in Sri Lanka. The
India tour hence was incredibly busy, but also incredibly enriching.
Though this was a tour of some of the most significant temples in Tamil
Nadu’s history, it was not restricted to just that. We also visited some
fantastic sites which offered us a wider understanding of the history
and culture of Tamil Nadu and South India: the Dakshinachitra model
heritage village in Mahabalipuram, a village in Tanjavur where the famed
Tanjore sculptures and paintings are made, and even a veena-making
shop.
Read the article in the site
I was invited along with other senior dancers to present traditional
Varnams as part of the Spanda anniversary in July 2105 in Chennai,
curated by Leela Samson.... (What an idea ! Her FB page had numerous
compliments). It was an event to highlight the core ideas of the
traditional Varnam, particularly those of the Tanjore Quartet. I
understood what she meant when she announced it was a seminar. So, one
had to speak? Share one’s understanding of this magnificent piece in the
Bharatanatyam repertoire? Yes indeed. When Leela came over to invite me
to participate in the event, rather spontaneously I said I will take up
Dhanike in Todi and Viriboni in Bhairavi. I never think
before jumping into such things....quite like when I agreed to write a
book on M.S. when the editor at Roli Books asked me. A few days
on....the thinking (worrying!) starts. To dance on stage, even if it
were just excerpts from a big Varnam, one has to concentrate on multiple
aspects. Well, I worked on the Varnams like a jigsaw puzzle and it all
came to a crescendo on stage! An appreciative and knowledgeable
audience.... getting rare... was inspirational.
Read the article in the site
Hello November from the crisp air of New York City.
An intense week spent watching so much dance and theatre in my former
home town that I have a sensorial overload. Contemporary ballet (Ballet
Memphis) exploring many themes including Gospel music; the magical Misty
Copeland (America's first black Prima Ballerina); SANKAI JUKU in
contemporary Butoh, modern dance (John Kinzel), Egyptian tombs,
Picasso, Philippine Gold treasures (Asia Society), dancers with robots
(Wendy Whelan) and brilliant contemporary music ensembles (Macarthur
genius grantee Claire Chase). This is what the fabulous NYC offers on a
daily basis to its residents and visitors. And, and, and....THIS is the
annually perfect personal RESET AND REBOOT button for yours truly.
However, the more interesting encounters have been with dance writers
and dance passionistas. Robert Johnson and Elizabeth Zimmer shared their
despair about the vanishing space for honest criticism (we have heard
this before right?) and the impatience of today's American youth who
don't care about dance. Newspaper surveys conducted in the NYC
metropolitan area revealed that less than 2% of the readers care about
dance. Meanwhile, there are more and more dance studios and rehearsal
spaces opening up in the city. Dancers seem to be everywhere,
stretching, flexing, moving… and yet… there is less and less money in
the NYC area for independent artistes. New York dance audiences,
however, are among the most sophisticated in the USA, guarded with their
praise and watching with enthusiasm and not awe. Young dancers are
eager to watch as much as they can (and can afford) and that is a
welcome change from what I see in India. Major theatres have a policy
$29 seats for those under 29 years of age. But what about those in their
30s? When tastes mature and bank accounts wither? Many Big Apple dance
lovers are asking questions about how they can continue to support dance
if the ticket prices soar each year.
Read the message in the site
