Sunday 21 August 2016

Article - The curious case of the Bharatanatyam mentor - Jitinder Krishna

Over the last few years yet another trend in the art of Bharatanatyam has emerged, to add to the growing list of (disturbing) trends - THE MENTOR.

Quite a few youngish dancers announce at the outset of their performances, "With respects to my gurus AND my mentor." When this happened at a recent performance, the lady in the seat next to me (in thick Tamizh English accent) asked: “Who is mental?”
Me: “Not mental, madam! Mentor!”
Lady: “Now what is this mentor?"
Me: "Someone you go to after the guru."
Lady: "Appadiya? There is a level after the guru?"
Me: “Yes, the gurus are level 3, followed by level 4, famous dancers.”

A mentor? What does that entail, and how is it different from the Bharatanatyam guru?


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