For long, one has heard persons declaring from varied platforms that dance performances thrown open for free to the public at large over the years, has not just devalued the art, but also spoilt audiences, almost creating in them a feeling of entitlement. Little, however, has been done to change the situation. In the circumstances, taking the plunge to make a ticketed show of the 'Divinity Series' (held this year from April 6 - 8 at the Habitat Stein Auditorium, Delhi) annually mounted by Jyotsna Shourie Dance Centre, was a step in the right direction - and on the second and third evenings I attended, the satisfyingly full auditorium was reassuring that having to pay was no deterrent, provided the concerned event held promise of quality performances. One heard from the organiser that even on the first evening featuring a known Delhi artist Vidha Lal (in what till now has been a Bharatanatyam oriented festival) there was a decent sized audience with over a hundred tickets sold.
Read more in the site
This is in response to Leela Venkatraman's observation about parshvanath Upadhye's performance.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that only Margam is the litmus test for Bharatanatyam. if parshavanath upadhye feels that the other kind of compositions give full justice to his potential , why would he do a margam.
On some levels Leela ji is a hypocrite. When it is ramli Ibrahim who does an out of the box experiment , she is all in praise of him , she never points out that Ramli used very little traditional Oddissi , when Parshvanath Upadhye makes his dance physically demanding , suddenly leelaji wants to see a Bharatanatyam margam.
yeh baat jami nahi.
Either Leelaji is an old vintage car or she is "Outdated".....