A recent calling out of a legendary dancer and the abuse allegations thrown at him are not new to the art space. The recent years have been flooded with several such abuse allegations on the teachers of art and art institutions. That leads to the obvious mudslinging on the Guru-Sishya Parampara of Indic Arts. I will restrict this post to dance in general.
The general viewpoint is to say that this Parampara has failed and to dismiss it as irrelevant. While it may seem to be the easiest thing to do, one must examine what this Parampara was, is and will be.
Historically, the study of art was within a specific group of specialised people. Within that group there was hierarchy, there were roles and power structure. That scene has changed and evolved over the centuries. What remains of the Parampara then? Art was passed on by the teacher to the student and it continues to be imparted this way. The student-teacher relationship plays a huge role in the evolution of the art and its way forward.
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It would be a great service to art, if what it is not is clearly articulated. It is most definitely not a spiritual medium unless one wants it to be. Most skilled dancers not neccessarily mean good human beings. And spirituality itself has nothing to do with dance...dance can lead to it, but neccessarily a must have to be a good dance. One can be a lousy human being and still be a good dancer...So parampara is long gone...we are left now with basics....does this skill help me be a better person...if yes , go for it...if not, its junk anyways..no matter how good one is at it..!!
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