Prism - Dance education in schools - Bharat Sharma

During a major international dance seminar held in November 2024 in Delhi organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), in one session focused on Indian Dance in Diaspora, an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) student from Bangladesh, on a plush scholarship for advanced learning of Bharatanatyam in India, informed the august gathering - teaching of Bharatanatyam and Kathak has been made compulsory in Bangladesh till 10th standard!

While several stalwarts gasped that why this was not done in India till now, I was a bit perplexed. Why this was happening in the ancestral land of the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, Ritwik Ghatak and Ustad Allauddin Khan? However, in the arena of cultural exchange, ICCR has been appointing teachers of Kathak in its various cultural centers all over the world since the 60s. I grew up with several dancers in Delhi, who had gone on lucrative assignments to spread the word of India's culture abroad in formative years of the Republic. Inversely, ICCR scholarships for students to study in India have been substantial and often become envy of local students who get far less. It has now become a good business for gurus and institutions to host ICCR students in classical dance, which reflects on the current state of Dance Education, cultural economy and institutional eco-system. 

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