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Response to article 'Nataraja's Children' - Dayalakshmi, Chennai e-mail: dayalaksh@rediffmail.com July 31, 2006 First and foremost it has been the habit of many male dancers to keep saying sob stories about how they have struggled by walking or cycling to dance classes or rehearsals. It is also sad that people fall for such cheap methods that they use to get leverage and make mileage out of it. Being fewer in number, male dancers are greatly in demand and are taken for programs even though some of them are not competent enough to perform. Moreover they take advantage of the situation and create a lot of fuss and also throw their weight around by not coming on time for rehearsals etc. People like Narendra have nothing to complain about because they have always been promoted while many other deserving female dancers don't have it on a platter like him and still do not complain even though they go through the same struggle. When you look at the whole picture, the classical dance scenario is quite pathetic right from deserving dancers not getting programs in sabhas to gurus not promoting or giving right directions to their students to promote themselves. It is a struggle that every upcoming dancer without any so called 'clout' faces and this will not change unless people in the field rise above petty politics and bring about a change for the better. Dayalakshmi is a Bharatanatyam dancer. |
