for jaya about DVDs

Posted by anita ratnam (59.144.24.30) on January 24, 2006 at 20:52:30:

In Reply to: reply to Anita posted by Jaya on January 24, 2006 at 12:13:12:

dear jaya

actually the distribution network outside india is very specialised and fragmented.. and for south asian dance videos(that is the term used for our dance form) the distribution is not sophisticated enough. sari,grocery and video stores, online and ground events and in some Bhavan type of physical locations are those that carry the product. The dance videos that are produced are not available at the museum stores, university bookstores, digital libraries and mainstream auditorium bookstores like Lincoln Center and Joyce Theatre or at a Barnes and Noble.Even the well known Dance Speciality Centers like DANCE BOOKS in the UK do not carry any of our videos. In fact, very few dance BOOKS on South Asian dance are available physically in these stores even for a frame of reference ( Borders, Chapters, Barnes and Noble)In contrast, other dance forms like African Dance and Latin Dance are always well stocked. It stems from a corresponding mainstream interest in these dance forms which today is represented by Bollywood and not classical dance.African and Egyptian studies are 'hot' topics of study in the west. South Asian dance is not an integrated form of scholarship, education, practice and performance yet in academia. It is just beginning to emerge and the movement is still nascent.

The voracious NRI network ( and I repeat the term intentionally) consumes this product for its own benefit and the mainstream retailers may not accept the quality of the existing product. When I completed my DVD presentation in 2002 (very reluctantly let me tell you, after recommending that they use Priyadarshini or Urmila to which they stubbornly refused) it sold 3500 copies.. more than any other dance style that they had produced in the series.That just shows the phenomenal interest within a closed network of consumers who are connected to this one style.
For a mainstream market, the volume of the product is not what matters, it is how we can condense the information and present it to the consumerwhile maintaining excellent quality.
I am presently working on a video for the international museum market about classical Indian dance. My role is writer, director and presenter-not performer. Since it encompasses all the styles, Bharatanatyam will only receive maybe 3 minutes or 5 maximum.The total duration is only 30 minutes.. that is right.. 30 minutes for the entire history and practice!! Not a series of videos but a single one.

Who will I pick for the representation? Wait and see!

anita ratnam