In Reply to: Dance musicians posted by Babu Parameswaran on March 19, 2006 at 23:56:36:

 What do you mean musicians' income is only from performance? The fact that you don't teach is your choice. I know so many musicians abroad as well as in India who are earning from teaching music as well as dance accompaniment. And they have the advantage of charging more because there are only very few of them available abroad. Demand > Supply. Most perform with one dancer today and it's another tomorrow. No focused interaction with a particular dancer/group.

The fact that the fee for four musicians altogether is so great for a dancer that he/she can only afford a few rehearsals. Some dancers started to pay out of their own pockets because they cannot find musicians who are really interested for the sake of dance music exploration. Sabhas also stop paying and rather fill their slots with dancers who can pay. If musicians had not demanded the money, then the money problem in organisations would not exist. Artists will just perform out of love and get whatever is due to them from ticket proceeds, if it is a ticketed performance. In fact, musicians (their affordability) are changing the very face of bharatanatyam. The use of recorded music was not part of this dance in the past.

Believe me, the late dance master US Krishna Rao once commented that his violin accompanist is earning even more money than he himself as a dance teacher!

If a dancer can find musicians who are interested in playing out of love of artistic interaction, then the money problem will not be there. All they need is just the space/venue. There will come a time (perhaps already!) when dancers start to see the realities of paying out of their own pockets. There needs to be a concerted effort from all the dancers to change the situation of musicians.
 

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