Re: flying "gracefully in the face of tradition"

Posted by bhawna thakur on February 22, 2008 at 03:14:22:

In Reply to: Re: flying "gracefully in the face of tradition" posted by dancer on June 08, 2007 at 12:13:00:

: God, this doesnt let up does it?
: Although you have made some interesting and enlightening points.
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: The problem lies in the fact that we still see this big East West divide. THAT is pretty negative, not to mention medieval in its narrow mindedness.
: And once you look beyond the surface of the Art from both hemispheres, all barriers melt away. The guidelines of the Shastras and the formality of classical ballet training have a LOT in common. And they both feed each other constantly. Natyadharmi and Lokadharmi practises are as commonplace in Giselle as it is in The Ramayana or Tagore's Chandalika.
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: Also, it is as important to resist negative change as the great teachers resisted "Brahmin created stuff" just as it is important to encourage positive change.
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: Art, especially Indian Classical Dance leads us towards Divinity and Salvation. Everybody has a right to Salvation. The child in Africa, the skinhead in Hackney, the businessman in India, the IT consultant in LA, and the hooker in Vegas.
: As a dancer who performs and conducts workshops with other lovely dancers all across the UK and India, I have seen how people especially the young and the very old, can just focus on the "exotica" of Indian dance in its costumes, jewellery, music,stories...and funnily enough Attami! And the true meaning of some of the great traditional items are lost on them.
: Whats the point in breaking our backs dancing, if they are not going to get the true meaning?
: Why should we not use traditional dance vocabulary for issues that are relevant to the "West" at this point in time? Why cant we create our own path in Indian Dance in peace without some "idiot" (as you so charmingly call other people doing their job), making a comment about purity? Hutera may gush as you say, but Arul you RANT on and on in your negative tone because you seem to have taken up the task of chief chaperone to Indian Art. Its getting tiresome!
: Indian dance is not so weak that an experiment will come and spoil everything. The good and bad both enhance. Trust me that is the ONLY reason we wearily tolerate your constant bitchy tirades, because you involuntarily raise points that need a thorough discussion! Thanks for that.
: Why shouldn't Indian Classical Dance be Universal?
: Once the new audience, has acquired the taste, they will love and feel the everlasting Truth that lies in our great traditional and morally advanced repertoire.Some of the true meaning of this repertoire which deals with themes of Hope, Truth, Divinity and Positive Thinking, has escaped you and a lot of Indian artists sadly. The great ones, however, got it in the first place, and they carry on spreading the philosophy without the need to call other artists "cheap"! Strong words. Please use them carefully! Half baked knowledge can be soo dangerous at best!
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: I hope you dont mind me being so frank. Some of your letters can also be truly lovely and thought provoking and I love them and sometimes discuss them with fellow dancers in a very frank way. But when you show your claws to the world, expect at least an honest feedback.
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: Take care,
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: Yours sincerely,
: A.
: dancer in London. ;)
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: : When I used the word "cheap" I was not talking about them as individuals or about the quality of their dance, I was referring to the decision to cave in to the conventions of modern dance in the west. I believe this is an issue that broadly applies to all dance-teachers, especially dance-teachers of my generation because we still face the same problem that dance-teachers of the 1930s faced: how to resist the steady erosion of schools of thought that seek to devalue or place our dance-practice in a subordinate position.
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: : Back then, it was brahminism, the great teachers had to resist the movement that said dance is naked and shameful unless it is covered by a cloak of sanskrit vocabulary and theory. It took will-power and sacrifice for those great teachers to resist that pull and to hold onto the classic repertoire, choreography and teaching methods of the great non-brahmin nattuvanar tradition when everyone was saying it should be thrown out and replaced with the brahmin-created stuff.
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: : Today's leading dancers feel compelled to chase after modern dance in the west. And to clothe our dance in those conventions. Hence the blind copying of modern dance PR vocabulary and practices: putting in critic quotes from leading newspapers, chasing prominent western modern-dance festivals, chasing prestigious venues for western modern-dance, etc. etc. etc.
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: : Our leading dancers, when they follow these conventions, are indirectly saying: "i'm better because i have foreign recognition" or "I'm already famous abroad, so you'd better recognize how good I am". Whereas what I'm saying is: "wide international acclaim" is completely irrelevant, the conventions and yardsticks of western modern dance have nothing to do with quality in our dance. When we chase foreign acclaim like this we are undermining our own self-worth. We're indirectly saying: "i'm worthless unless london or paris or new york values me" and that's a very unhealthy and negative thing.