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Posted by Arul Francis on June 07, 2007 at 16:08:47:
In Reply to: flying "gracefully in the face of tradition" posted by arul francis on June 01, 2007 at 18:28:58:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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