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Posted by marie on March 24, 2007 at 10:24:13:
In Reply to: Re: Non Indiandancers posted by Megha on March 17, 2007 at 23:49:42:
I was exposed to dance on my first trip to India and smitten by its expressive power, the unique movement vocabulary, costume and subject matter. Ballet never struck me that way, modern never struck me that way...
I came home to the states and found a teacher.
I already know more than some 'Indian' dancers. With regard to technique ethnicity has nothing to do with knowledge. It's almost an insulting question. For instance, can we imagine a caucasian ballerina asking a mexican ballerina if they feel confident enough to say they know it better than a white dancer? The question itself is loaded. Yes, ballet came from European culture, but as a classical art is adaptable to any culture.
That doesn't mean I can converse in tamil fluently. There are more challenges for the non-Indian...but wait, a Tamilian studying Kathak from a hindi-speaking teacher might have just as many...so, yeah, ethnicity plays a role in the number of challenges the dancer has to overcome to imbibe the spirit of the art.
Mythos:
A friend of mine is a muslim 'Indian' dancer; not all Indian dancers are hindu. So, yes, the non-Indian dancer, as well as other Indian dancers, have to absorb a new mythology in order to tell those stories. That is the most fascinating part for me because of the similarities the traditions share. The exploits of Krishna and the exploits of Christ are different, but the Song of Solomon and the Gita Govinda are similar in some ways...fascinating...
No dicotomy exists between any religions. Only intellectual distinctions divide metaphysical truths. Bhakti yogins are found as devotees of Krishna and Christ. Gyana yogins are found in the schools of theology in europe and in the ashrams of India, and so on. GOD is. There is no dicotomy in that, only in us, as much as we decide there will be. So, I choose to see the unity in the faith of my childhood and the faith of my art, it's all an expression of that great LOVE which infuses every religion.
Using dance technique to express other stories is inevitable. Not always tastefully done, as art, but inevitable as those from other cultures absorb the art and use it to express different myths. Let's not forget the christian dancers (read: INDIAN) who are already using the vocabulary for other themes, christian, so far...
I intellectualize because I am intellectual. I question openly because I am western. I deeply respect the Indian tradition and culture, so I have actively curbed my tounge and keep many questions to myself in order to show respect to my teacher. It is not always easy, but I love learning how to learn differently.
At some point us 'foreigners' will need to be accepted as legitimate heirs of the traditions we have devoted our lives to. That will be proven by the extra work most of us have to do to be taken seriously.
It's all for the love of the art.
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