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Posted by Frustrated on April 02, 2007 at 15:42:20:
I just iterate my experience here. Anyone fortunate to have had a better experience (I am sure there are many of you lucky ones), please excuse my expression.
I am fairly new to the Bharatanatyam class scene in the US. I learnt as a child in India and resumed as an adult. I want to keep at it, so I joined a class in the US where I migrated with my husband. I am wondering if it is just me, the class I'm in or the general scenario, but the standards seem quite compromised.
Every parent is in a hurry to get the child on stage. The day they learn one item, or worse still, the day they begin class, parents/grandparents want to get a costume made for the child. The dreaded first performance on stage is followed by a gazillion "Good job!!"s. Believe me, that was nowhere near a good job. They are only deceiving the child by telling him/her so.
Now, onto the standard of the class itself. This teacher is a wonderful
dancer herself and quite a pleasant personality too. In my batch, each
one of us has a different skill level.
In one hour, I learn two items simultaneously (one of which she refreshes
to herself while teaching us, obvious lack of homework) and another item
is being re-choreographed for the Annual Day. To add to this, the various
"Hello"s to the parents that drop in or enquiries to the kid who is back
after an absence midway through the class! All in all, older items are
never revised. Attention to technique is sacrificed.
This obsession with getting more programmes and celebration of the Annual Day is simply frustrating. Votes are in favor of a ticketed group programme with students who have not learnt one complete Jathiswaram yet! “The school needs to be promoted. We need to get our name out there!” Art is not taught or learned for the love of it. It is just a matter of stage-time and prestige under the self-deception of “keeping in touch with Indian culture.” It is a side-business (paid socialization) for most and that attitude is reflected in the performance, too.
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