We are in a unique moment in time, where what we think and feel can be instantly communicated to millions around the world — an age where the response is as instantaneous as the action itself. For artistes today, this is both a boon and a challenge. As students, teachers and artistes are we ready to respond to this explosion effectively?
When we look around us in the virtual media, the world of art seems to be flourishing — young artistes constantly placing their accomplishments for the ready consumption of the world wide web, artistes post videos of their 'sishyas,' their stature and ‘guru-dom’ with courage and conviction, as a mark of their success. Words such as ‘guru,’ ‘brilliant,’ and ‘awe inspiring’ are used with ease and nonchalance.
The concept that a student of dance needs years to understand, assimilate, internalise his/her growth as an artiste is slowly being swallowed into oblivion in this race for visibility and show of accomplishment.
Where are we headed?
Artistes as individuals
Every generation has inspirational artistes who serve as idols. For the dancers who come after them, there is an automatic tendency to observe and copy their movements, mannerisms, flourishes, etc., believing that success lies in the final formula alone.
When you watch someone, it is necessary to look beyond the beauty of the form and understand that any good movement is born from a place of depth and informed learning of the art form, which makes it automatically meaningful to the artiste as well as the audience. It is important to find your own version of beauty within yourself and work with your strengths and weaknesses. This is something I discovered along the way, as I was learning to negotiate my path.
At any given point in time, there were and will be clones. It is therefore important to remind ourselves that the effort must always be towards learning and imbibing rather than cloning and replicating.
I believe that it is of utmost importance to understand that the art is greater than the artiste. When I am performing a composition, the meaning of the lyrics, the psyche of the poet and the beauty of the music determine the movement rather than the vision of my own form. When my concentration is on these aspects, then automatically the composition becomes more important. But, it is my experience and influences as an artiste, what I have learnt and my own ability, which shape the way I look at the composition. To that extent artistry is displayed through the artiste.
During the course of this journey there will be moments when the artiste and art meet and become one — these moments are few and far between, but isn’t that what every artiste should work towards?
As artistes, we need to invest time and effort in learning. Dance is an amalgamation of many disciplines — space, philosophy, literature, language, movement, music, the art of presentation, costume, communication and lighting. The dancer needs all this to portray a single moment in a composition and in that single moment you are communicating all that you have assimilated.
When this assimilation is not there and you communicate just an external image, whether in real or virtual time, it becomes one that can be replaced. Many of us retain memories of great art even from childhood. The artiste achieved this with their art, at a time with no recourse to images preserved through virtual media.
Do you want to be an artiste enshrined in immortality or do you want to be an image that can be replaced?
Priyadarshini Govind
As teachers
The Guru-Sishya system in the arts can never find a replacement. Today, in actual practice, the term “guru” has undergone an alarming change. I understand a Guru to be someone who takes the student under his wing, moulds him, shows him a way of art and life and still remains an anchor long after the student grows wings and flies to great heights. Therefore, before one can call oneself a Guru one has to evolve into a teacher.
Do the young Bharatanatyam teachers of today have the patience for this serious commitment?
As a collective
In the recent decades, artiste collectives have emerged which have come to play a relevant role as representatives of the art community. ABHAI, one of the first of these to emerge in the dance world, has been doing important work in terms of providing opportunities for learning and in being a voice of the dance community. Likewise, Natyarangam has been challenging artistes to expand their boundaries while younger collectives such as Prayathnam have made significant efforts towards furthering the learning of dancers.
Ideally, if these collectives come together in a democratic manner in the interest of the larger community to form policies, this would help in the long-term development of the art form and its practitioners — such as in substantiating and guiding the learning of students, creating benchmarks for quality and nurturing an environment for students to understand that hard work is the only route to success.
While the art world will always be filled with voices that promote a personal agenda, is it not necessary that those who represent the larger community through these forums are endowed with generosity of mind and spirit to work towards the larger cause?
This would inherently demand that larger inclusion, democracy and transparency be maintained, while curbing the proliferation of personality-led politics within the system. When the purpose of the larger community is served, does not the individual get automatically elevated?
Today, one does not have to be a performer to be a star. There are many choices of specialisation for a student of dance to choose from, each as visible or as exciting as performing, thanks to social media.
In my time, dance was still not considered a conventional career choice. There were a few who were convinced about their path while the rest allowed life to take its course. Somehow we seemed to have the luxury of time and hence the opportunity to delve deep into our own journeys, contemplate and imbibe whatever was taught in a fulfilling manner.
Dance has become a more popular career choice today. Somehow this has changed the dynamics of the art form which is now seen as a ‘profession’ and therefore influences the choices made. We are also navigating in a faster-paced world where memory is limited and there is a constant demand for something “new.” This race against time definitely takes away from a student’s learning process.
Is it not important for the artiste of today to set the rhythm for themselves, their eyes focused on goalposts of excellence?
Today we see all around us a vibrant young generation eager to initiate change and empower themselves. It is important to recognise this revolution and even more important to instill the value of in-depth learning and informed communication in these fertile minds.
Should we not then use this art to create a healthy sense of beauty, aesthetics, respect for learning and inclusivity to create a strong generation?
We have seen that the young today have a strong sense of ownership of culture and heritage. What better way to express it than through our beautiful fine arts that can transform society.
The call of Kalakshetra
I don’t see myself as an ‘‘outsider” at the Kalakshetra Foundation. I never did. Kalakshetra was born of a quest for a cultural identity of a nation. That which absorbed and adopted the best practices and values of a revolutionary time. To me it is a beautiful part of a magnificent whole. A space that has inspired me, like many others, to find the best there is within us. A philosophy that was a call to all like-minded aesthetes. For me, it has been a personal response to this call. Most importantly, Kalakshetra has never been about dance alone.
My strength is that I have always concentrated on the work at hand and here I have chosen to play the part of a facilitator — to ensure that the environment is conducive to growth for the faculty, students, staff and in this process my biggest happiness has been to discover within myself creative growth as an artiste. All the conversations that I am a part of, the productions that I witness, the everyday moments that I live with in Kalakshetra Foundation is a huge source of inspiration to me as an artiste.
I come from a different school of learning in terms of style. But the artiste has to grow beyond a style. In this context, I see the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam as a matter of technique and the larger spirit is that of the philosophy which is what makes it unique and valuable.
Fact file
One of the foremost Bharatanatyam dancers, Priyadarsini Govind was trained by two stalwarts, S.K. Rajarathnam Pillai and Kalanidhi Narayanan. A dancer known for her adherence to tradition, Priyadarsini manages to seamlessly blend new choreography with the traditional, thereby gently redefining the boundaries of Bharatnatyam repertoire. Priyadarsini has been performing in prestigious venues all over India and the globe. She is also actively engaged in performing, collaborating and creating new repertoires for dance and teaching.
Priyadarsini Govind currently serves as the Director of the Kalakshetra Foundation, to which post she was appointed in August 2013.
