About fifteen thousand dance and music learners appear every year for exams conducted by Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) under various categories all over the State. Karnataka has been the only State in the country to have had the tradition of holding cultural exams at such an enormous scale. It has almost become customary for learners in most cultural institutes in the State to apply for these exams after they are adequately trained. While most gurus acknowledge the constitution of these exams for a variety of reasons, they equally observe serious impediments that are hindering their quality and propagation. The Hindu strikes a conversation with some of the noted Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Carnatic music and percussion gurus and learners in Bangalore on the state, working and the relevance of exam in these performing arts.
Serious practise of any performing art can be done without an examination system in place, as the legendary masters did in the earlier times. “But the idea of exam helps children get more engrossed in the art,” says Harini N.R. who teaches Carnatic music at the Percussive Arts Centre, Jayanagar. As children in their young age would not have developed sincere inclination towards anything in particular, it is easier to make them concentrate, learn and remember in the name of exam, she feels. “It sets a time-frame for students within which they are required to master a set of things prescribed by the syllabus. This streamlines learning which otherwise would take its own time depending on the student’s interest and calibre,” observes Harini, under whose guidance about 70 students have so far written junior and senior exams in Carnatic vocal category.
“When it comes to performing arts, what is visible to the bare eyes is just the performing part of it. Students are astonished to know that there exists ‘theory’ for dance too!” observes budding Kuchipudi danseuse Prateeksha Kashi. It is the aspect of theory, emphasised by these exams, that acts as an eye-opener for many, including parents, she says. “When they take up junior exams, children realise that like any other subject they study in school, dance too is a discipline in itself and as expansive as the ocean,” she adds.
Another aspect that the dance exams make students learn is the application skills. For example, she explains, “though students would have tried out many hastas in adavus or items, when they get to know why these mudras are used, they begin to think.”
“It is not that teachers do not impart knowledge about dance, its various forms, styles, lineage of gurus and more in the regular classes, they do, at least those who are committed to disseminate their art form. But most of it gets dispersed in the air,” says Prateeksha. Only when the students have had the experience of attending one of these examinations, they pay heed to what is being taught, she feels. Therefore, for Prateeksha, exams have been responsible for transforming the attitude of some children which otherwise would have been an arduous task to achieve. “If some pay attention to their anga shuddi , others make sure they know the meaning of the sahitya they are dancing for, which are changes to be desired in any learner,” she states from the experience she has had at Shambhavi School of Dance, Kengeri.
As the performing items are often different from the traditional ones, a student of dance will get to learn the full margam of a particular style of dance, says a student who has given her senior exam in Bharatanatyam this year.
As far as syllabus is concerned, the gurus state that it has been quite challenging at every level as it has been revised regularly by the luminaries in each field.
No doubt the intention of these exams which is to promote dance and music forms, provide job opportunities in public and private sector is a noble thought and has translated itself in the lives of many artistes by playing a prominent role in their career in performing arts, there are some systemic issues to be addressed by the Board, feel eminent gurus.
The problem, firstly, is in the infrastructure and administration, points out Kiran Subramanyam, an established Bharatanatyam teacher. The practical exams are conducted in elementary school classrooms that are badly maintained. “Hygiene and aesthetics are essential for a dance presentation and that forms dignity for the art,” he claims.
Over the decades, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of senior teachers as examiners. “The disrespectful treatment coupled with meagre remuneration has made many experts not to engage with the Board,” informs Kiran.
As a result, the quality of experience that the student is required to undergo during the exam gets diluted, observes Kuchipudi exponent Vyjayanthi Kashi. Recalling her own experience of being watched by personalities as tall as U.S. Krishna Rao during the exams conducted by Sangeet Natak Academy, she reveals, “remembering those moments of dancing in front of them, still brings goosebumps for me.” For Vyjayanthi Kashi, the ambience of the room which includes the examiners should be a lifetime experience for anyone attempting this exam. It should be considered nothing less than an arangetram, she adds.
“Given the lack of engagement of senior gurus, the Board is forced to employ those who have just passed vidwat, as examiners for the coming year’s vidwat exam or a senior pass student to sit as an examiner for junior exam,” observes eminent mridangist T.A.S. Mani. He argues that they might have excelled in performance but in order to ask questions in the capacity of an examiner needs years of teaching experience.
For this reason, in Vyjayanthi’s observation, many well-known artistes do not send their own children and students to these exams as they are not convinced of the credibility of the examiners.
“I have even heard that inexperienced examiners sometimes ridicule students which makes them feel embarrassed and rejected,” states Mani, who has trained hundreds of professional percussionists in India and abroad.
Mani who has been imparting music education since five decades through Karnataka College of Percussion along with his wife Ramamani, famous vocalist, makes a couple of suggestions for the enhancement of quality of music exams.
“Every year the committee should meet to verify the application of examiners and appoint adept judges for practical exams. The committee should make sure that the examiners are remunerated adequately and rotated once in two years,” he says. The involvement of prominent gurus to appoint examiners will not only regulate quality but institutionalises the process, keeping favouritism and corruption at bay, feel students.
Other than aiding to gain mastery over the art forms, the music exams lead the way for many to become art teachers in government and private schools. In addition to this, Kiran Subramanyam proposes that students who have passed such exams should be recognised for their extra skills during their higher education as in the US where certain credits are allocated for any special training. “This would take the music exams to a totally different level,” he adds.
