She is one of the most successful dance teachers of all time at the State School Arts Festival but Girija Chandran rarely sends her students for the competition these days.
“A student of mine contested this year and she is the first in eight years,” says the teacher from Thiruvananthapuram.
“I decided to stay away because the quality of dancers and that of judgment have come down drastically over the years. That is why you do not see much of experienced teachers like me, Vimala Menon or Kalamandalam Saraswathy at the festival.”
Girija, whose disciples include Neena Prasad, Bobby Krishna, Sreelakshmi and A.R. Arya, had watched the classical dances at the festival here and was extremely disappointed.
“I could count on my fingers the good performances in Bharatanatyam,” she says. “There were just five.”
‘More like fusion’
She says the students are not to be blamed for the dip in standards. “The problem is today’s teachers,” she says. “They do not teach students the traditional pieces. Bharatanatyam thus looks more like fusion.”