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| Wednesday, 29 September 2004 |
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Approach of dance today by Subashini Pathmanathan
These gurus were the mentors of the art and devadasis were the main female disciples of the gurus. These gurus hailed from hereditary families whose male members were the gurus. But today the dance teachers come from various strata of society. And females are not only dancers but also they play major role as dance teachers. For religious worship and festival celebrations dance was the part of the celebrations. Some dance forms were restricted to particular sex, caste and class only. For instance, Bagavatha mela and Kchupidi were restricted to male members of the Bhramin caste. CHHU dances were practised by the princely class and Kathakali was practised by the professionals only. But today the dance is not restricted to a particular caste or class. Functions Earlier dance functions were performed in temples, royal courts, and auspicious functions. But today dance is considered as prestigious stage art. Today dance is conducted in closed and covered public auditoriums (halls) where the stages are raised. Earlier the dance was conducted in the open air, with or without raised stages. There is a time limit imposed by the artistes themselves and each item presented by them is restricted in a prescribed time limit. Earlier dance programmes were very lengthy and performed throughout the night. Now the total length of a programme is not more than three hours. Earlier in Bharatha Natyam performances the accompanists stood and played their roles behind the dancer. But today the accompanists in the dance are seated on the right hand side of the dancer. Even earlier the Kathak dancer informally explained her items in between the performances, but such practice is no longer in vogue in the Kathak dance world. Certain dance forms were not much popular among the public but today these dance forms have gained worldwide recognition. For instance, Odisi and Kchupidi were not popular in olden days. Dance recital Present day presentation of any dance recitals is very sophisticated. Modern theatre has fixed lighting and curtains. The fixed curtains prevent the audience from seeing the inner back stage arrangements; such facilities were not available in olden days. In olden days the audience were able to see all the inner arrangements of the stage. The mentality of the artistes was different from the present day artistes. In yesteryears the artistes tried to preserve the purity of the art with great dedication and devotion. But today, the artistes are more concerned to attract the public and publicity. For the dance dramas, the artistes mix up various forms of dance techniques together. For instance, Bharatha Natyam and Kathakali techniques are mixed up together for the needs and necessity of the scene. Tagore presented dance dramas by mixing up his own dance style with Manipuri and other Indian classical dance forms. The famous dancer and dance choreographer Udya Shanker and Nataraj Vashi presented beautiful ballets by mixing various modern techniques with the traditional themes. All of these performances gained world recognition and fame. The mixed dance forms were regarded as creative art forms of the individuals. In olden days one individual was supposed to learn and master only one particular variety of dance form. But the present generation of dance students instead of learning and mastering one particular dance learn a variety of dance forms. This is the vogue today and because of this it has become impossible to maintain the purity of any dance form. **** Back **** |
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Produced by Lake House |
Despite various developments in the socio economic environment, the
traditional art, culture and religion are well preserved protected and
followed in our society. Earlier the dance forms were well preserved by
the traditional gurus stationed in different villages.
