Deteriorating tradition of dance

Uvindu ILLEPERUMA

State Dance Festival, initiated by the Cultural Affairs Ministry, Cultural Affairs Department, Sri Lanka Arts Council and State Dance and Ballet Panel, was held at Folk Art Centre, Battaramulla, in a solemn note. This is one ideal example how the state mechanism can interfere with the cultural values of the country that is at stake in the dirty presence of western impacts which are unleashed under the flagship of post modernism.

To tell the fact frankly the forces behind the conduct of post modernism is too much stronger than the power the local arts have on the society. So people can be easily persuaded to admire factors dissuading them from the indigenous values of local arts. This fate impacts same to the indigenous cultural values of the other countries worldwide.

It is not a complaint to say that holding festivals to preserve local arts is not enough, if the negative trends to thwart the survival of national heritage of local arts are to be hamstrung. What is necessary at the hour is to investigate the root causes why people are being detached from admiring and enjoying local arts.

Delivering his speech at the festival the State Dance and Ballet Panel Chairman Ravibandhu Vidyapathi said people, who bring western qualities into local arts claiming to convey changes into the local scene, have deteriorated the local values. Yes, he is quite right. To break the traditions they should know the traditions. Since these so called revolutionists know next to nothing about traditions - born in other lands and parachuted into the lands where their roots are - just market what they learned in the other countries that is not applicable here.

The support they gain from the media is the main thing why they have already won the hearts of the people especially of youth. Why youth embrace them without any second thought is that they even don't know what their traditions and values are. To arrest this negative developments a sound education on cultural values from their childhood should be done forthwith.

But what if we have to see kitsch when we go out of such festivals? What if the TV program which makes people read the cultural values is followed by a program that contributes to the utter degeneration of local arts? That is what happens in the media who pretends to be saints before people while denuding themselves for the sake of money and more viewers without being adherent to a better policy.

The need of the hour is to drive this jet some and float some from the field of arts if traditional qualities are to be tasted from creations which are upcoming. Bringing changes to traditional arts is no menace. But deteriorating them by adding features of no match would do no good for the existence but for extinction.

The effort taken by the government should be met with applaud since there is no semblance of support from other sources. A methodology to discourage people from being glued to kitsch should be incepted, otherwise the efforts to maintain a survival of traditional arts would be left in the limbo.

..................................

<< Artscope Main Page