Music in and For Bharathanatyam- A Survey report- Part 3

Continued from

• Part 1
• Part 2

Carnatic Music Aptitude and/or Knowldege for dancers

An overall agreement that an aptitude or knowledge of carnatic music in the dancer helps him/her excel in Bharathanatyam, is seen from the survey responses; with the scores from within India being slightly higher in this regard. Similarly the musicians placed a higher emphasis on the need for CM knowledge/aptitude in dancers.

On how exactly Carnatic Music helps dancers improve, the general feeling can be best expressed in the words of Manjari :-

“It certainly is a big plus if the dancer understands and appreciates music, it adds much more depth to their dancing”.

It is felt that an understanding of the thala, lyrics and the flavour of the raga improve the nritta and abinaya aspects of the dance .

“Attending concerts exposes them to a variety of songs which can be included in their repertoire.”- Hamsa Venkat

Music as a requirement for choreography

However, the open-end answers, reveal that the depth of knowledge acceptable/considered essential in itself is dictated by what the dance student/dancer aims to be. Lakshmi Ramasamy referring to those who want to be professional performers says “Dancer should have a good idea of music, if not professionally sing”. “Choreographing and composing call for a higher understanding of the ragas and rhythm structures. (Anupriya Krishnan and Kavitha Ramu) as the dance should reflect the flow of the music (Soumya Tilak)”

“I don’t want a dancer to be jumping around vigorously in a slow Neelambari composition. It just affects my sensibilities” says S. Srinivasan.

If the teacher/choreographer or the dancer also is the one who decides the item list, then an awareness of which ragas should and should not be placed in proximity will go a long way in making the total performance a success. For e.g.,  Keeravani Jathiswaram followed by Simendramadhyamam item is a strict no-no!

Singing abilities for the Teacher/Nattuvanar

Yesteryear nattuvanars were excellent musicians. If the teacher intends to choreograph items for her students, then as seen from above deliberations, would definitely need to be aware of the technical nuances of Carnatic music . Also if the teacher is the one singing during the class, an appropriate standard of singing will go a long way in developing an appreciation of music itself and transalate itself as spontaneous reaction to music at subconscious levels.

A rasika, who accompanied her niece to a few dance class sessions said that

“I really don’t understand how the teacher whose singing (that she heard from the verandah outside) didn’t confine the tune to one recognisable ragam could expect her students to attain a good standard! The music appreciation of the students should be inculcated way before it is practically possible for them to practise with musicians.”

Even if the musician has all the attributes necessary it may still call for precise communication of the necessities by the nattuvanar to elicit the perfect match for the choreography- it is his vision that is being presented after all. But to communicate perfectly to the musician, the nattuvanar/ teacher/ choreographer needs to have a musical vocabulary. Bombay Jayasri says that Leela Samson knew exactly what she needed and communicated it precisely to help her give her best.

In a nutshell as Anupriya says “Dancers in India grow up in an environment where they are constantly exposed to classical music and dance. Media plays a very vital role. Unfortunately, (in some places), other than class time and practice time, students rarely get to see or hear good music and dance. Learning CN music along with BN has its own perks. Ragam & Talam gyanam is far better for those who know CN music. As a dancer, I enjoy and relate much better to a dance because of my CN background. Choreography and teaching become a natural thing for a dancer who is well versed with CN music. So CN is imperative for BN.”

The stalwarts of Bharathanatym did and do find a  “Pakka balam*” in the “Pakka vadyam*” (*Soumya quoting Smt. Chitra Visweswaran) with their aptitude and appreciation of music. So there is no escaping the fact, that to be a complete dancer, one should work hard on developing an aptitude for carnatic music (if it isn’t there yet).

CD as a replacement for live orchestra.

This is one question to which the rasikas, musicians and the dancers varied predictably and widely in their response. The rasikas quite disagree with the trend (an avg score of 3.1) while the dancers seem to embrace the concept (an avg score of 7.1). Various articles have discussed the difficulties of dancers in putting together a good orchestra. The problems range from lack of availability, to lack of co-operation, high costs and fee of the members of the orchestra and practical problems in travelling with a orchestra. These probably are the reasons for dancers being more willing to use professional CDs today.  But most rasikas and a few dancers favour it ”only as a last resort”.Musician Rama varma says “Better to use a good CD than a bad live musician!”

A definite distinction is to be made at this juncture between the ready-made commercial one-size fits all CDs and the individualized CDs that are specially recorded in a studio for a particular dancer/ choreography. These sure are expensive.  Hamsa Venkat, a dancer carefully adds,” As long as the CD has been recorded professionally for you “(it may be alright).Echoing this sentiment Passionate Dancer says “For many, it’s a means of survival, when finding a good orchestra is not possible. As long as it is professionally recorded music and if the dancer is able to use the recording to her advantage and give a good presentation it is fine.The ones off the shelf may not suit your needs most of the time, is alright for beginners.”

Our cheeky rasika  narrates her woes-

“I am tired of hearing the same professional CD Natesa kavutuvam, I can even sing along with it now! Well many gurus where I live seem to have learnt the kavutuvam from the same VCD too, so all their students perform similarly to the same song. Nothing original about it, leave alone the surprise element! Thankfully the power never fails in our place!”

And dancer/teacher Anupriya Krishnan says “I will never be able to relate to a 2 hour recital if there is no live music. But if it is a 5 -10 min program, I guess I will survive ”

United we Stand a better Chance?

“Music is dance and dance is music. And the one without the other would never be complete.” (Rama Varma). Carnatic Music and Bharathanatyam are not mutually independent sets. If the quality of music in dance recitals is appreciable, probably more music rasikas would consider attending dance concerts.  Dance rasikas who begin to develop a taste for Carnatic Music aided by the good music that they get to hear from the dance orchestra, may actually consider attending music concerts!

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my gratitude to Aishwarya Anantha, Anupriya Krishnan, Bhanu Krishnan, Binal Vyas, Devi Ravi, Hamsa venkat, Jayakamala Pandian, Kavitha Ramu, Lakshmi Ramasamy, Madhana Raghavan, Manjari Rajendrakumar (nee Chandrasekar), Navia Natarajan Menon, Nrithya Pillai, Padma Balakumar, Rama Varma, R. Rajendrakumar, Santosh Kumar Menon, Shantha Somasundaram, S. Srinivasan,  Soumya Tilak, Suganthi.P, Sumi Krishnan, Umaa Sathyanarayanan and those who came up with interesting pseudonyms (Passionate dancer, Music of Hearts, Eternal student of the art of Bharatanatyam) and a few others who wished to remain anonymous who took the time to fill in their survey questionnaire and/or discuss their opinion on this topic with me. I am grateful to the 3 of you who proof read the questionnaire. I am also thankful to Sumi Krishnan of http://sydhwaney.com for helping me with the data collection. I also absolutely am indepted to Madhana Raghavan, Sowmya Tilak and Rajendra Kumar for graciously accepting to proof (and to have) read this mess!

Filed under: Abhinaya, Arts, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Dance, Dance Gurus, India, Performing Arts, Rasika, academics, artists, choreograhers, choreography, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, students , Soumya Tilak

Music in and for Bharathanatyam-A survey report (Part2)

Continued from Part 1

Music for dance-Discussion

Everyone surveyed expected dance recitals to be accompanied by good music, but interestingly, even at the onset, Soumya Tilak adds that “good music“ as an accompaniment would go on to mean “one that matches and complements the dance”. The respondents from within India placed a slightly higher expectation on the standards of music accompanying dance.

Singing the Song flawlessly is just a Bare minimum!

While the dancers are slightly more tolerant to singers who can flawlessly render the recital songs (as in repeat the taught song perfectly), the rasikas and expectedly, the musicians feel that that would be a bare minimum, as expressed in Rama Varma’s words, “that would at least be something”.

How is dance singing different from vocal concert singing?

While being specifically asked if dance singing required a different set of techniques as compared to vocal concert singing, the respondents came up with a variety of responses. An attempt will be made to highlight the important ideas.

Differential techniques for Dance Singing

“All said and done, the structure of a dance recital is not (and cannot be) the same as the structure of a music concert.”(Rajendra Kumar) We may see that music specially for dance existed even during the period of the Tanjore Quartette. (Lakshmi Ramasamy) There is a general consensus and agreement that dance singing requires a different set of techniques as compared to vocal concert singing.”

Some special requirements pointed out as essentials for dance singing include:

• Acknowledging that the dance is the prime subject of interest: Dance musicians should be good enough not to distract attention from dance, yet be a good compliment (Bhanumathi Krishnan, Aishwarya Ananth, Lakshmi Ramasamy, Padma Balakumar), and match their manodharmam to that of the dancers. (Manjari Rajendrakumar)
• Being observant: At a dance concert there is so much to observe, says Shantha.S. A dance musician as opposed to having his/her own flow in a solo (vocal) concert, he/she has to take the cue from the dance and the dancer. (S. Srinivasan) The dancers are able to articulate on this “taking-of-cue” aspect a little more which is explained in the portion on improvisation for dance.
• An understanding of the dance technique (nuances): in the singer facilitates perfect synchronization and apt accompaniment. (Manjari Rajendrakumar and Aishwarya Ananth)
• Need For Expressive Singing: Dance requires bhava and musicians in general stick to technique of music than the meaning of sahitya, sometimes even distorting intended meaning. (Madhana Raghavan, Lakshmi Ramasamy) Musicians require an ability to emote along with the dancer (Eternal student of Dance) and in turn through their music help the dancer emote. (Madhana Raghavan)
• Adapting to the kalapramanam for the dance recital: The kalapramanam that he has to follow for dance will be different from that of a vocal recital. (Kavitha Ramu) The need for more expressive singing as pointed out in the last point and the predominant use of pada varnams, padams and javalis require the singer to sing at speeds slower than they would at a music concert. The kalapramanam must facilitate an aesthetic use of angika and satvika abhinaya. For those musicians who accompany budding dancers there may arise occasions to subtly and imperceptibly alter kalapramanam.
• Be adept at nadai variations:  A lot of mathematical/rhythmic variations in the nritta part/thattimetti parts will make it important for a dance musician to be talam and nadai perfect.(Anupriya)
• I would probably add neat pronunciation to the list.

It should be noted that the respondents do not feel that these aspects are not necessary for concert singing, but are facets that specially go into making a dance singer successful.

Raga sketching for dance recitals

All respondents believe that it would definitely be ideal if the accompanying musician could appropriately sketch ragas before the song. One rasika points out that a raga outlining ahead of the songs, even if short, makes the presentation more complete and helps the rasika and the dancer shift easily into the mood of the next piece. Another rasika, points out that ready-made instant 2 line ragas (esp the beginning nattai) with the same repetitive phrases can be such a pain. Why don’t they experiment enough to create another 2-line pattern in nattai he asks.

Improvisation for dance

The topic of improvisation and creativity seems to invoke a lot of reflection. One rasika points out that “a musician who sings exactly the same way on any 2 given days is consistent alright, but boring and is not much better than a CD!” This is more important in the dance circuit as repetition of items is a regular feature. Putting up a similar idea in nice words Nrithya Pillai says “(they need to) know how to sing for sancharis- how to sing the same line differently several times without boring an audience.” This should definitely be a point to consider when the dancer is presenting a 30+ mins varnam built on sancharis. Sometimes the pallavi is repeated more than 20 times and it definitely requires some talent in the musician to keep away the auditory boredom that can easily step in if appropriate variation is not attempted. You definitely wouldn’t want somebody to say “padinathaye thenja record mathiri padinduirrukan” quips a rasika and that could in turn mean that all the hard work of the choreographer and dancer in building up the sanchari may get lost. Lakshmi Ramasamy feels that “while elaborating during the sancharis, the singer must be able to hit the right sthayi and retain it for as long as it is needed. Kavitha Ramu on a similar vein says “the singer has to understand to look at the dancer while singing which will help her/him decide where she/he has to provide an emphasis and where he/she has to be subtle.”

Hamsa Venkat also points out that the musician’s stance should be tailored to suit the particular program – (The need to sing just the song or elaborate on a raga and improvise) “depends on the needs of the dancer, if a dancer only wants to present readymade items then there may not be much need (for improvisation or singing a raga)” This situation may be associated with less traditional venues for performing.

Challenges posed to the dance Musician

“(In) concert singing, the musician can have a vision, and let his/her creativity present this vision, for dance singing it is the dancer’s vision and the singer gives shape to this vision with their musical creativity”, opines Hamsa Venkat. In a way, the singer is restricted to an extent by the arrangement of the dance ponders Sumi Krishnan. “(Though) they (dance musicians) are part of the support staff and their first duty is to ensure that the dance programme is a success … singing for dance is in no way inferior”, declares Rajendra Kumar. Passionate Dancer (assumed pseudonym) and Lakshmi Ramasamy see that dance singing can be a challenge to the musicians, just as Asha Ramesh opined. “The vocalist has to follow the dancer, adapt the singing according to the expressions and stories told by the dancer and enable the dancer to react to the music as well… yes, it is very challenging!”(Passionate Dancer). Staying with technique, simultaneously complimenting the dance and the dancer, keeping track of the required number of repetitions, patching flaws of dancer and other musicians, yet proving their skill is the challenge to the dance musician says Lakshmi Ramasamy.

Jayakamala Pandian, daughter of Guru Sri. Swamimalai Rajaratnam Pillai, sums it up saying “singing for dance and concert singing are two different areas and one can specialize in both, like how [the] same dancer can perform two different forms of classical dance forms like Bharathanatyam and Odissi or Kuchipudi and Bharathanatyam. Concert singing needs expertise in Alapana, kalpana swaram, niraval, Ragam Thanam Pallavi and so on. Singing for dance needs expertise in sanchari singing, which can be compared with niraval and perfect coordination with the dancer and the nattuvanar. Also the dance singer should know to control his creativity, follow the dancer with restriction besides proving his artistry.” And above all the musician needs to carve a niche to establish himself/herself in the field. Seems like asking for quite a lot from the dance musician!

Dance For Musicians

• Professional Musicians averse to accompanying Dance Recitals!

The general response among the respondents conveys a fair degree of agreement with the statement (an average agreement score of 7.8), the rasikas strongly agreeing with the statement compared to musicians or dancers. Lakshmi Ramasamy says “it depends on the individual musician”. This perception is also higher among Indian respondents. Elsewhere, the lack of opportunities, make musicians more open to collaborations and exploring other venues.

 “Unfortunately, most of the popular musicians today do not consider dance musicians as part of their clan. This attitude must change,” says Rajendra Kumar, an informed rasika. While it may be ego issues that play a role in a few cases, it may be a realization that they may not justify the manodharma of dance in most cases. Restricting their creativity may be impossible to few musicians (all from anonymous rasikas). “A concert musician feels uncertain (while accompanying a dance recital) because he/she is not in control, (while) the dancer is. If they understand the two different roles as a dance musician and concert musician they can’t be matched.” says Hamsa Venkat.

• Attending dance recitals improves abilities of a musician?

Lakshmi Ramasamy suggests that for those carnatic musicians wanting to attempt singing for dance, it may be helpful to attend dance concerts “to learn to bridge the gaps”. Respondents quite agree that attending dance concerts will improve the musician’s artistic sensibilities. Predictably the dancers agree very strongly with this opinion. Rajendra Kumar agrees with Sri VPD and points out that not many musicians can be seen attending dance concerts. A prominent vocalist in an interview responded that it was not the lyrics of Krishna Nee Begane Baro that helped her bring the vision of Krishna to the audience, but it was rather the gift of the raga. I might have to disagree with that to an extent. Though it could have been her personal experience I would like to recall the words of Mr. N. Pattabhiraman (as quoted in Sruthi, Jan 2009) “Each Kriti contains the genetic code, the DNA imprint… of the particular image of the raga in which it has been created… It is not correct to say that a raga has only one image; in numerous cases, the great vaggeyakars have shown us that a raga has more images than one within its scalar framework, that it has different images when looked at from different angles. The composition, with its sahitya bhava, its basic mood(sthyai bhava) acts as a medium of refraction… I would appreciate it better if the performer presented just one image of the raga, the image that is in conformity with the sahitya bhava of the selected krithi”. This delicate balance of kalpita and kalpana elements may be visualized easily by students of music if they attended, once in a while, good dance recitals, where the emphasis is on the intended bhava and rasas of the compositions presented.

I have two related links to those who are interested in this area.

‘Carnatic musicians and Naatya’ by V. P. Dhananjayan: A response- http://www.narthaki.com/artindex.html

Making music for dance – http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2009/11/06/stories/2009110651430600.htm

 PS: Most, if not all, of the responses used the masculinine pronoun “he” ( I reduced the gender bias by adding in the he/she in the above report) while referring to the singer. I am not reading or concluding anything here!!! 

• • Is an aptitude or knowledge of carnatic music essential to dancers?
  • Can CD replace live music accompaniment?

 The responses to these questions will be discussed in part 3 of the series.

 * data from 27 survey forms used and quotes from a few personal conversations have been used

Filed under: Arts, Australia, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, CD, Carnatic Music, India, Malaysia, NRI, Padam, Prince Rama Varma, Rasika, UK, USA, academics, artists, choreograhers, do's and don'ts for dancers, learning , Aishwarya Ananth, Jayakamala Pandian, Kavitha Ramu, Lakshmi Ramaswamy, Manjari Rajendrakumar, Rajendrakumar

Music in and for Bharathanatyam- A Survey report (Part 1)

“Geetham vaadyam tathaa nrityam, trayam sangeetham uchyate” – Sangeetha Ratnakara

What’s the scene and perception today?-  A survey report

Introduction

Asha Ramesh, a carnatic vocalist trained under Sangeeta Kalanidhi D. K. Jayaraman was hosted on Jaya TV’s Kalaimalar, their morning talkshow. Now a part of Smt . Ranganayaki Jayaraman’s (saraswathi Gana Nilayam) family, she accompanies dance kutcheris in Chennai and in US where she currently resides. She described her experiences as a dance musician. She mentioned that her Guru wasn’t very happy when she mentioned to him that she was considering accompanying dancers! She believes dance music dosent deserve the step-child treatment it currently receives and believes singing for dance can be an intellectual challenge.

Sri. V.P. Dhananjayan in his book “Beyond Performing Art and Culture – Politico-Social aspects’ ” vehemently regrets the current compartmentalisation of dancers and musicians. He says,” I have a problem with Carnatic musicians who do not attend any Bharatanaatyam performances.  I do not know whether they have a superiority complex or whether they feel that they cannot enjoy a Bharatanaatyam performance. If a musician cannot understand or enjoy a Bharatanaatyam performance, I am sorry to say that they are not a “Sangeetagna”. He has also in a response to a comment on the article said “since publishing this article a couple of years ago, the situation has improved for better.” (As quoted in Narthaki.com)

Bombay Jayasri in her recent interview to Sruti recalls how her early dance training at Rajarajeswary Natyalaya at Bombay helped her accompany Leela Samson’s dance recital

Objectives of the Survey

Inspired by the above, we set about doing an article about Music in and for Bharathanatyam for BN & WWW. We planned to look at the general perceptions regarding music in and for dance among dancers, musicians, teachers and rasikas.

Methodology

A questionnaire was randomly emailed to few dancers, musicians, teachers and rasikas who had interacted with BN and WWW on previous occassions.Sydhwaney.com also hosted the questionnaire on their website and replies posted as comments on their website was also used for collecting data. It should be said at the outset, this study may at best be considered a pilot study since n (the number of respondents) is small and no systematic attempt was made to correlate the surveyed proportion of musicians/dancers/teachers/rasikas to what would be a general representative of people in attendance of a dance recital. But nevertheless this small survey would reflect existing expectations and perceptions in the group surveyed.

The survey questionnaire included a total of 9 questions relating to:-

1. What qualities are expected of a musician accompanying a dance recital? (4 ques)
2. Dancers need for music knowledge/appreciation-(2 ques)
3. Does an appreciation of dance improve skill sets of a musician?(1 ques)
4. Do professional singers feel comfortable accompanying dancers? (1 ques)
5. CD as a substitute for live orchestra (1 ques)

Most of the answers needed the respondents to ascribe a numerical value in the space provided at the end of the question/statement.The respondents were asked to rate their responses to a question/statemenr on a scale of 0- 10 , with 0 meaning you strongly disagree and 10 meaning you strongly agree 

0________________________________________10

strongly disagree                                      strongly agree

 For eg, if they strongly felt that good music accompaniment was necessary for a dance program they would perform/attend they score it 10

 A few optional open ended questions were included and the respondents were also given an option to add related information as they deemed fit. The questionnaire was sent initially to a dancer, rasika and musician to verify the face and content value and aptness of the survey material. Modifications suggested were incorporated. The data collection was done between Oct 25th and Nov 8th, 2009.

Observations:

The  demographics of the responses

A total of responses from 26 respondents are used in this survey. Their classification as dancers, musicians, dance teachers and rasikas are based on their voluntary recommendation appropriate to their current situation. There are a few who definitely belong to 2 classes and we placed them in what we considered was the most appropriate. 54% of the respondents were either dancers or dance teachers, 34% rasikas and 12% were musicians, which is so because of the nature of visitors to this blog. Nevertheless it should be noted that this may not be very different from the actual attendees of a dance concert itself, where the audience consists mainly of dance students, dance teachers, rasikas (a major component being family and friends of students/dancers) and very few musicians. But we may never see 12% of the audience being comprised of musicians!  Again because of the viewership pattern of this blog 42% of the respondents are from India and the rest of the responses came from subjects in USA, UK, Malaysia and Australia. It was also noted that the categories of musicians, dancers, rasikas and teachers were equally distributed among participants of the survey from India and abroad.

Comparison of responses among dancers, musicians and rasikas

Click on the image to view an enlarged version.

Comparison of responses from within and outside India

Click on the Imarge to see an enlarged version

These pictures might just give you an idea with regards to the responses. I believe they will make more sense along with the discussion that I am currently working on using the remarks from the survey.

Part 2- Discussions

Filed under: Abhinaya, Arts, Australia, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, CD, Carnatic Music, Chennai, Dance, India, KL, Kuala Lumpur, London, Madras, NRI, Performing Arts, Rasika, UK, USA, academics, artists, choreography, do's and don'ts for dancers, learning, leela samson, students , survey

Orchestrated troubles…

A prominent dancer is getting ready for her program at a dance festival. The vocalist calls in saying she wont be able to make it “Family problems!!!”  The stunned dancer recovers and finds a student with whom she has to make do.

At this place, there are no violinists, the violinist is flown in from neighboring Country (Parents pay for the airfare and the fee). The lonesome Mridangist is supposed to make good the occasion!!! That escalated the arangetram costs people pronounce..

“Are we any less than the Silicon Valley fellows?” Why shouldn’t we expect a good pay?, questions a musician…

Why not CD?

Anitam Ratnam uses them! “High quality CD’s are way better than  “sumar” singing says a teen. A middle aged traditionalist says,” cha what is a dance program without live music”

I ask a talented dancer if the mallari wouldnt look a tad more refined if it was sung at a slighlty slower tempo..

“Akka, it was a commercial recording, they put in as many as possible for economic factors. If I made one to my own choreography a margam would cost me Rs. 30,000!” She sighs and adds who pays me for it though. This will do!

A student checks with her teacher if a commercial recording can be used for performance at school? Go ahead says the teacher, otherwise who would even think of buying those CD’s she quips. They look like Tollywood pieces she smirks because of the speed..

Current forums have suggested training/using upcoming carnatic musicians. One friend says, ” oh she flatly refused to sing for dance, dosent want to spoil her voice ! Even veterans are upset about their stint accompanying the dancers”

“My guru dosent give casettes easily and she dosent let me share them” sadly confesses a dancer to a friend afraid that would end their comradeship.

Well the problem is multidimensional alright..

Using of amateurs trained in carnatic music vocal/instrumental/mridangam seems like a good option as suggested in a few forums, at least where quality artists are unavailable or unaffordable for the particular event . But practice and relearning a few aspects may be necessary and should be taken in the right spirits.

So if you are are a trained carnatic musician(vocalist or instrumentalist) and would like to try accompanying dancers, please leave your  details here

1. Your name and age
2. City/Country of residence
3. Your specialisation (vocal/which instrument)
4. Your training details/how long have you trained/experience etc.
5. Contact email/website URL.

As Ashwini comments, “VDS Arts Academy” has a registry of upcoming musicians and dancers. You could try contacting them for suggestions at :

VDS Arts Academy
(Arts wing of Muthukrishnan Memorial Club),

20,IV Lane, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai – 600034.

Phone: 044 – 28117485 / 24333746 / 28142359 / 94441 72342

e-mail: vdsartsacademy@yahoo.co.in

Filed under: Arts, Bharatanatyam, CD, Carnatic Music, DVD, Dance, India, NRI, Nattuvangam, Performing Arts, Rasika, VCD, artists, choreograhers, choreography, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, students, talent, upcoming artist

Search for “Opportunities” and gaining “Visibility”

These are the 2 questions that I get over and over again from readers…

1. How do you apply or get opportunities to perform in Sabhas (esp Chennai). What is the procedure?
2. How to invite the press/reviewers to your performance?

I discussed these questions with Mr. K.T.. Jagannathan, an art- loving journalist who along with his wife  Mrs. Sudha Jagannathan founded Carnatic Darbar, a website devoted to Indian classical Arts. He came up with the following views/suggestions…

“on your first question
I am a very conventional man. How does it(performance) happen? Traditionally, it had been through the gurus. Even now, it could be through the guru route. Of course, the teachers should be well known, competent and have right connectivity. In the modern day, it also boils down to convincing or working your way to teachers. Often times, we come across parents making a beeline for popular artistes, so that their children could be entrusted with `right artistes’ who could ensure their upward march. also, in many cases, you get cosy with the sabha people so that you get your `due’. Incidentally, we also come across situations where people with talent are approached. I do agree that you need that initial push (in economics you do come across a theory called big push theory). Once you get that much-needed big push, you could move up if you have the proper talent. It also boils down to efficient marketing. Even in journalism, we need to market our story to our bosses so that it is used in the first instance and gets the right position. The name of the game is `marketing acumen’. you need that art (how so ever talented you may be as an artiste) to move up, be visible and achieve success.

On your question II

`Lobbying’ is not a dirty word. it has now become an accepted practice in all spheres. This is well known in the western world. you need a good PR to do that. You have a number of PR agencies that have come up in the last ten years in India, especially since the post-liberalisation era. Their job is to get articles published and sometimes even fixed in newspapers. You can commission them for a fee. They would do all that . today, this intermediary (PR outfits) has virtually taken over the field of journalism. Your job lies in identifiy the right PR who has right network and ability to get things done. So, getting it over into the media is not that difficult these days. And, as you know, many artistes are efficiently doing it. In seveal cases, I have seen artistes themselves turning into good marketing guys .

Filed under: Arts, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Chennai, Dance, India, Madras, Performing Arts, artists, awards, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, program, promotion, review, students, talent, upcoming artist

An anonymous letter to young dancers and their parents!!!

Here is a comment from a fictitious name(INDIAN BRIDE) and from an equally fictitious email id, that I publish, because this is a view point that young dancers( issue not strictly restricted to young artistes alone) and their parents should be aware of/ or consider :-

“Hi Sangeeta

I am a Bharatanatyam student of the yester years brought up in a upper middle class family in Madras. I wasn’t a bad student, went to one of the best Gurus, danced in the group productions of the institute. We didn’t have the money, connections or a good marketing plan that are warranted to become a professional dancer. Even the Rs 2500 or 5000 that we needed to put in to pay the orchestra and organizer of the dance festivals wasn’t a sum we could come up with very often. I had siblings who needed to be taken care of too. As most middle class girls were expected to be, I was a reasonably good student and got a Masters degree. I am not sure if it was to ensure future financial security or to obtain a good “Varan” ( prospective husband). But I continued to harbour this unreasonable belief that I would make it.

Then I got a great hubby from the developed world. I was so happy. It wasn’t easy to find a foreign educated husband who earned well, had his own house and great in laws. They all loved the fact that I looked beautiful and danced well. I went away in all pride bearing dreams to become a “somebody” in the golden land. I don’t exactly mean being a dancer/teacher but even land up with a 9-5 office job. After the initial honeymoon period, the grave reality of the situation began to set in.

The long nails that I so lovingly painted were now broken from all the housework. Then it was 2 pregnancies and child births with minimal assistance. Mothering, diapering etc and before I knew 7 years were done. My kids are young adolescents but now I am constantly behind them to pursue their dreams, chauffeuring them to their classes, being there for whomsoever in the family back home or here needs me. Sometimes when I look at my girls I wonder if all they will lose their dreams like I did.

I just want to let all the young girls and their parents know that if they are really serious about their career as a dancer(or anything at all), then they should chart out their plan much more seriously. To expect compromises only from women somehow seems natural, taken for granted, but, of course, is highly biased. While family circumstances may force our hands, qualified women should never, never waste their talent. The ability of women to multitask is just amazing. Men can, but between work and watching TV or browsing the net etc. Women can multitask doing real tasks – rearing children, running the home, working – with impossible ease.

But all said and done to really believe in your dreams and keep at it is HARD”

Concerned Parent

Dear Indian Bride,

Thanks for sharing your views here. I really appreciate the concern and goodwill behind this gesture.

Best wishes,

Sangeetha

Filed under: Dance, India, Madras, NRI, Performing Arts, Rasika, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, students, talent, upcoming artist , parenting

Interesting read from The Hindu’s Dance/Music Season Coverage..

• Importance of the Orchestra that accompanies a dance recital..Murali Parthasarathy, Swamimalai K Suresh, Radha Badri and G. Vijayaraghavan tell us more about it at http://www.hindu.com/ms/2009/01/07/stories/2009010750010100.htm
• Double Impact: Two is company. Especially for some on whom the Margazhi spotlight has fallen over the years, be it in the field of music or dance. The Dhananjayans, the Reddys and Narasimhachari-Vasanthalakshmi have paved the way for many others to follow. The Margazhi Vizha has, over the years, thrown up some very talented pairs. Here are a few who have made a mark:  Read more at http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/01/02/stories/2009010250990400.htm
• A discussion on ‘Aesthetic Purpose of Bharatanatyam’ led by eminent music and dance scholar, Thanjavur B.M. Sundaram, with a panel of distinguished practitioners such as gurus Adyar Lakshman, Indira Rajan, Nandini Ramani and Jayanthi Subramaniam last Sunday, turned out to be a very lively and informative one. It was organised by Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha . http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/01/09/stories/2009010951200600.htm. Topics discusseed include:-
  • History of nomenclature of Bharathanatyam
  • Differentiating Theermanam and Jathi
  • Thanjavur Quartet-streamlined margam
  • Balamma’s style
  • Alarippu accompanied by Tirupugazh
  • Compering for a dance show (Interesting points here)
  •  Ancedotes on Pandanallur Jayalakshmi and Shanmuga Vadivu

Filed under: Bharatanatyam, Bharathakalanjali, Bharathanatyam, Chennai, Dance, Dance Gurus, December season., Dhananjayan, India, Kalakshetra, Madras, Madras Music Season, Madras dance Festival, Male Bharathanatyam dancer, Performing Arts, Shanta, artists, choreograhers, choreography, dance festival, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, talent, upcoming artist , Anuradha, Anusha, Narasimhachari, Narendrakumar, Parvathy, sridhar, Srikanth, Vasanthalakshmi

Lec-Dem of interest to dancers

Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha Music education series has some fantastic lec dems lined up during Dec.16 2008 to Jan 3 , 2009

Here are a few lecture demonstrations that may be of interest to dancers…

18 Dec. 2008, Theme for Bharatanatyam- Thirukkural to Puthukavithai, by Smt. Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, at Vidya Bharathi,55, Bheemasena Garden Road, Mylaopre, Chennai 4, Ph 2499 1248, 8.30-9.30am

20 Dec 2008, Rasanai ennum Yogam, By Neyveli Sri. Santhanagopalan, at Vidya Bharathi,55, Bheemasena Garden Road, Mylaopre, Chennai 4, Ph 2499 1248, 8.30-9.30am

22 Dec, 2008, Tamil Compositions in sangeetha Sampradaya pradarshini by Dr. R.s. Jayalakshmi,at Vidya Bharathi,55, Bheemasena Garden Road, Mylaopre, Chennai 4, Ph 2499 1248, 8.30-9.30am

29 Dec 2008,

Tillana and its special features, Dr. M.B. vedavalli, at Vidya Bharathi,55, Bheemasena Garden Road, Mylaopre, Chennai 4, Ph 2499 1248, 8.30-9.30am

Lecture by Dr S Raghuraman on  ‘Dravidaththil Taai deiva vazhipaadu’ (worship of mother goddess in Tamil culture). Demonstration by Lakshmi Ramaswamy and her students for Katik Fine Arts at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

31 Dec, 2008, Compositions on Godess lakshmi by various composers by Dr. V.V. srivatsava at Vidya Bharathi,55, Bheemasena Garden Road, Mylaopre, Chennai 4, Ph 2499 1248, 8.30-9.30am

All /Most of them are free

Dec 17-Dec 23, 2008

The annual Natya Kala Conference of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha will commence on December 17. The conference will continue till December 23. This time around, the theme of the conference is: “Ramayana in Performing Arts”. Dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant will be the convenor of the conference. 3/4 presentations looking at  the Epic’s various aspects/angles are lined up per day. The timing being 9.30am to around 1 pm on all these days.

For schedules and topics  visit Carnatic Darbar click here

Narthaki’s coverage of the Natyakala conference- click here

Filed under: Arts, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Chennai, Conference, Dance, December season., India, Madras, Madras Music Season, Madras dance Festival, Performing Arts, Rasika, Tamil, Workshops, artists, choreograhers, dance festival, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, program, students , lec-dem, Natyakala Conference, Sri Krishna Gana sabha, Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha

Parenting issues – a “Royal” insight…

Parents play a very important role in moulding kids, and in creating creators, lovers and sustainers of any Art form (Bharathanatyam included ofcourse).  Apart from their important role in genetic transmission of aptitude (and potential ??) and creating an environment that provides an exposure and sustained interest in pursuit of art education,  they also  naturally become the financial sponsors, motivators and first reviewers. They sometimes do double up as the event manager, the kid artist’s propaganda machinery,  the coach who charts out their ward’s artistic journey…

But in today’s rat race,amidst the cut-throat competition(I mean the environment and the  various contests) and reality TV  game shows, aren’t there times all of us have stopped to think if we(as parents) are on the right track? (I immediately recall the pig race at the Bangkok Zoo- dont know why this association  is an automatic reflex kind of a thing).

Here is a write up by Prince Rama Varma on the subject, that was posted at a discussion at rasikas.org. I post an excerpt from the same with his consent .

As for reality shows, I once made the mistake of appearing as a “Celebrity Judge” (Two words that I dislike equally) in a supposedly “Carnatic Music” based reality show. I wrote a heavily censored version of what I felt afterwards in the form of an article that I would like to share with you now. But I couldn’t find a single paper that would publish it in it’s unedited form, for reasons
that I leave you to guess.
Here’s the article on reality shows that I mentioned.

The Harsh Reality
——————
According to our ancient scriptures the six deadly sins are Kaama (Lust/Desire), Krodha (Anger),  Lobha (Miserliness), Moha (Temptation), Mada (Arrogance) and Maathsarya (Competitiveness.).
The last in the list seems to have been overshadowed by the previous ones  in people’s consciousness. Yet these days, Maathsarya seems to be the order of the day. One finds parents giving children names beginning with A in the expectation that later in life, should they share the same score with someone else for some competitive exam, they should get an edge over the other person at least alphabetically. It is only a question of time before we get to meet people with names spelt Aanand, Aaarathi, Aaaarsehole and so on. I remember reading somewhere that even if one were to score a victory in the rat race, one would still remain a rat. *Ouch!*
                              Yes, one has to earn a living. Yes, it is a cut throat world out there. Yes, one is taught to run faster,  push harder, fly higher. While qualities like grace, tolerance, kindness, patience, generosity and gentleness take a back seat, attributes like speed, smartness, efficiency, competance, decisiveness and ruthlessness are lauded. Mass production is in. Individual attention is out. Excitement is in. Tranquillity, out. In the middle of all this, one finds the mad rush of desparately unhappy souls seeking solace in the anodyne company of so called enlightened souls and lifestlye gurus who calmly end up making more money than corporate giants do and quietly satisfy their love of power by spouting tried and tested cliches about the power of love. Consolation pours out, money pours in. And the poor devotees eventually end up seeing the so called Gurus as the ultimate destination rather than as guides to show them the way to salvation. Quite sad really.
                                  In this scenario the need for each of us to find peace, solace and fulfilment Within is more urgent than ever before. And this is where the fine arts come in, be it music, dance, poetry or painting. Here’s Gustave Flaubert writing to a friend about great art.
“The most beautiful works….are serene in aspect, unfathomable. The means by which they act on us are various : they are motionless as cliffs, stormy as the sea, leafy, green and murmurous as the forest, forlorn as the desert, blue as the sky. Rabelais, Goethe, Shakespeare and Michelangelo seem to me PITILESS. They are bottomless, infinite, manifold. Through small apertures we glimpse abysses whose sombre depths turn us faint. And yet over the whole, there hovers an extraordinary Tenderness. It is like the brilliance of light, the smile of the sun….and it is calm…..calm and strong.” I know dozens of educated, affluent young people who speak with affected accents, write in text messagelike abbreviations and consider themselves super cool who would go “F*** man !  What the hell is this dude goin on about ?” if they were to read Flaubert’s lines or for that matter
my own lines. While wishing them a safe journey to the therapist’s couch later in life, let us ponder ahwile on the significance of the arts. And what is happenning to them these days.
                                   Since the dawn of the fine arts, there have been people who have practised……rather, Lived….art for art’s sake as well as those who have been hungry for fame and fortune. Many of the former have lived and died unknown and unrecognized and some of them have been hailed as having been truly great, long after their time. Many among the latter have enjoyed huge celebrity during their lifetime, but have faded into oblivion later. Having had the privilege of interacting closely with some amazing people from both categories and having seen the downside of sticking to either extreme (Completely idealistic or totally commercial), I have come to believe that it is possible to strike a healthy balance between these two courses of action in art and for that matter, in life itself. But I digress.
                                       I wish to share some thoughts about Maathsaryam or competitiveness in the arts. While I enjoy the thrill of a well fought match as much as any normal person, be it the finals at Wimbledon between Borg and Mc Enroe or Federer and Nadal in recent times, watching, enjoying and being inspired by the timeless charm and brilliance of Muhammed Ali’s legendary fights against Frazier, Foreman and others or experiencing the mad frenzy of attending a snake boat race, live at Alleppy, bobbing up and down in a boat surrounded by inebriated Keralite men and  bemused tourists, I somehow fail to see the point in bringing an Unhealthy element of competition into the arts…..”Unhealthy” with a Capital U. Why should we go into who was better…..Mozart or Beethoven ? Kishore or Rafi ? Van Gogh or Remembrant ? Thyagaraja or Dikshithar ? Shakespeare or Bacon ? Maupassant or Maugham ? Asterix or Tintin ? S.D.Burman or R.D.Burman ? Nargis or Madhubala ? While one may certainly have preferences, it is sad to be so fiercely loyal to one artist or school of art art that one is rendered deaf or blind to the charms offered by another. I see art, along with yoga and meditation, as a means to Ease tension rather than to generate further tension. By this, I don’t wish to imply that all forms of art should act as opiates or sedatives. Not at all. Clarifying the mind is in fact the opposite of numbing it. There can be tension within art too. And it can be uplifting, energizing and beautiful too. One can be blown away by the passion in the music of Beethoven or the poetry of Jacques Brel. But this tension and resolution within art is completely different from the tension arising from trying to prove that Vilayat Khan was better than Nikhil Bannerjee or vice versa, for instance.
                                            These days, tension and competitiveness of the ugliest and unhealthiest kind invades our lives and our homes every day in the form of reality shows on television. Who am I to complain if there are people who are prepared to eat cockroaches or drink vomit to try and win $25000 ? Or to remain cooped up inside a house for weeks together with a dozen other similarly ambitious souls and be constantly monitored by cameras and judged by the viewers ? And who am I to rue the state of mind of the people who view these shows ? It is just a question of economics……supply and demand. And the silver lining is that these reality shows eat up into a lot of time otherwise devoted to TV serials revolving around sordid family dramas. What pains me is how something as divine and sublime as music gets treated in these shows……by the producers of the show, by the judges, by the participants and by the viewers. British comedian cum author Ben Elton has written two books…..Dead Famous and Chart Throb….spoofing shows like Big Brother and American Idol respectively. Apart from the fact that they are extremely funny and incisive, they both are rather heart breaking too…..especially Chart Throb…since there is so much truth in what the author says, about what exactly happens in these reality shows. The rigging, the politics, the power play, the artifice, the drama, the destruction of dreams and the total absence of any kind of ethics or morals, purely for the sake of entertaining the viewers, consequently roping in more people to send text messages and ultimately making even more money for the producer. Ben Elton sums it up succinctly in one line “One winner. And a whole bunch of losers.” (The winner being the producer of the show, by the way…not the second best contestant who is usually made to win, supposedly based on SMS votes.)
                                                What provoked me to write this article was a so called “Carnatic Music based” reality show that has started recently in a Malayalam channel. The contestants are aged between 10 and 15. Since most of them are ordinary kids and not little Mozarts or Ramanujams, their knowledge of and grounding in the science and art of carnatic music is limited at best and quite normal for their age. While the best thing for these kids to do at this stage would be to listen to hours and hours of good classical music concerts by various great masters and Not get involved with any other kind of music till their grounding in the classical idiom becomes firm, solid and unshakable, the producers of the show have added rounds for light classical music (Which pollutes the real thing like few other things do, if one indulges in this before one is firmly grounded), singing for dance, jugalbandis and fusion. According to these parameters, set by the grossly misguided producers, most of the great masters of South Indian classical music would fail to win this contest. Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai, M.D.Ramanathan, Semmangudi, Madurai Mani Iyer and others would be knocked out in no time at all. Yes, the times, they are a changin’ as the song goes. And it may not be fair to plant musicians from half a century ago in this context and wonder how they would have fared. But what is undeniable is just how wrong a message is being transmitted by the producers of the show both to the viewers in general and to aspiring children and their parents in particular.
                                                 The major reason why nobody seems to be able to make the kind of perfect violin Antonio Stradivarius did more than two centuries ago, why nobody seems to be able to build a structure like the Acropolis any more, why nobody writes the kind of music Beethoven wrote and why nobody seems to be able to accomplish a tiny percentage of what Michelangelo accomplished doesn’t seem to be because of a short supply of brilliant minds around…..on the contrary, seriously talented and brilliant children are a dime a dozen these days…..but because the time, energy and focus of our kids these days gets scattered over a variety of things. And we get generations and generations of kids who are okay in several things, who do well in a few things but few of whom eventually do anything so great that they would “leave their footprints in the sands of time”, even if the phrase may sound pretentious. And we hang our heads in collective shame each time the Olympics comes around when India comes back with a single bronze medal and perhaps a silver, while countries so many times smaller and poorer than ours rake in the gold medals. But I digress again…..somewhat, though not totally.
                                                   To come back to the point in question….why this so called Carnatic music based show bothers me so much…..
1) It gives people the completely wrong impression that one has to sing several kinds of related and unrelated music to become a Carnatic musician, Especially during the Formative years when itis in fact completely destructive, damaging and dangerous for a student of music to do so.
2) When the participants are innocent ten year olds who may not yet be familiar with the harsh realities of life,
it would definitely crush their spirit and injure them deeply at a psychological level when they know that though they sang better, a less competant singer with greater political clout and consequently more SMS votes walked off with the trophy.
3) While it maybe a noble idea to render classical art forms less exclusive, the right way to do it would be to educate and enlighten the listeners and not pervert and bastardize the art form itself in the guise of making it more “User friendly.”
                                                    I already feel sorry for the poor parents of the losers, each of whom will have to cope with a bitter, depressed, demoralized and confused kid in their hands. And because of what ? Because of competing by singing songs composed by people like Thyagaraja, most of which are replete with messages which go Directly against Every Single thing these TV shows stand for !  Ironic, really. At this rate it won’t be long before they have reality shows featuring competitions in Yoga and meditation. The kids may suffer, people like me may rave and rant, but the producers laugh all the way to the bank. A handful of heart broken and messed up kids doesn’t seem to be too great a price to pay for the money they make or at least hope to make.
I do wonder about the parents though. Are they simply misguided or are they so totally blinded by ambition that they fail to see what a mess they are getting their children into ? At least Hollywood has the honesty to call it “Show Business” which is what it actually Is. But it is sickening how these people try to promote it as some sort of noble service they are rendering by “bringing more people……children as well as adults….closer to classical music.”
                                                       Wise people from all parts of the world ask us to view everything in a positive light. So let us celebrate the fact that our children get a significant head start over people of our generation in gaining first hand experience of one of the six deadly sins. Whether they ever get to sing Thodi or Bhairavi correctly or not, the smart ones from among these kids will soon learn about the six Ms they would need to succeed in life. Money, Money, Money, Money, Money…..and Money. And the show goes on. May the best win.

Rama Varma.
January 2008.

I am not saying we need to compromise on getting kids to take Art seriously… but I am just saying probably let’s not go overboard with all this obsession with ranking. I am just wondering if things would have been different if the “Top Artistes” of today grew under similar pressures. More interestingly will this environment  be condusive for creation of  divine compostions that will stand the test of time?

Filed under: Arts, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Dance, India, Kerala, NRI, Performing Arts, Prince Rama Varma, South Asian Dance, artists, awards, competitions, contest, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, promotion, students, talent, upcoming artist

Sruthi- a magazine for Indian Music and Dance

Here is a magazine that most of you would love to subscribe.. “Sruthi”

To know a little more about this magazine which recently celebrated its Silver Jubilee, here is an excerpt of a write up from their website..

Sruti is India’s leading monthly devoted to Indian classical music and dance and theatre. The target audience of Sruti comprises several groups. These include lay music and lay dance enthusiasts, connoisseurs, musicians, dancers, teachers, scholars and students of the fine arts, institutions and organisations active in the field and officials of Government agencies concerned with the arts.
Many customs that have today come to be recognised as established best practices in the performing arts especially in south India have been the result of Sruti’s systematic campaigns in favour of good taste, decorum and performance excellence. Among its early triumphs was the restoration of the importance of ragam-tanam-pallavi, which had become conspicuous by its absence on the concert platform.

For over two decades, Sruti has constantly practised what it preaches—adherence to high standards of authenticity, objectivity, sophisticated writing based on thorough research, and a healthy respect for individuals and institutions, balanced by an equally healthy irreverence towards holy cows. Sruti is not an academic journal, even though it carries scholarly and technical articles from time to time.

Sruti’s several profiles of the leading exponents of music and dance have been pathbreaking in the annals of Indian journalism, as have been its special projects to document the teaching methodology and stylistic characteristics of leading schools of dance and music. It is a veritable treasurehouse of in-depth knowledge of the many centres of excellence—the kshetras which have served to propagate the classical arts of India.

Started under private auspices, Sruti was promoted as a not-for-profit venture and placed under a Trust in April 1985 when the Sruti Foundation was established with Founder-Editor N Pattabhi Raman as its Managing Trustee. Sruti, is its `flagship’ endeavour, while Samudri (Subbulakshmi-Sadasivam Music & Dance Resources Institute), is an ambitious initiative towards archiving valuable resource material in music and dance and promoting research and cooperative endeavours to ensure the sustainable development of the performing arts, based on traditional ideas and practices.
Other information

Special projects:

National Seminar on Bharatanatyam Dance Traditions

Analysis of the music of violin maestro Lalgudi G. Jayaraman

Analysis of the music of Carnatic vocal maestro G N Balasubramaniam

Bridging the North-South Divide – discussions on Carnatic & Hindustani music

Seminar on E. Krishna Iyer’s role in the Renaissance of Bharatanatyam

Books published:

Bala on Bharatanatyam

Semmangudi – A Mosaic Portrait

Thakur Jaideva Singh – A Great Savant

Awards

The Sruti Foundation instituted the E Krishna Iyer Medal in 1989, to be awarded to an individual or institution who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and promotion of Bharatanatyam traditions. The Medal is presented every alternate year.

The Sruti Foundation has also been entrusted with the task of administering TWO awards:

The Vellore Gopalachariar Award instituted by mridanga vidwan Vellore Ramabhadran, in memory of his father Vellore Gopalachariar. This award is given to a deserving musician every year.

The M Venkatakrishnan Memorial Award instituted by Bharatanatyam & Kuchipudi exponent Ramaa Bharadvaj of California, in memory of M Venkatakrishnan, the head of the cultural organisation called Sankarabharanam. This award is to be presented to an organiser of cultural events every alternate year.

The Indira Memorial Scholarship instituted by her family members, to be awarded to a talented but economically backward music student.

You can sample the current issue of the magazine at http://www.sruti.com/index.php

You can subscribe to/renew the magazine online at http://www.sruti.com/onlinesubscription.php

Subscription Charges (Inclusive of taxes)

For India  Rs. 540 /-

For countries other than India  Rs. 2110 /-

I have personally subscribed to the magazine  and their customer support is excellent and emails are promptly attended to.

Filed under: Arts, Bharatanatyam, Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Chennai, Dance, Dance Gurus, History of Bharathanatyam, India, Introduction, Madras, NRI, Performing Arts, Rasika, artists, books, do's and don'ts for dancers, experiences, learning, promotion, review, students