May 09, 2008
Dancing in the FamilyDance
He is tall, slim, and strikingly long limbed. Dressed in jewel-colored silk tunics and antique ornaments that are family heirlooms, he looks more like a handsome young maharaja than a traditional South Indian dancer. Newsweek
Yes, I know, vomit, it sounds like more exoticizing pablum from a mainstream media source. But getting past the opening drivel, this article (posted in the news tab, thanks Brij01!) turned out to be about a rather fascinating family:
Aniruddha Knight is the ninth generation heir of a 200-year-old family of professional dancers and musicians from Chennai, India. He is also half American. His father, Douglas Knight, married into this artistically rich family when he studied classical drumming on a South Indian mridangam at Wesleyan University, where Aniruddha’s late grandmother—T. Balasaraswati, India’s prima danseuse—and her two musician brothers had taught since 1962.
Aniruddha followed his mother and grandmother, continuing the family’s bharatanatyam tradition:
Knight is fluent in Tamil, his mother’s language, and spends half a year in India, performing and learning from aunts and cousins who had worked with his mother. He has established a school and an archive of family history in Chennai. (The Smithsonian boasts an archive of Bala’s performances, too.) It houses all the records of his grandmother’s performances.
About his mixed parentage:
“It’s isolating to identify with two cultures, it creates a split personality. I can never be just one or the other, it’s a heartwrenching lonely process. But then, what I have, many don’t have.”
Those against mixed marriages often cite fear of waning traditions, culture, language, etc., as a reason to date within one’s own ethnic community. So it’s heartwarming to see this family’s artistic legacy continuing on, and even thriving, under the stewardship of its youngest, half-desi member. But do other half-desis feel the same sense of loneliness and isolation?
Most that I’ve known feel as though they have a deeper connection to both, not an alienation from either, but it’s clearly a personal path. I’m curious to hear any stories readers might have to share on this topic.
Also, I watched a bit of his performance here, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m a rank ignoramus about bharatanatyam, so perhaps I’m just used to the more typical form:
However, the version that Knight dances is stylistically unique. It originated as a temple offering performed by young women who were dedicated to serving God by retelling ancient Hindu myths through music and dance in the temple courtyard.
He sings while dancing as well, which threw me off a bit. But, again, this could be entirely due to my own lack of knowledge. His hand movements are beautiful though…I encourage anyone with a bharatanatyan background to please take a look and share your thoughts.
cicatrix on May 9, 2008 08:30 PM in Dance, Identity, Profiles · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
As the father of a blended desi it will be informative to hear from those of mixed backgrounds.
My wife studied Bharatanatyam for many years and from my conversations with her Telugu friends it seems like it's a rite of passage for South Indian girls. I'm already being told by my mother-in-law that Asha will be taking Bharatanatyam, to which I reply "it will be great training for lacrosse (my sport)..."
It's a beautiful dance form. Hopefully if all things go well in the next month Asha's Dad will be Asha's and Anjali's Dad....
I have seen the great Bala herself (Aniruddha's grandmother) dance the song that is in this video of Aniruddha and it remains etched in my memory till today, esp the devotion with which she danced. Hers is a style that needs some getting used to, and different from the more common schools of Bharatanatyam. (Kalakshetra, Pandanallur etc.) Thanks for writing about this.
Congratulations Asha's (and soon to be Anjali's) dad! And very best wishes.
:)
That's the first time I've seen a publication cite someone as half-*nationality*. Usually, it would be written as him being the son of an American father....
Though technically since he spends half a year in India and presumably half in the U.S. it makes sense culturally. But I don't recall ever seeing it used--half American.
Would you like "Evil-but-Correct Nayagan" or "Felicitous-Because-He-Knows-Better Nayagan" to comment here?
Not a hard call--definitely "Evil-but-Correct Nayagan"!!
Plus, in Tamil as well as English--I need to keep up my practice!!
No wonder I always felt isolated from other Indian girls growing up... I never took bharatnatyam! (If only that were the only reason :P) All joking aside, I've never seen singing/mouthing of words during Bharatnatyam performances, but perhaps that's because I haven't seen this particular style. I feel like it takes away from his facial expressions/gestures, though.
Bharatanatyam has become the de rigueur ballet class of the Indian diaspora. All the little desi girls go through it while in elementary school, but very, very few continue on beyond that. The biggest roadblock are our bharatanatyam teachers, mostly first generation Indians who were trained by serious gurus back home in the traditional way, with an emphasis on learning and perfection rather than performing and sharing.
My daughter went to two different schools where the teachers would not allow most of the students to participate in the school's performances for parents because the girls, in their estimation, weren't ready yet. So the kids went through years of dance drill every Saturday without ever tasting the reward of putting on beautiful costumes and make-up and performing on stage for their family and friends. Ridiculous!
However, for many years, my daughter did attend one great school in Chicago which understood the parental and community aspects of this enrichment program for kids, which is all bharatanatyam in the US is, and should be. That school, thanks to the vision of the teacher and with a little help from us board members, has become a major force in the community. She is putting little desi kids on stage at top venues such as the Museum of Natural History and Chicago Public Library. What an experience for the kids, not to mention the overworked parents who dutifully drive their little children to dance class every Saturday through the freezing Chicago winter!
My advice to all bharatanatyam teachers out there - please, don't lose your perspective. You are offering an enrichment program for little kids, not recruiting raw talent to your gurukul. Sure, a few will become near professionals, but your real contribution to the community would still be the thousands of second and third generation Indians who, thanks to you, learned a little something of their roots and traditions while growing up in a vast ocean of cultural anonymity called the US of A.
(My populist theory on the subject does not necessarily reflect my knowledge of the Indian classical art forms.)
That is a big deal for a half ABCD considering most full ABCDs dont even speak their parent's language. Tamil women seem to hold on to their culture even after marrying outside community. Hema Malini married the punjabi Dharmendra but her children speak Tamil and not punjabi. My observation is that the number of tamil women marrying outside community is very high (infact its skewed) compared to other desi communities. I wonder why?
There are kids in Punjab who don't speak Punjabi. Hema Malini's daughters couldn't even really speak Hindi...this despite growing up in Mumbai...now the one who's trying hard to build up her Bollywood career (Esha Deol) has practiced and practiced and hired tutors and what not, and can finally speak Hindi...for the sake of her acting career of course. Hrithik Roshan was another who needed to hire tutors when he launched his acting career...a childhood lived in Mumbai wasn't enough.
As for Tamils, quite a few seem to manage to preserve the language amongst their younger generation...but many do not. It's a common northern Indian perception that southern Indians are more proud of their languages and make sure to pass them on, but I think the ground reality is that they probably do so at rates similar to other Indians.
THAT I fully agree with.
Hmm...interesting. His style is quite different from the more common styles seen today, but the singing (mouthing of lyrics) is quite common in traditional Bharatanatyam - you are supposed to sign along, and was (is) easier to do when most people who learnt dance also learnt music.
Floridian, regarding your interpretation of what learning bharatanatyam should be like in the US, I am one of those who really dislike the new(er) tendency for every elementary school aged girl of Indian origin to be in a dance class of some kind. Most of the children have very little interest, their families have no background in dance, and no interest in learning about the background or music associated with it, so dance sessions become more-or-less aerobic sessions set to carnatic music and many of the teachers are themselves not very good but see a way to fill a demand and the number of dance schools is mushrooming across the country. I agree that the kids should be allowed to dance at their own dance-school's annual performance, but not with the idea of having half-trained or poorly trained dancers at events at museums etc. Exposing American audiences to shoddily danced Bharatanatyam is not doing anyone a favour in my opinion. I don't see ballet schools putting unskilled learners on stage in public productions - why is Bharatanatyam any different? It is a classical dance form, needing years of training and dedicated practice, not a half-hearted weekend class.
Bitterlemons
A. Knight looks like a great dancer. I have noticed male Bharatnatyam dancers are a bit rare and half desi dancers even more rare.
7 · Floridian said
Floridian,
all due respect, but i've seen very good samples of the US teacher-taught population (50-70 girls every year at an intensive dance camp for the past 19 years) and the bit about high standards preventing poor little girls from having fun on stage is simply not true. Most teachers are not anywhere near as strict and do not, in general, care to teach proper form (let alone posture!) as their gurus would have been in the Desh. My mother has taught here for over 24 years, and I have accompanied her to both coasts, during the course of which I did find that teachers were driven in large part by pressure from parents to put little Priyanka/Sarika/Radhika on stage within six months, with 18 costume changes so all their friends can come and watch an abomination born of little patience, overbearing parental desires to live vicariously through their child, and general keepin-up-with-the-Patels malarkey that produces the same kind of pick-it-up-and-drop-it mentality that accompanies so many forays into other extracurricular activities.
How much were you paying per class? I feel, and correct me if I am wrong here, that you valued the class at a dollar amount far below what you were paying. In that case, I'd say it's cheaper to buy costumes for your kids, take a bunch of pictures, put them on a wall and dissemble for the mutual enjoyment of your guests who inquire and the people in on the joke.
Parents are in a very vulnerable position--and it's not by an evil teacher suctioning cash out of the wallet only to 'keep the little one back'--it's the point at which the parent sees their child in class, or on stage, and doesn't have the critical background to know whether their child is doing well/improving/achieved a particular standard. Some teachers are honest and tell you that they're not ready for the stage--that's okay! In fact the Arangetram is supposed to be your first public performance--and I only reached this standard after 8 years of practice!
If you, however, want a tv-dinner Bharatanatyam (i almost cannot even bring myself to dignify such a travesty with the word), of the sort which quickly shuffles your children into costumes and onto a stage, then so be it. Just do not expect anyone who knows better to watch a video of your child's performance, or even see a picture, and given an honest compliment. Your child will appreciate your going to a teacher who can teach them to be a good dancer--maybe not now, but in a few years when they are mature enough to appreciate it.
You would think, also, that the market would continually select the TV-Dinner teachers as they provide fast-maturing, early-rewards product. But in my own experience I have seen streams of students leave other teachers (in the local area and beyond) and ask my mother, a disciplinarian from the old-school and no shirker of necessary form instruction, if they can take classes from her. She turns down a few hopefuls every week. But does this mean that she doesn't put kids on stage? No. You cannot expect little children to suddenly be able to do all the aduvus in combination with heavy abhinaya when they're simply not co-ordinated enough to do them properly--you compose simpler pieces, set to whatever instrumental music you find appropriate (could be vivaldi...could be a folk song) and choreograph imaginatively with the understanding that your dancers have limited skills. It works.
Most of the time, it does seem like parents push their daughters into Bharatanatyam classes simply because they want to one-up the desi neighbors and be able to brag about how "cultured" their daughters are.
Bharatanatyam is much more work than people make it out to be. You can't just put your daughter in a class, expect her to learn a dance, and then expect her to be performing all over the place. It just doesn't work like that. I've seen painfully awkward performances where you know that the parent (or the grandparent, in some cases) is just pushing the child to perform, and there's no real love for the dance itself. When a dancer truly loves her art, the audience knows.
That being said, I don't think that teachers here are quite so perfectionist when it comes to teaching. Most of them probably take most students who express an interest in learning dance, however, the process of learning dance itself often weeds out those who are motivated by others and those who are self-motivated. It took me 8 years of learning dance before I was ready for my Arangetram, and let me tell you, you definitely need to love the art form to go through that. It's a great experience, but you need to be self-motivated and really love to dance if you want to make it the best performance possible.
I don't think teachers should be obligated to rush students onto the stage. A student's performance does reflect on the teacher, and if a student does poorly, anyone with any sort of dance experience will wonder what's wrong with the teacher for putting someone who obviously isn't ready to perform on stage. As I said before, I have seen extremely awkward performances, where the dancer froze up out of nervousness, got stage fright, or kept forgetting bits of the dance. Heck, I have been that dancer before. For someone who honestly wants to do well, being rushed on stage like that when you don't have the time or the opportunity to perfect the dance, it can be almost traumatizing. Perhaps I'm blowing it out of proportion, but in my 13-year-old mind at the time, I certainly did feel angry about it.
I certainly would not condone the trivializing of a classical art form by letting the young ones prance around on stage to merely fan their parents' egos. Some of you took it to that extreme but that isn't what I said. I am not a cultural ignoramus and do understand Indian classical music, bharatanatyam and kathak.
My comments were directed to the rigid and archaic thinking of many dance teachers who, in my opinion, do not embrace the reality, which is that bharatanatyam is an extracurricular activity for desi children, and that does not devalue the art form. There are American kids learning ballet and the violin, and playing soccer. Should bharatanatyam be regarded as something more unattainable and purer than ballet and classical violin? I would rather 1,000 desi kids experience at least a modicum of bharatanatyam, and perform to the best of their abilities, than relegate 990 of them to years of dance drills without a chance of performing a full dance. Any trainer of any discipline, whether bharatanatyan, ballet, graphic arts, business management or driving a car, will tell you that real-world experience is an essential part of training.
Here's a question for the teachers who disagree with my views. Why are you continuing to accept money from the parents of those 1,000 kids? Why not institute a screening process to accept only the few who show promise and then kick them out of class after a year if they are not Arangetram material? You will have exactly five top-notch kids left in your school, and maybe that's your crowning glory if you have no desire to disseminate a classical art form to the masses and touch the lives of thousands of children.
#13 Nayagan:
Since you said your mother was a bharatanatyam teacher, I suppose you will have an opinion on the paltry amount of money being paid for this valuable training. Let me tell you what I paid. It was only $80 per month, but I spent 2 hours every Saturday morning taking my daughter to bharatanatyam class after having put in a 60-hour work week and another 8 hour day coming up before Sunday night. Additionally, I helped out the dance school helping during performances and contributed my business expertise by serving on the board.
The "Patels," as you call the parents, do make sacrifices to expose their little ABD's to our culture, and they should be appreciated by the guardians and providers of our culture rather than arrogantly dismissed as unworthy of the thousand-year old this or that. Here I am not only speaking as a parent but as a bharatanatyam insider who has helped at least one school. Cultural elitism can be cultural suicide.
Nayagan,
Agreed, cent per cent. And you know about that little girl who was enchanted by the costumes, but whose face fell when she turned up for her first dance lesson - Maaum! The girls look so plain!
15 · Floridian said
Floridian,
extremes? not at all--I HAVE REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE--this the reality I've seen throughout my life. IMO floridian, you lack credibility here to comment on the 'mind-set' of teachers that you've never met, never seen perform (or seen performances of their students). If you don't trust me--that's fine--you're just like the umpteen clueless parents who've tried to bribe my mother into advancing their child from stumbling wonder to arangetram stage without the needed work.
You claim to know what classical Indian dance is--if you did you'd know that the object is not only to become acculturated but attain the proficency necessary to get on stage and perform the full complement of classical pieces. You seem to have skipped the last part of my comment where i explained what is realistic for students who have only a little experience in class--non-classical items.
What you're asking is for them to learn to run before walking which is, obviously, impossible. Performing is not 'real world experience'--a concept which has no corrolary in the performing arts. And yes, Bharatanatyam is different because ballet/soccer/etc did not start out as forms of temple worship and the songs which accompany dancers doing classical items are redolent with references to devotion--is that really packagable into a 3-month, one class per week product? No. How do I know? Real world experience.
guess what, the 'drills' as you put it are the ONLY building blocks of all those fluid movements you see on stage--without the drills, without perfecting Adavus, there is no dance.
And whether you believe it or not, my mother has touched thousands of kids with the gift of acculturation and great form--starting young and emphasizing good instruction brings everyone up to the same basic standard needed for a full performance of classical items.
If your teacher does not clearly lay out what her expectations are (and i'm not talking about your 6yr olds--if you expect it at that age, you're clearly hopeless), it's perfectly reasonable to wonder why she/he accepts your money. Then also wonder if that teacher is teaching full-time, does not have a 'real' job, does not have a spouse/benefactor to pay all the bills. Try being Bharatanatyam teacher when you're dirt poor and raising a child that falls ill every few weeks. Try that and come back with your glibertarian take.
It really depends. In the case of th Knights the father is deeply committed to Indian culture. Here in the US, mixed couples often hail from upper middle class backgrounds and as such are on equal footing in determining how their kids will be raised. From what I have seen the situation is more varied in the UK
My advice to prospective parents: don't take the plunge if you're looking for someone else to do your work for you and don't complain if you didn't do the research and didn't know how long it takes for someone to become a dancer. Blaming it on the teacher is the most cowardly of all possible actions and you drive down the quality of instruction by pressuring teachers to square the circle.
yeah, pouring out your heart and soul attempting to get a bunch of pre-pubescent kids to become co-ordinated, teaching them the significance of the songs they are dancing to and arranging costuming, venue, music, lights and all the other logistics that go into peparing an entire class for an annual presentation is really arrogant. What gall. What absolute disregard. I bet every parent would envy the life of a full-time teacher--living at the poverty line just for the privilege of being arrogant towards the parents of their students.
12 · gm said
Here is a Sikh male Bharatanatyam dancer I know.
on the subject of identity, as a half-desi (who happens to be the same mix, as A. Knight), how i've identified at different points in my life has depends on a) my home life and b) the community i live in. i think my parents did a pretty good job of blending cultures at home, but the community was monoracial and the nature of childhood is that you always want to fit in, so you play up one side or the other depending on what group you're with.
now that i'm out of college and have met people like me and have lived in international communities, it's easier to identify as both in the outside world, but i know what A. Knight is saying when he says that identifying as both is isolating. if/when you live in homogenous communities, there's always a sense that you'll never quite be completely a part of those communities. in the blending of cultures, something is always lost. most often it's knowing that you belong, and never questioning that you are part of a bigger community. i don't think this is a good or bad thing, it's just the reality.
Looks like old school guru-sishya parampara and the chance to do the arangetram only when you ready is clashing with the needs of instant gratification that is the American milieu for the cultural arts. Could it be that this can be bridged by performances on stage for kids as a group dance to filmi music with classical Bharathanatyam movements without calling it an arangetram? This way the parents are happy and the guru can claim it is not a classical arangetram (individual performance)?
9 · Amitabh said
Yeah. Hrithik makes sure he replies in English even when the question is posed in hindi for a hindi channel. I feel embarrassed but hey I too speak so much English myself for no reason... oh well.
The culture of instant gratification, was my first thought too. That and the concepts of students as consumers/paying customers having to experience the limelight culture (As a parent of 3 kids under the age of 6 (two of whom are extremely shy), I watch with both fascination and horror how parents eagerly push their kids onto the stage as early as possible.).
We laugh and are simultaneously outraged when we hear about an odd surgeon or two in India allowing his/her 15-year old gift-to-the-world to operate on some poor patient. We don't practice medicine when we are only half a doctor either. So why do we expect less when it comes to an ancient dance form that has seemingly become casually accessible to all on a whim? But allopathic medicine is a well-regulated, closely-guarded field. I understand that upholding the dignity of artistic institutions is not as big a priority as fearing for our lives under the care of an incompetent medic. But unfortunately I don't know enough about the arts world in general to give a more appropriate example as comparison. All I instinctively understand is that I disagree with the ability of paying parents to bend rules according to their wish.
So far my kids are happy playing dress up at home with their Disney princess [*shudder*] dress-up clothes and with all my Indian clothes and jewelry. So far they definitely want nothing to do with being on stage. Also, thus far they are neither interested in the Bollywood dance classes offered at the local Indian dance school nor in the Bharatnatyam classes. I don't know when any or all will change. If attitudes and interests do change: Nayagan, where does your mother live?
then why the need to expect such things as putting kids on stage?
Because they know the audience won't be one that will scrutinize very closely or anything like that.
not ridiculous. would you ever think of putting an off-key violinist on stage?
You don't need to be an expert violinist to determine if the violin playing is off-key.
But unfortunately I don't know enough about the arts world in general to give a more appropriate example as comparison.
There really isn't one unless money plays a central factor, which in the US, it doesn't. That is, as long as it's commercial (girls and costumes are pretty) and "indian" enough, that's all that needed for any mainstream targetting.
to and arranging costuming, venue, music, lights
Its time to name drop. Shuba Parmar (sp?) in NJ usually offsets this task to the parents, they used to be in NJ I believe.
Since when has ballet or classical violin been religious?
Bharatanatyam has a long history of being intertwined with religion, and, as such, shouldn't be trivialized and made into just another hobby or extracurricular activity. It should be appreciated for what it is, for how much work goes into it, and for the tradition that has given birth to it.
"He is also half American"
Isn't anyone else irritated when 'half-american' is used as a code for half-white as if by default american means white. Unless he's First Nations, the term is not legitimate as an ethnicity. Like saying someone is half-sikh or half-hindu or half- any religion.
32 · da said
Isn't anyone else irritated when 'half-american' is used as a code for half-white as if by default american means white. Unless he's First Nations, the term is not legitimate as an ethnicity. Like saying someone is half-sikh or half-hindu or half- any religion.
Half-Gora. Happy?
32 · da said
Isn't anyone else irritated when 'half-american' is used as a code for half-white as if by default american means white. Unless he's First Nations, the term is not legitimate as an ethnicity. Like saying someone is half-sikh or half-hindu or half- any religion.
Yes. I'm not irritated, per se. But it did jump out at me. And thus I made a note of it above (#3). I guess, culturally it kinda makes some sort of sense to me. But even then, it just seems off to me. Usually, it would be written as being the son of an American father.... If race and ethnicity were to be expanded upon, then son of a white American father....
(I think he's cute. :))
I certainly admire him, as someone not even fully Indian, for totally embracing this side of his identity so fully and enthusiastically. I'm one of those girls who never took bharatanatyam seriously, and I understand Tamil but don't really speak it, so he's totally putting me to shame. You can tell, though, that his love for this art is genuine, which is really cool to see.
It's interesting that he's embraced it so strongly when so many 2nd-gen 100% Indians are content with mixing both worlds and dabbling in a little of both, but I wonder how much of that might come from his father--as a mridangam player who married into an ethnic family with such strong traditions, he himself seems to have totally embraced the culture, and I wonder if he's just as strong a proponent of it as A's brown mother is. I know western couples who met while working in a foreign country who've embraced that country's culture as part of their "couple identity" and in order to pass that on to their kids...this seems to be kind of like that.
i did not mention the issue of the audience member being an expert.
I know you didn't, because by mentioning it, it completely derails your argument. Because whether or not someone is "prepared to perform" is generally evaluated by the ability of an "average" audience, for someone a dancer to be "off-key" it's not enough to miss a beat here or there, or be sub standard in their abhinaya, they need to trip and roll on the ground a few times and land in the front row for it to be really noticed. That's just the nature of dance given the complexity and nuanced level of understanding one needs to correctly evaluate it, otherwise the evaluation is going to flow down to the lowest common denominator: face, makeup, costumes, jewelry, amount of money paid to artists, size of new jersey auditorium rented, etc...
I'm not saying it should be this way, but a direct comparison to a musical performance is meaningless, because our cochlea are naturally geared to recognize audio harmonics and hence detect "off key" even if we are incapable of reproducing it.
is generally evaluated by the ability of an "average" audience,
should read
"is generally evaluated by the ability of an "average" audience to detect it"
Sure, such "off key" dancers may not be able to perform in the big dance academies in chennai or wherever, but that's not the goal.
Kudos to this ustaad!
I noticed that Indo-American don't really involve themselves much with art, in general. Compared to white Americans, I noticed that many desi guys hardly take up a musical instrument.
Kudos on this guy for embracing his Indian ancestry and cultural identity. I have to shamefacedly admit that my Tamil is terrible and I don't make any effort to improve it. Then again, learning five languages in highschool, is it any wonder? Even in my country there are bharath natyam schools, but not all of them are good. I learned myself for a couple of years, being enchanted as a little girl by the costumes, but losing interest quickly again, as little girls are also wont to do. My sister learned for a longer time, but quit when her favourite teacher of the Indian disciplinarian school migrated back to India. I've known several dancers over time surprisingly, as my mother would often play in arangetrams and other dance performances and my sister and I would tag along. I've seen a huge variety of dancers. Not just desis, but also Dutch, Surinamis and people of other ancestries. I've even known a pair of Russians, mother and daughter. There was a decent mix of men and women as well. Though as a child I looked askance at these examples of cultural appropriation nowadays I find it quite heartwarming, so to say, all these different people showing so much interest in something traditionally Indian. The culture here though is quite different, due to the small scale, it's a much closer nit community. There's none of those scary mass-produced churning out of dance performances I hear about in the USA. Furthermore, I know of at least one dancer who incorporates Western or African-style dances into her bharath natyam performances, along with non-traditional instruments. I think such a small scale allows for more experimentation.
32 · da said
Isn't anyone else irritated when 'half-american' is used as a code for half-white as if by default american means white. Unless he's First Nations, the term is not legitimate as an ethnicity. Like saying someone is half-sikh or half-hindu or half- any religion.
Agreed. The better description would be half white+half brown=beige
i was using the same standard for both - that of a relative expert
but you asked a question of why parents expect their kids to be on stage when they're "off-key" dancers so to speak, then drew a comparison and said they'd never expect an "off-key" violinist on stage. and I explained why, because as far as they're concerned the audiences can discern the latter much better than the former.
but it doesn't mean that i meant that the 'general' audience was capable of deciding whether or not an artist is prepared to take the stage.
Whether or not you meant it, is irrelevant. it's the way things are, because as I explained, the human audio cortex is naturally capable of computing harmonic frequencies and in general we listen to music much more than we do evaluating facial expressions in bharata natyam dance, and that's the reason why the phenomenon you asked about occurs. So you're question and comparison, while fair, is not realistically "implementable"
not ridiculous. would you ever think of putting an off-key violinist on stage? not everybody who learns bharata natyam gets to a point where they are accomplished enough to perform publicly.
I mean, when you asked this question, wasn't your rationale that because off-key violinists would never be allowed on stage, therefore someone who is equally "off key" in their dance ability shouldn't be allowed on stage either?
What I like about his mixed ethnic parentage is that he has made an effort to learn his native language (this could perhaps be due to a strong cultural push from his mother's side or the necessity driven by a dance career) . Though I understand the need for English as a common language in a multi-cultural American society, I am wary of extinction of a whole body of ethnic langauages in the name of americanization or globalization anywhere.
Trying to understand the logic of this statement aloud - I presume by date you mean either marriage or dating with firm desire for marriage in the short-term. If this is not the case then by going through the very process of dating you are trying to negotiate the possible conflicts and understand all the cultural issues involved. So the process itself should take care of all the fears that you have mentioned. Now if you don't take the "dating plunge" at all either because of the pressure of insular parents or your fears and opinions/values/belief then the question valid.
But I agree with you that this is a very personal issue and varies from case to case.
Something interesting I found- apparently some people don't think this boy is doing his mom justice:
(some of the more interesting comments from people purportedly at his concerts)
"Aniruddha’s style is a diluted... version of what was kept sacred within his family for generation. His grandmother earned a name in the US only to be brought to ruins by her spoilt little Diva grandson. Err..Ani, people walked out of your performance the last time I checked when you started screeching on stage imitating the legend that was your grandmother. I bet Bala is turning in her grave as we speak."
"When he tried to dance immediately after this year’s IFAS competition in Balamandir German Hall in T.Nagar, most people left within minutes, and only a dozen of spectators were left wondering what is this man trying to do on the stage, and wondering if they should go home now or relax a bit more as it was the rush hour in Chennai.
I think this was the reason that Ani immediately started biting his lips in agony."
Source: http://sangeethas.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/aniruddha-knight-in-chennai/
I LOVE bharatanatyam, and always admire males who take it up, so I'm really intrigued to hear if anyone's actually seen this dude perform, and if they had the same/different opinion.
I feel where ak and Nayagan are coming from on this (broadly). If we take the example of a musical instrument, then there is no way one is let on stage if you can't play proficiently. That said, "recital" in your first year might mean playing "Ode to Joy" instead of "Rodeo." It's not just because being off-key sounds terrible, it's also because it drags everyone else down (assuming you're playing in a group setting). Dance is VERY similar -- any "performance" is in lock-step with your skill-level. If your child enjoys performing, I vote for enrolling your kid in recreational sports leagues. For longer-term art forms that require a high degree of skill, I don't think it's arrogant to require 2+ years of training before performing.
I'm really confused by this. Isn't he fully Indian-American, and fully white? I'm not biracial, so maybe I have no right to say this, but there's this subtle condescension, as though he is not entitled to share two full cultures b/c his father is white.When I was younger, I used to think, or at least rationalize, that my "dual" or "hybrid" identity gave me the best of both worlds and it granted me a certain amount of access to each community, while still providing me with an outsiderness (if not that elusive objectivity) that helped me take a frank look at 'em. An old friend of mine, who had come from a small Californian Mennonite community in the '20s, recited a phrase he'd chanced upon in some of their literature, a phrase which he felt summed him up (though not because of the religion, which he soon enough strayed from): in but not of. Unless I'm misunderstanding semantics here, I kinda feel the opposite - I am of two communities, but I don't *quite* fit in. (My mom is north Indian, my dad comes from various strands of central & eastern European Jewry.) I guess there is a certain loneliness to it, but on the other hand I feel it's afforded me an empathy and a yearning that I don't see in even the best-intentioned folks my age. (Which isn't to say I'm better or anything.)
As for "half-American," I sorta cringe, too, when I see that because it does seem to be a stand-in for "half-white." On the other hand, though, I think it could be used somewhat validly to reference nationality, as opposed to ethnicity, and still bear some cultural weight: think of the "divide" - which seems to me to be shrinking, though I could very well see things differently - between Indians and NRIs. Though, then again, there's the idea that just because one isn't of the mainstream cultural identity, that doesn't make one less, say, "Indian." We're still Indian, but a different kind, no less valid is our Indian experience.
The difference for me, given my particular heritages, is that there is still, currently, a living link to India. With my father's side, all of our family (except one lone cousin who was adopted by Catholics during the war and found his way later to Argentina) that lived ended up in the US. My grandfather, who was born in Poland, had no desire to go back - even to visit. (We did end up convincing him.) I don't know if I would call it, then, an obligation I feel to my Indian side, but I feel like it would be wrong for me to ignore this connection; I also have a growing sense of curiosity over my family's history. I was fortunate enough to travel quite frequently throughout my childhood, but I haven't been in a few years and I never learned Hindi.
Anyway. Enough rambling. I will say I am a fan of miscegenation. It's fun having 1/4 Indian, British relatives, as well as self-described "hapa haole pino cashew" cousins.
PS We had samosas and, if I remember correctly, tandoori chicken at my bar mitzvah.
Dance is VERY similar -- any "performance" is in lock-step with your skill-level
Again, you're neglecting the audience evaluation component. You can't talk of someone being "on stage" without speaking about the audience they're in front of (because an audience is implied, if they're just on a raised platform in an empty auditorium, then yes the comparison to musical instruments hold)
i think the fundamental difference between our arguments is that you seem to think 'ready' is relative to the audience before whom one is performing,
No, it's not even that. You asked a question about why parents are willing to put their kids on stage in a BN performance, when they wouldn't do the same if for musical instruments. And I gave you the practical, realistic answer.
It's completely connected to the fast food, needy, I need to have something to "show" for all this time I spent (when "all this time" = 3 months) attitude.
It's not that I fundamentally believe they are ready, because audiences cannot discern they are substandard performers, nor am I saying their readiness is solely determined by the audience reaction. I'm just giving you a practical reason for why it occurs in one setting (BharataNatyam) and doesn't in the other (musical performance).
but i still don't think it takes away from the fact that floridian thinks the children should go on stage at some point before their professor,
but I see his point too. It's a *shitload* of effort to take kids to these sort of classes. This isn't India, where there's a teacher on every block. Sure, this doesn't mean quality standards should be discarded willy nilly, but to expect someone to put time, effort, and money into training their kid for a particular art, and have them sit by idle while the teacher says, "yea maybe in 5 years she'll be ready, by the way keep paying me money." is not very realistic either.
kids are allowed to perform musically at very basic levels.
Yeah, but they're not off-key.
Some people in my family have practiced BN for 25+ years, in India, in the real traditional style. I've been to a few arangetrams and been bored completely out of my mind. but I know that it's a highly refined art form, even if I can't 'figure it out' so to speak.
From what I've seen BN seems to be one of the 'less fun' dance forms out there. Kathak you can spin around a billion times, Odissi you wiggle around like you've got a worm crawling on you, and Im not too familiar with Kathakalli and Kuchapudi styles. But BN, especially for south indian families is a pretty big staple of 'culture' which explains the push for every litle girl to do it.
Since I am being quoted, I am back to reiterate my argument.
1. No, it is NOT about "Gimme my money's worth. Put my kid on stage." I don't know how many desi parents you folks hang out with, but desi people are usually far too respectful of teachers of any type to make self-gratifying ego-driven demands.
2. It IS about properly contextualizing BN training in the desi diaspora. The local BN school in the suburbia is not a gurukul but an extracurricular activity for ABD kids, and of course, one that connects them with their heritage. That does not devalue bharatanatyam. In my opinion, grass roots popularity always enhances classical art forms. Now, the question is, since it IS taken as an extracurricular "enrichment" activity, what is the best way to execute it for the sake of the children? Well, take a page from ballet, classical violin and the martial arts, all extracurricular activities rooted in traditions of their own. These programs do give kids periodic gratification and positive reinforcement through performances. They don't take perfection and meritocracy to extremes as "some" BN teachers are prone to do.
3. It IS about understanding that performances can take place at all levels. Create a simpler dance for the first-year disciples, a slightly more intricate one for the second-year disciples and so on. And if a first-year student is still klutzy and will reflect poorly on the entire school, give her more time. But to say that a BN student must practice 8 years before being considered for a performance, even a group performance, even in a simple outreach program meant for friends and family, and that some students shall never perform, is cultural Nazism that our community could do without. AK said she was deemed ready to perform after 3 years. Fine! But 8 years? Or never? That's what I was objecting to.
I will give you a good example of how to groom kids in the fine arts. The BN teacher my daughter learned from once did a Ramayana episode for the parents, and she had the five and six-year old students play the monkeys following Hanuman. There was some BN involved for the little ones, but not quite enough to make the kids look foolish and the teacher incompetent.
4. Finally, as a 56-year old first-generation desi, I have a deep insider knowledge of how screwed up we, the gatekeepers of desi culture, can be when it comes to training the ABD's. Anybody been in Bal Vihar? I have been a loyal parent and supporter of Bal Vihar for over a decade, but you can't tell me that it couldn't stand some modernizing and re-contextualizing to make it even more relevant and useful to our ABD kids. That's my entire point about BN as well.
5. Anybody familiar with the classical vocal schools popping up Pundit Jasraj's name? Ask them if they make a young kids go through 8 years of "riya" before letting her single a simple raag with very little "kaam" in front a small group of parents.
Gotta go. I am catching a flight to Delhi in less than 18 hours. With some luck, I will be at the Habitat Centre, Siri Fort or India Internatioal Centre later this week watching a highly professional bharatanatyam performance. Ha, ha!
#55 Floridian
Sorry, it is riyaz (practice in classical music).
Floridian:
You're point 2 is essentially, "gimme my money's worth", in not so many words. and I agree with it completely.
Anybody been in Bal Vihar? I have been a loyal parent and supporter of Bal Vihar for over a decade, but you can't tell me that it couldn't stand some modernizing and re-contextualizing to make it even more relevant and useful to our ABD kids. That's my entire point about BN as well.
Bal Vihar is sort of like "sunday school" the way I understand it, correct? That's a bit different than art forms, but I agree with your general point.
Yes. I do.
54 · HMF said
It's the hardest to learn properly because of the heavy theory component--your descriptions of the other two styles is laughable. Is mr. anecdote finally running out ammo?
in fact, other than AK and black cat, I haven't seen a single person comment who's actually taken more than a few classes.
As for classifying BN as an extra-curricular, I'm absolutely against it. A true gurukulam, a forest-academy, can't exist in suburbia but I'm really aware of no teachers who specifically advertise their acculturation capabilities--if they did, there would be grounds for the argument that it's been sold as an extra-curricular when it's really not and parents who feel their commute and payment are excessive have been shafted as a result.
The reality is that BN has become defined as an extracurricular by parents, not teachers, and the resultant feedback effect of shitty instruction and low standards is evident in the very poor standards i see every year at my mother's camp. A camp, btw, which explicitly advertises it's gurukulam nature and also turns away late registrants for both the beginner and advanced camps. The message I take away? Parents have been fed an inferior product, based on the expectations of their community, and a backlash has started which manifests itself in a small but rising demand for true gurukulam instruction.
Putting kids on stage in non-classical items, custom choreography of items not in Telugu/Tamil/Kannada, and other adjustments don't seem to mollify the crafty consumers that form the parent brigade. If you have an annual presentation, the parents want 2. If you have a Spring Presentation, parents wonder why there isn't a Fall and Sumer presentation as well. Kids also perform whenever they want to. For every school-wide performance my mother arranged, each child would perform at least 3-4 times 'on their own.' (meaning consulting mom for every last detail). Let's not pretend that the teacher is always the arbiter of when/where a child may perform--especially during the high-school years.
Malathi,
Amma does not take kutties as students any more. After 35 years of wrangling with parents like Floridian, the returns have diminished to the point where the kids are cute but the act of instruction becomes a chore made only more difficult by antagonistic parents. My advice is to find a young teacher with patience.
55 · Floridian said
That's what I said earlier and what you conveniently failed to read. An arangetram is special and should remain so. A performance of a few items--not the seven that traditionally comprise an Arangetram--is completely different. I don't know of a single teacher out there who refuses to put kids on stage for a performance of the latter variety. You're taking words and putting them into my argument when it's really a case of you not understanding what an Arangetram is--the student's first public performance of 7 classical items in which they traditionally arrange all the details of that performance. Nowadays, the logistics requirement is generally dropped, but it is a graduation of sorts.
I have to agree with Nayagan et al here. Bharathanatyam is a 'sadhana', a kind of yoga. It is not a matter of learning a few steps and lo behold, you are ready for the stage. If that is what you are looking for, there are umpteen dance schools catering to those types teaching bollywood and folk dances. With bharathanatyam, it comes from the heart. Unless you can feel it and emote it, you are not a B.N. dancer. That is why you go through years of rigorous training. Once the form is set, hands and feet and eyes move automatically to what your heart has started feeling. Teachers/students can cater to different kinds of audiences. There could be an annual day where the kids get to perform for their parents. This is in no way near to an actual performance. When a teacher puts up a show for others, it is a showcase and she is absolutely right in insisting only the well-trained ones get a chance. When someone asks me about learning (wanting to), this is what I say. Unless you are ready to put in the effort long term, and are willing to wait for the much delayed gratification, don't do it. I usually teach the other kind, filmi and folk. I recently taught a semi-classical one, and believe me, it is hard work. Harder than being a parent on the sidelines.
As to odissi or kathak being less rigorous, talk to a 'good' teacher of those styles to see the difference. For that matter, even ballet as it is supposed to be.
Last year, one of the girls I know went through her arangetram. It was extreme hard work on both sides. A full summer of 3 hour training every day without break. I had seen her dancing the previous year and the difference was obvious even to a lay person. She herself wrote about it to say how she had started, hating it, hating her teacher but pulling through to eventually respect all that hard work. And we could all see her enjoying the performance and feeling every beat. That is what a mother should want for her kids, in my humble opinion. If not, don't bother with 3 hour saturday sessions.
your descriptions of the other two styles is laughable.
They weren't descriptions, rather examples of why some may consider them more "fun".
As to odissi or kathak being less rigorous, talk to a 'good' teacher of those styles to see the difference. For that matter, even ballet as it is supposed to be.
I love the underlying sentiment behind this statement... "even the white people dance is hard"
55 · Floridian said
Delhi, REPRESENT!
shubh yatra, floridian.
HMF: That was not my thinking. I was not belittling it. It has been extremely commercialized with every girl taking lessons for less than an hour per week. My girls go through it. A serious ballerina goes through a rigorous training much more than bharathanatyam dancers do. At least from what I have read about the professionals. The way my girls do it is laughable. 1 hour session every week; a performance at the end of the year, well-costumed and dolled-up to gratify parents and grandparents, exactly what some parents are expecting from BN.
Nayagan, you have a fine appreciation for the financial compulsions of the teacher, but are rather dismissive of the reasons for which parents may want to enroll their kids into Bharatnatyam lessons. Of course, I agree with you that children who learn Bharatnatyam cannot be ready for major performances or their arangetram without the requisite hard work and practice over several years, or the teacher's willing consent.
However, there are all sorts dance curricula, including elite tracks for various activities young children. First, many young kids may need to explore a variety of options before they can find their niches. It is completely unrealistic to expect that all kids will be committed performers, especially as they may have not even expressed an interest in the activity on their own. On the other hand, concerned desi parents may often want to expose their kids to Indian culture more broadly to their kids and may use kids' natural tendencies toward free movement and physical expression to get them interested in larger issues/concepts through Bharatnatyam. Or cultural reasons may not be into play at all -- parents might just want to teach kids that proficiency comes only through practice. Or they might want them to develop patience and focus by following direction for an hour or two. Or get them away from the TV. Most parents are not looking for their kids to become elite performers. Yes, they want their kids to appear cultured in front of their friends as well as feel proud of their performance, but I'm sure most of them recognize that their kid is simply not a Birju Maharaj in the making.
In this case, dance schools should be upfront. There is no harm in kids learning dance as a hobby or exploring it as a creative interest before moving on to something that fits their personality and interests better. Dance teachers could cater to two audiences -- separate those students who are hobbyists and are willing only to make a limited commitment from those who are serious dancers who look at dance as a calling or a vocation. This reduces reduces hypocrisy in the parent-teacher interaction -- both agree that given the child's commitment and promise she might benefit more from a less intense and less selective environment. The teacher then is completely justified in being selective about the more 'serious'/elite students she chooses, and impose much more rigorous curricular requirements. She is completely within her bounds to delay public performance because the parents/child now know that dance lessons now have a completely different meaning for the child - it is not a hobby, but a major life project.
This way dance is not restricted to few students, but many more are allowed to gain general appreciation and practical experience (and teachers can make a living without moral posturing and contortions, on their own terms which are publicly known and respected). At the same time, we do not dilute the classical experience for those committed children and teachers for whom dance is a major life project. I totally agree that compromising standards will be a disservice to such people. Some of us are Juilliard material, while others among us will be completely satisfied playing a ditty or two among family and friends. There is a place for all of us! [sentimental, but possibly true]
PS: Nayagan -- my favorite is the 'empathic and correct' Nayagan, if it makes a whit of a difference.
A serious ballerina goes through a rigorous training much more than bharathanatyam dancers do.
Are you saying a serious ballerina goes through more rigour than a serious BN dancer?
As a DBD who has attended Bharatanatyam classes back in Madras for about 6-7 years and as a person who has been learning here in the mid-west now (switched to a different form - Mohiniattam) for about 5-6 years, this subject of learning classical Indian dance in the US is particularly close to my heart. It became all the more important to me once I had a child (and now another on the way), because I really really hope that my children learn to appreciate the forms, if not actually learn and delve deep into it.
Nayagan, I agree entirely with everything that you have said on this topic.
Seems to me that 9 out of 10 desi parents (no, I have not done research on this - just what I have seen in several dance schools) in the US seem to be fixated on the notion that their child (mostly daughter) has to go on stage in the earliest possible time. Everyone wants to claim that their daughter is the best out there, or shows signs of being a prodigy - it's just ridiculous. Parents need to ask themselves exactly why they want their child to learn a classical dance form.
Floridian says:
These programs do give kids periodic gratification and positive reinforcement through performances
This is what parents seem to want - "periodic gratification and positive reinforcement through performances"! That is not the way learning of our classical art forms works! Periodic (and instant) gratification and Indian classical dance forms do not go together. If you want your child to be on stage, to put up a show for your family and friends, then find a teacher who will cater to that desire - and I can see there are plenty of teachers who do that - it surely brings in lots of $$$.
I think there is a certain soak-in period for learning any tye of art form. That is the time it requires a student to get a feel for the art, learnt to learn it, feel comfortable with it and then actually feel confident enough to present an item on stage. This varies from student to student, obviously, but for most students, this phase usually runs to several years.
When my brother started learning how to play the flute (he was 6, I think), for the first several weeks, no note would emanate from his flute - just the sound of air. :) When I started learning Bharatanatyam, for a long time, I felt awkward - did not feel I could coordinate my hands and legs properly. And even after 3-4 years, I was far too shy to dance in front of any guest. At the school where I studied (not the dance school), I was given small roles at each annual day program and I was usually very shy and had to be coaxed into it with my teachers showing me the wonderful costumes and all the lovely jewelry. :)
Each child is so different and the pace of learning is so varied - I am constantly surprised (and annoyed) when I see parents trying to literally push their little ones on stage way before they are ready for it. Also, such parents - how many times do they take their kids to watch performances of professionals? What kind of exposure do these children have, to classical dance forms? And yet, why are the expectations so high?!
BTW, I am not at all surprised that Aniruddha has taken to dance - his mother and grandmother was deep into it. And in this clip mentioned, his father is the one playing the mridangam for the item.
And HMF,#54,
Apparently you have not actually learnt/danced any of these dance forms! To say that one appears easier than the other is just not right. Perhaps each form exercises different muscles, but to say that Kathak is easier than Bharatanatyam is not correct. I learnt Bharatanatyam earlier and now learn Mohiniattam. Most people would think that Mohiniattam is a lot easier but they are wrong! It only *appears* easier but in reality, requires a lot more grace, a lot more control in movement and is no way easier. It is different and it would be wrong to compare the two. What is common is that both (and all other classical art forms) require lots and lots of practice.
54 · HMF said
the footwork is not easy -- that is not random spinning. some practitioners wear ghungroos with a hundred tiny bells or more -- but their movement is so precise that you hear just one single, clean sound in the ending flourish of a sequence.
Apparently you have not actually learnt/danced any of these dance forms! To say that one appears easier than the other is just not right
Of course I haven't. What I'm telling you is, that BN doesn't come off as "fun", as an artform, irrespective of which one is harder or easier. I never said that one is harder or easier than the other.
HMF: My knowledge of ballet is limited to what I have read in books, but I do know that they have to be extremely flexible meaning training every day. I know of BN dancers who are excellent without being that stringent about practising.
By the way, ask any seasoned (or not) BN dancer, it is fun. I love it and I am not even a middling one.
You all aren't really grasping it. I'm not saying one is funner or not fun, one is hard or not hard. I'm saying, for various reasons, BN doesn't have that "fun" image associated with it.
HMF, reg #74: "BN doesn't have that "fun" image associated with it" --of course not - it is a classical dance form! (and so are Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi and Odissi).
The person learning/dancing might begin to enjoy it at some point, but I don't think it can be "fun" in the flippant way you seem to mean it.
I'm saying, it doesnt have the 'fun' image relative to the other forms I mentioned, Kathak, and to a lesser extend Odissi. (and I dont know enough about the rest of them)
Ever see those dervish's ? they spin a bagillion times.
I don't see the relevance of desi vs. half-desi vis-a-vis culture, especially in the context of the illustrious family that Aniruddha comes from. Culture notwithstanding, I remember that two of his full-desi uncles were involved in drugs, murder and mayhem at Wesleyan :
Link for above :
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wesleyan_university/index.html?query=RANGANATHAN,%20SUDHAMA&field=per&match=exact
Do you realise this man (Floridian) is in his 50s? How about a little respect or at least courtesy? Or did they not teach you that in your 'gurukulam'?