feelings of a French about classical dance and music.

Posted by Dominique (82.224.136.2) on February 16, 2006 at 10:10:06:

 In Reply to: France and India posted by Sunil Narayan on February 15, 2006 at 19:14:39:

 Hi,
I am a french Odissi student and I would like to share with you some feelings about classical Indian dance.
I presently live in France but being from an oversea french island ("Reunion", not far from Mauritius, Indian Ocean) my experience is probably different from the Continental.

Because of the diversity of populations in Reunion, I guess I was much more exposed to Indian dance and music in everyday life than the european French : performances during holy days, neighbours performing rites, the beautiful colored temples everywhere, etc.

Nonetheless, I always felt it wasn't for me to dance this strong and beautiful dance that is bharatanatyam (the main style there because of the tamoul diaspora), maybe because I have myself no Indian origins (I'm a mix between chinese and creole), or maybe because when a culture is sheltered far from its mother land, it naturally tends to get overprotective in order to get preserved.

Things now change a bit. I still go home regularly and I have seen that the Bollywood vogue has come along with a renewed interest for Classical Dance.
The best thing being the creation of an "Indian section" next to the Classical Ballet in the regional Conservatoire, and that is BIG news when you know that the teaching of Indian dance is not official in France (you pass your exams as a classical ballet dancer, a jazz dancer or a contemporary dancer, in order to be a dance teacher). Same with the creation of an Indian music section.

I do not know if the Bollywood vogue and interest for classical dance are really linked but next to the people who have a superficial interest for either of these styles, there are definitely some who get introduced to a new world of spirituality and have a real desire to know more about Classical dance, music, texts, language, philosophy, arts...
When you face something deep, you cannot ignore it, whatever your culture, origins, sex or age. Even if you do not understand it.

Which leads me to tell about the different publics :
until now, I have noticed that in popular performances I have seen in Reunion, there is no foreword about the dance from the dancer in order to "explain", because it is still destined to a public which has Indian origins. (And I think I would have felt less excluded from the pleasure, had I got then a little explanation about the codes and the rythm).

Being now installed in France, I mark that most dancers (either French or invited Indian dancers) make a little explanation before the dance, about the story, the rythm.
My Odissi teacher-she is French- generally gives also a piece of information about the meaning of mudras and the particular poses of the dance.
But I attended a performance of Shobana and there too, a French teacher introduced the dances.
The interest of the French public is greatly heightened, because when you cannot understand the nuances, then you grow finally impatient and frustrated even if you can see it's beautiful.

I know that Indian artistes are well received here : not only do they have privileged stages in Paris (le Théâtre des Abbesses, l'auditorium du musée Guimet...regularly propose Indian and Asian dances, music, films, conferences), but the rest of the country also has a faithful public. i.e. The Montpellier Dance festival, The Avignon festival often invite Indian dancers such as Priyadarsini Govind, and Madhavi Mudgal also regularly tours here. Lakshmi Shankar gave a recital last year in the south of France, and she was received with sincere respect and appreciation by the public.

I am sorry for being so extensive, there is much to say.
I suppose the master words of all this are education, craving for knowledge, generosity. And peace.

Dominique.
 
 

 


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