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Posted by Arul Francis (63.151.181.253) on June 26, 2006 at 16:25:31:
L. Singh writes:
"Is it the cultural insulation of the Indian Diaspora that has prevented it from making a mark in Western dance forms, wonders
Lada Guruden Singh
...
Cut to present times in India, Odissi dancers, Illenana Citaristi, Sharon Lowen and Bharatanatyam dancer Justin McCarthy, have carved their own place on the Indian dance scene ..."
I don't think that Indians' absence from Ballet is due to any extraordinary insularity of mind. I think it is due to the structure of ballet training which is available only in certain locations where major ballet companies exist; and which is very institutionalized and filters out dancers systematically; and which has such a grueling and fixed training schedule that it is very difficult to do it at the same time as attending high school.
If you set up a similar school for bharata natyam, you would have very few people coming out as well, and practically no foreigners. For example: a fixed 9 year program, starting at 9 and ending at age 18. Training of 6 to 8 hours per week during the last 3 to 4 years. This is typical for ballet academies attached to major ballet companies. You can't just waltz in as an adult-student and become a "ballerina".
None of which is true for Indian dance training anywhere.
Conversely, it is easy to carve out a place on the indian dance scene, for both foreigners and indians, without having any extraordinary talent or merit. A moderate amount of talent and a great deal of self-financed marketing: that is what characterises 99% of indian classical dancers.
I don't know about the Odissi dancers the article mentions, but I do not consider any of the foreign B.N. dancers mentioned in the article as particularly talented. They are average or mediocre dancers. As we all know, mediocre dancers can easily become "prominent" through hype and marketing. And performance opportunities are as much a function of socio-economic-clout, connections, etc. with talent only playing half the role.
In ballet, at least in the major companies, you simply cannot rise through the ranks on anything other than talent. Their rules are extremely strict and have an institutional history to back it up. At the Paris Ballet, a star like elisabeth platel had to retire, just like everyone else, when she turned 40, no exceptions.
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