 |
"An essential portion
of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation"
- Lewis Hyde |
|
"Indian choreography,
mostly, has not gone beyond the concept that a teacher with students makes
a troupe. Professional dancers don’t team up with other professional dancers
to work as equals. The result is, either students appearing with the teacher
are below par in comparison, or mature students’ gurus look, well, too
mature!
…Dancers could try working with
well-rounded theatre personalities who can see the dance in all its dimensions
and offer editing tips. Otherwise, there is the danger of self-indulgence
- virtuoso dancing, which does nothing to move the theme forward.
…Festival directors can add focus
by discussing themes with dancers. We are an undemanding audience. One
often hears slip-ups and unprofessional production values condoned because
'at least this much is happening'. Over a half a century has elapsed since
the renaissance of India's classical arts. Perhaps it's time to replace
condescension with a sense of critiquing (as opposed to criticising)."
- Anjana Rajan, 'A fog of new ideas,'
The Hindu Friday Review (Delhi), March 21, 2008 |
|
"The mediocre teacher
tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The
great teacher inspires"
- William A Ward |
|
"Today concerts are
held in far greater comfort for artiste and listener, but there is fuss
in the air; fuss about the sound systems about the lighting 'effects.'
Artistes and their accompanists spend an inordinate part of the limited
time adjusting and re-adjusting the amplification, often betraying very
short tempers. Each member of the ensemble demands individual attention
from harassed sound technicians. Today, technology is not to the aid of
music as much as music the aid of technology."
- Gopalkrishna Gandhi, West Bengal
Governor ('The living legend' by V Balasubramanian, The Hindu Friday Review,
March 14, 2008) |
|
"Art, which is truly
beautiful, knows no barriers of race, religion or country and can really
help in furthering Universal Brotherhood"
- S Sarada |
|
"My exposure to diverse
dance forms and fine arts such as painting and sculpture has let me redefine
tradition and modernity in dance and come up with several original productions.
A choreographer should think out-of-the-box. The labels that we refer to
as sacred are man-made and inadequate when you want to undertake creative
challenges....
The line between the sacred and
profane is thin. A dancer expresses through the body, which is a sensuous
instrument. And you need a good body to express effectively. But if he
or she is going to use it to titillate, it would be an assault on the senses.
Today’s audience are quite discerning and will soon recognize such gimmicks"
- Ramli Ibrahim in 'Transcending
barriers' by Chitra Swaminathan, The Hindu Friday Review, Feb 15, 2008 |
|
"I hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand"
- Chinese Proverb |
|
"Physical and emotional
discipline is mandatory for dance. You cannot afford to get perturbed and
irritated with things around you. If so, it will affect your art. The stage
is a mirror; it reflects your inner-self. Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest
dance forms of India. And to learn and practise that, one needs to have
dedication and spiritual orientation on top of discipline."
- Rama Vaidyanathan (‘Steps of dedication’
by Sangeeta, The Hindu Friday Review, Feb 8, 2008) |
|
"It's very important
for people to see the dance and not the dancer."
- C V Chandrasekar |
|
"I am a little disappointed
that great abhinaya artistes like Sudharani Raghupathy and Sonal Mansingh
are not releasing Abhinaya DVDs so that young artistes can compare their
subtle style of emoting. A monopoly is never good neither is the rampant
copying of one style of a particular artiste good for the art form. I have
been lucky to study abhinaya with Sudharani and she is one of the best
interpreters of traditional poetry in the post independence era.
Also, we have been cut off from
the wonderful repertoire of traditional devadasi artistes who are still
alive and accessible to many if interested. They are generous women who
are visited by a select group of students and scholars who wish to be reminded
of the gentle and sensitive way of approaching lyrics. However, they are
not stars neither do they have star students who can carry their banner
forward.
The danger of lies being told
consistently is that, even if the emperor has no clothes, lies eventually
become truth =myth=legend."
(Anita Ratnam, in Narthaki Discussion
Forum, Feb 2, 2008) |
|
"No man can be a
good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils
and a genuine desire to impart to them what he himself believes to be of
value."
- Bertrand Russell |
|
"I am a dreamer,
not a thinker. When you think, the barriers of real life confront you.
Thinkers are seldom big achievers. They give up soon. I don’t give up on
my dreams."
(Guru Gangadhar Pradhan in 'Dreams
do come true' by Hariharan Balakrishnan, The Hindu Magazine, Jan 13, 2008) |
|
"One cannot buy experience.
That's what is important in every field."
-Yamini Krishnamurti ('The
power of experience' by Anjana Rajan, The Hindu, Dec 7, 2007) |
|
We tend to feel, if
someone is in the house and pressing the guru’s feet, it's a great parampara
going on. For me it's much deeper than that. It is a kind of osmosis, there
is so much give and take, the thought processes too, besides the dance.
It's a growing and maturing together. That osmosis, that transfusion of
the spirit and ethos and reasoning is as important as knowing where this
hand is going, where this foot is to be placed.
When you say 'student,' there is
a mindset that it is only the technical aspect being passed on….All in
all, it depends on what you make of a relationship, just like in a marriage.
I would say the guru has to be honest to give.
There should be respect both for
the student and the guru. It has to be within. It doesn't mean I have to
fall at the feet of the guru for 10 minutes. Like people who do puja for
an hour every day and then are ready to stab others!
(Shovana Narayan in 'Change is the
only constant factor' by Anjana Rajan - The Hindu Friday Review, Nov 2,
2007) |
|
"Critics... critics...critics!
They come in different shapes and sizes. In different categories. Good
critics, respectable critics, bad critics, indifferent critics, responsible
critics, half-baked critics, ignored critics of yesteryear, pampered critics
of the present, well-intentioned decent critics, crooked irresponsible
critics, perverted critics, sadistic critics, venomous critics...the classification
seems endless!"
- S. Balachander in 'A sabha 75
years old' by S Muthiah, The Hindu Metro Plus, Dec 10, 2007) |
|
"There’s so much
openness now that you need not fear expressing yourself. If you are happy
following what has been passed on to you, fine. If you want to explore,
this is the time!"
- (‘Music binds our country together
for music has no religion’ by Amjad Ali Khan, The New Sunday Express, Aug
12, 2007) |
|
"Thank God that today,
we have corporate houses and NRIs who are committed to take the cause of
music forward and give due respect to musicians. There have also been times
where musicians and courtesans were not given a place to sit when performing
in some darbars. They had to stand and play - this included tabla and sarangi
players. Shehnai players were made to perform from the third or fourth
floors of the darbars to avoid excess noise. Earlier, very often, artisans
in general were treated like untouchables. There has been a tremendous
evolution in the artistic community from that point in history."
- ‘Ghatam’ S Karthick
(‘Want to explore? This is the time!’
- The Hindu Metro Plus, Oct 30, 2007) |
|
"An education isn't
how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's
being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."
- Anatole France |
|
"My aim is to communicate
with the last man in the audience. Art minus communication is meaningless.
The term 'abhinaya' is not just facial expressions. It means drawing the
spectator to an idea. Look at the modern advertisements. It's contemporary
abhinaya. But one who creates should know what has to be completely and
what has to be suggestively portrayed. That is ethical aesthetics. The
Natyasastra says a production must be such that a family should be able
to watch it together."
- Padma Subrahmanyam in 'There’s
never a dull moment' – The Hindu, Oct 5, 2007 |
|
"Dancing is the poetry
of the foot."
- John Dryden |
|
"Dance has become
a favourite community activity, with debut performances celebrated like
weddings and young women using this as a means of empowerment. Dancers
known for excellence, originality, and truly worthy artistic expertise
have to now co-exist with the novice, the wannabe-stars and the manipulative
masters of the hype. The art of survival has been well understood by the
few grand masters of dance. They are no easy pushovers."
(The art of appreciating dance by
Lakshmi Viswanathan, The New Sunday Express, Aug 12, 2007) |
|
"I am very particular
about being fit. Now I dance for my own pleasure. I switch on the music
and dance. The more items you practice, the fresher they are in your mind.
Do you know that practising one varnam and one jatiswaram is more strenuous
than walking on the treadmill for one hour? The sweat just pours down;
at the end of it, physically my body feels very light and mentally I feel
very happy. All the stress drains away with the sweat. But if I am not
dancing, I walk briskly from 4.30 to 5.30 in the morning in a residential
area close to home."
- (Rhadha in 'With an eye on finer
details' by Rupa Srikanth, The Hindu, Aug 3, 2007) |
|
"I see dance being
used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep
to find for words."
- Ruth St. Denis |
|
"There will be no
wisdom, no learning, no art, nor craft, no device, nor action that is not
found within natya."
- Bharata, Natya Sastra |
|
"I think when you
are exposed to the highest standards you invariably become more discerning
and appreciative of the true aesthetics of the art. I feel as an artiste,
it is my responsibility not to play to the gallery but reach out and take
the audience along with me to explore the power and beauty of Bharatanatyam."
(Alarmel Valli in 'My festival'
The Hindu, Music Season, Jan 3, 2006) |
|
"All aspects of dance
should aim at the evolution of mankind and for refining individuals. So,
dance is used for cleansing of the self and reflecting the divine, resulting
in happiness. So, any real art must only express the divine."
- S Sarada |
|
"Art and life are
not two different things for me. Both teach you to relate to things at
the sublimal and ordinary levels. Music helps you deal with every situation.
It soothes and matures you.
Following a tradition and a custom
is not the same. Tradition allows you to think and create, while custom
will make you stereotyped."
- Amjad Ali Khan in 'Why is the
Ustad angry?' by Chitra Swaminathan (The Hindu, Feb 1, 2007) |
|
"You don't stop dancing
from growing old; you grow old from stopping to dance."
- Anonymous |
|
"There is this popular
perception that one is a successful contemporary dancer because one is
a failed traditional dancer. That's not true. It is so tough to be a contemporary
dancer because in today's times, we have a shortage of original and different
ideas. Dance does not pay. I can't go and tell someone to become
a dancer. Dance is a feast and famine business."
Anita Ratnam ('I have to find new
answers because I have more questions' in Khaleej Times) |
|
"The mediocre teacher
tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The
great teacher inspires."
- William A Ward |
|
"It is inevitable
that all art forms should change, but I feel that even though there are
no longer people who are prepared to stay up all night watching a Kathakali
play, the intrinsic quality of Kathakali is so great that I can't help
thinking it will go on for ever, even if not in the form I remember."
- David Bolland ("Record of art"
by K K Gopalakrishnan, The Hindu, Aug 8, 2004) |
|
"All Indian arts
were connected with the temple at one time - it was the center of all activity.
But there is a division - one is anushthanam or ritual, the other is kala
or art. Anushthanam is a part of the worship, but the kala is where there
is aesthetic experience, where the spectator is sitting and watching; that
is art."
- G Venu (Nuances, First City, Jan
2004) |
|
"Bhakti and rakti
are equal in status to reach salvation. A certain class of people is perhaps
uncomfortable with it. There is hypocrisy in our society. If the song is
in Sanskrit and the viewers cannot understand the words, they won't mind.
Generally, viewers are amazed that sexual motifs can be so beautiful and
artistic. While the motif of eroticism has been commented upon, it has
not been adversely commented upon."
(Swapnasundari in 'Dedicated to
dance,' the Hindu, June 5, 2005) |
|
"Humanity finds interest
in fine arts. Only the level of interest varies. A world without sound
and colours would be a world with no life. With more involvement in fine
arts there will be less negativity in this world and with lesser negative
vibrations the universe will be filled with harmony and peace."
- Vittorio Di Lotti
('Interest in fine arts will promote
harmony' by V Balasubramanian, The Hindu, Oct 6, 2006) |
|
"For all those who
are interested in the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, esthetic, historical
or any other aspects of our dance art, the sculptures are the primary source.
They depict what was really in vogue and are not mere fantasies. By studying
them, we will not only regain Bharata's art in the real sense, but also
have the profit of the 2000 years of evolution this art has undergone.
Proper preservation of the dance
sculptures in the country is an immediate necessity. Spoiling them by white-washing
and covering them by careless constructions should be ruthlessly prohibited.
An extensive survey of all the dance sculptures of our country and the
Far East will reveal valuable facts. Evidently individuals cannot afford
to do this. Educational foundations and universities should come forward
to undertake such gigantic projects. It is high time that our universities
had faculties for dance, giving the art its due place in the academic world."
('Bharatha Natyam - Classical Dance
of the Ancient Tamils: The Role of Dance Sculptures in Tamilnad' by Padma
Subrahmanyam) |
|
"Forget the dancer,
the center of the ego. Become the dance. Then the dancer disappears and
only the dance remains. Then the dancer is the dance. There is no dancer
separate from dance, no dance separate from the dancer."
-Acharya Rajneesh |
|
"You don't have to
be a Christian to feel the swooning power of gospel music. You don't have
to be a Muslim to be thrilled by qawali. I'm an atheist and materialist
but I'm excited, touched and inspired by the art of Willaim Blake, Kabir,
Curtis Mayfield, Giotto – all of it saturated in faith. And I don't see
that as a contradiction.
We atheists and materialists
have to admit that in the end there remains a mysteriousness to life that
is not merely a mystification. There are basic questions which humans ask
to which we cannot give definitive answers. The impulse to explore these
mysteries seems to me healthily human and not inherently retrogressive
or escapist. And whatever happens to religion in the future, art will remain
one of the prime means by which we engage in that exploration."
(Mike Marqusee in 'The Alchemy of
Art'- Hindu, May 14, 2006) |
|
"An artiste's caliber
is not measured by an award that he wins, but the place he enjoys in the
heart of art aficionados."
- Sadanam Ramankutty Nair
('Popularising a school of acting'
by K K Gopalakrishnan, The Hindu, Jan 6, 2006) |
|
"The emerging trend
is quite worrying as the focus is shifting from sharing artistic values
to gaining popularity with a lot of razzmatazz. But there's always faith
and hope for a better tomorrow. Of late, the festival has been gaining
a harder perspective. Dance and music are no longer seen in isolation.
For instance, a festival of films on art was held during December.
Though it's nice to see so much
happening, in the sound and fury, most often the sahitya and sruti are
lost. Rasanubhuti would be better when we find silence, which is part of
melody."
(Malavika Sarukkai in 'My Festival,'
The Hindu, Music Season, Jan 10, 2006) |
|
"Each tradition establishes
its own identity redefining its boundaries resulting in the emergence of
diverse traditions. Nothing is permanent. We need to develop an attitude
of tolerance towards new trends and reorient our outlook."
- Leela Ramanathan ('A life less
ordinary by Tara Kashyap', The Hindu, Bangalore, Oct 27, 2006) |
|
"My long association
with classical dance forms makes it difficult for me to change and accept
radical transformations. On further thought, I feel change is inevitable
and dance is no exception. Modernity need not be viewed as a thing to be
confronted. Many a time certain aspects of modernity have helped regeneration.
Hence, the introduction of new conceptualisation and innovative techniques
are necessary for dance to grow. However not at the cost of tradition.
Branching off or grafting need not necessarily involve uprooting the tree.
Dance has existed in India and the introduction of new forms need not be
a cause for concern. I believe that ultimately it is the core values that
enable art forms to survive."
- Leela Ramanathan ('A life less
ordinary by Tara Kashyap,' The Hindu, Bangalore, Oct 27, 2006) |
|
"A choreographic
idea flows only as fast as the initiator can communicate it to bodies and
see them realize it."
- 'Translations' by Marcia B Siegal
in Dance Ink, Spring 1993 |
|
"Just like it is
rare to get a good guru, it is equally rare for gurus to get a good disciple.
Every performer is not an able guru and vice-versa. Not everyone has the
kind of patience required for teaching."
- Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, santoor
exponent
"There is a lack of proper taleem
because a lot of today's gurus are top performers and have one foot in
India and the other in the US all the time. When will they teach?"
- Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, flautist
('Heir Gloom' by Arindham Mukherjee,
Outlook, Sept 25, 2006) |
|
"To avoid criticism
do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."
- Elbert Hubbard |
|
"For me, the best
part is improvising and seeing how you can express yourself. I have always
added dance to my productions. When I was directing theatre, I added dance
sequences where they didn't exist in the play. I think dance is the ultimate
form of expression."
- Valerie Weiss, film maker
(Her film, "Dance by Design," is
about a woman studying architecture who falls in love with dance) |
|
"Great people should
mean people great in living their lives, whether famous or not, because
there may be great people who remain unrecognized."
- Rukmini Devi |
|
"When I first started
playing with dancers, my peers started saying haath khul jaayega and my
playing would suffer. But I was confident that playing with dancers would
only enhance my chaumukha or versatile playing."
(Tabla maestro Kishan Maharaj in
'The reign of Raja and Maharaj,' The Hindu, Delhi June 9, 2005) |
|
"An ounce of performance
is worth pounds of promises."
- Mae West |
|
The pristine purity
of Bharatanatyam should never be compromised. Luckily, this program was
billed only as 'dance' and not as 'Bharatanatyam.'
('Full of poise' by B M Sundaram,
The Hindu, Music Season, Jan 3, 2006)
Altering other's compositions
is best avoided. It is common for some dancers to change a few words or
lines in some Padams, as they appear lewd. Instead, they can opt for some
other Padam.
Songs, just for their srungara
content cannot be called Padams.
('Exotic and expressive' by B M
Sundaram, The Hindu, Music Season, Jan 6, 2006) |
|
"A good teacher is
better than a spectacular teacher. Otherwise the teacher outshines the
teachings."
- The Tao of Teaching |
|
Criticism has to
be unflattering sometimes. It isn't produced to instruct dancers how to
correct or improve their work. And it requires more than instant, off-the-cuff
reaction.
Critiquing and writing criticism
are not the same...
Criticism plays an important
role in the evolution of a culture. It establishes a detailed historical
record. Previews and other informational writing create mythology in advance.
After the performance, the dancers
and the companies themselves carry on that mythology, and through the normal
process of information decay, it spins into ever more reductive categorizing
and celebrating. The critical account comes from the scene itself, as opposed
to those other accounts delivered before the fact. It's an authentic, public
response - even if it's partial, even if it's subjective, even if it's
inaccurate - of one person to a public event. And of course, the more critical
views there are of that public event, the fuller picture of it emerges
when it's over. History has to be bigger and deeper than the record that's
controlled by dancers themselves.
(Marcia B Siegel in 'Critical Practice
in the Age of Spin' - DCA (Dance Critics Association) News Winter 2005) |
|
"The dance is a poem
of which each movement is a word."
- Mata Hari |
|
I do not think one
should be innovative for the sake of being innovative. Or try to do something
under pressure. Particularly the growing craze for thematic presentation
is amusing, when there is a margam that is versatile, vibrant and offers
enough variety.
(Alarmel Valli in 'When tradition
is given new dimensions,' The Hindu, Dec 1, 2005) |
|
It's the heart afraid
of breaking that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes the chance.
It is the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.
- Bette Midler |
|
"Though Kuchipudi
dance form is not my personal favorite, I am sensitive to the fact that,
like Kathakali, it needs great help to maintain the dance drama tradition
in all male format. Moreover, in its absence the form has degenerated
into "so-low" dance form! I am not against female dancers but just want
that coming generation of rasikas are not bereft of experiencing the joy
of watching men convincingly perform as women."
(Subbudu in 'Dance like a woman!'
Statesman, June 10, 2005) |
|
"I can do my dance,
and I can feel one thing, and the audience member can see it and feel another,
and there's nothing wrong... It gives everybody a lot of room."
- Douglas Dunn (Courtesy DCA News
(Dance Critics Association USA), Spring 2000) |
|
"Reasons may be several
but the fact is classical dance is just not attracting crowds. What is
it that keeps music lovers away from classical dance? Why are the majority
of music rasikas not able to appreciate dance? Could it be that the habit
of listening to music kutcheris is deeply ingrained handed down from generation
to generation over the past hundred years, whereas attending public performances
of Bharatanatyam is of relatively recent origin starting in the 1930s?
What could motivate the section
of music lovers which is probably too lazy, indifferent, snooty or simply
too busy to try and educate itself on the aesthetic nuances of Bharatanatyam?
Dance, like music, is the expression
of the human spirit. Dance is 'visual music'."
(S Janaki in 'Why dance finds few
takers,' The Hindu, Dec 1, 2005) |
|
"Dance is your pulse,
your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. It's the
expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy."
- Jaques D'Amboise |
|
"The arts stand naked
and without defense in a world where what cannot be measured is not valued;
where what cannot be predicted will not be risked...where whatever cannot
deliver a forecast outcome is not undertaken...
The final value of the arts cannot
be predicted or quantified; to curtail them on these grounds is to deny
the possibility of an unpredictable benefit. The risk of funding the arts
offers benefits far greater then the immediate gains of not funding them.
The arts link society to its past, a people to its inherited store of ideas,
images and words; yet the arts challenge those links in order to find ways
of exploring new paths and ventures...
The arts are evolutionary and
revolutionary; they listen, recall and lead. They resist the homogenous,
strengthen the individual and are independent in the face of the pressures
of the mass, the bland, the undifferentiated. In a post modern world in
which individual creativity has never mattered more, the arts provide the
opportunity for developing this characteristic. The investment in the arts
is small, the actual return so large, that it represents value as research
into ideas."
John Tusa ('Why the arts matter'
The Hindu, Dec 14, 2005) |
|
"Dancers are instruments,
like a piano the choreographer plays."
- George Balanchine |
|
"Some traditionalists
came down heavily on my research but I told them, If you find it inconvenient
to accept my style, then I shall call my dance Bharatanrityam instead of
Bharatanatyam."
(Padma Subrahmanyam, Aug 2004 Savvy,
p 49, 'Dance Diva') |
|
"You can tell whether
a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his
questions."
- Naguib Mahfouz |
|
"Only people, who
can't do the stuff we do, say such things. They have no idea of the hard
work, discipline, physical exertion and creativity that goes into such
'circus acts'. Most classical dancers oppose my work.
The ultimate tribute a shishya
can pay a guru is to try to go beyond him/her, but classical dancers do
not encourage this."
- Daksha Sheth in 'Dance to a different
beat,' the Hindu, June 12, 2005 |
|
"The Dancer believes
that his art has something to say which cannot be expressed in words or
in any other way than by dancing... there are times when the simple dignity
of movement can fulfill the function of a volume of words. There are movements
which impinge upon the nerves with a strength that is incomparable, for
movement has power to stir the senses and emotions, unique in itself. This
is the dancer's justification for being, and his reason for searching further
for deeper aspects of his art."
- Doris Humphrey, 1937 |
|
"A stage has now
come, when there is a general conflict between tradition bound purists
and tradition bound Innovators. The purists always argue that in classical
dance, our ancestors have created the best and the finest masterpieces
with the result there is no scope for modern enthusiasts to better them
whereas, the Innovators are of the determined opinion that even in a tradition-bound
art there is scope for variety, unbounded richness and unique nuances...
A sense of revolt and change
is ever present in most practicing artists. It is this spirit of adventure
that makes art a mirror of its time. It is a common practice amongst all
aged persons to condemn the changes of their present days and praise their
good old days. But when the changes get settled in the patterns of art,
there are no more voices denigrating erstwhile changes, because they have
become one with tradition! And so life goes on, art marches on and culture
passes on."
("Tradition and Innovation in Indian
dance," U S Krishna Rao, in Shrungara, Maha-Maya Golden Jubilee Celebrations
Souvenir, 1992) |
|
"We dance for laughter,
we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance
for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams." |
|
Nowadays, if some
persons are vastly talented than us, we do not congratulate them – we envy
them and resent their success. It seems we do not want heroes we can admire,
so much as heroes we can identify with. We want to think we can be like
them, and so we make sure to select heroes that are like us. We worship
David Beckam because he is fallible. If Achilles were around today, the
headlines would all be about his heel.
Raw talent is not distributed
equally. By definition, most of us are not exceptional. We are neither
particularly stupid, nor exceptionally intelligent. Only a very few are
extremely gifted. But it is to these exceptionally talented people that
the rest of us owe most of the greatest achievements of humankind. The
Mona Lisa, the Goldberg variations and King Lear were not the work of ordinary
people like you and me. They were the work of geniuses, people so much
more talented than us that we could never paint or write anything comparable
to their achievements, no matter how hard we tried or how long we lived.
To some, those thoughts seem so
humiliating and threatening that it must not even be countenanced. But
to me it is liberating and inspiring. It is precisely the realization that
I will never be the equal of Mozart or Goethe that allows me to sit back
and enjoy what they have bequeathed to me. It is my recognition of their
greatness, my admission of their immeasurable superiority of their talent
that redeems my mediocrity. It is good to be human, not because every human
can be great, but because a few people have shown us the heights to which
humanity can occasionally ascend. Without the shining achievements of these
few, the human race would be a waste of space.
Consider also how unattractive
it is when someone begrudges another’s talent, when they cannot praise
success without also seeking to undermine it or feel diminished when a
colleague wins praise. It is a sign of a mean spirit. Conversely, the person
who shows unreserved admiration thereby becomes admirable. To applaud someone
else’s achievements or good fortune, without the slightest trace of envy
or resentment, is a mark of true generosity.
(Dylan Evans, “Mozart redeems
our mediocrity”, the Hindu, July 22, 2005) |
|
"Too many times we
stand aside and let the waters slip away,
till what we put off till tomorrow
has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and
dare to dance the tide."
- Anonymous |
|
"It has been said
with some justification that the oversized dancer in Indian classical dance
does not evoke the kind of waspish comments he or she would in the West,
where ballet is less accommodating of the fat dancer. We quote verses from
the Natya Shastra or the Abhinaya Darpana upholding comments made on the
dance, but keep silent when it comes to a dancer whose girth negates the
physical attributes prescribed for a dancer in the shastras. In fact, some
performers would seem to sport those very qualities mentioned as disqualification."
- Leela Venkataraman in 'A question
of weight,' Hindu, Delhi, June 10, 2005) |
|
"Dancing in all its
forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing
with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also
be able to dance with the pen?"
- Friedrich Nietzsche |
|
"At the recent Thyagaraja
Festival in Delhi, I heard the guest of honor paid floral tribute to the
portrait of St Thyagaraja wearing his Prada shoes. This is just one of
the many stories where the sanctity of the art is sold in lieu of gimmickry.
Last year at two dance recitals, the dancers came down from the stage to
present the bouquet to the chief guests! How atrocious can we get? How
then the artistes explain their spiritual flight while performing on stage?
If you are so spiritually uplifted, would you care who has come and who
hasn't?"
- Subbudu in 'Patronising the patrons'
- Statesman, June 3, 2005 |
|
"The language is
different but the sameness of the message through the length and breadth
of the country shows that it is our poets and music composers who have
really united the country into one. Politics has always created diverse
feelings with people being treated as vote banks and spoken to in different
groups. But it is the literature and music of the country that have created
bonds."
Leela Venkataraman
(Nartanam, Vol IV #3, p71-72, July-Sept
2004) |
|
"We have to lament
that in today’s world of marketing and commerce, we have reached a nadir
where the dancer has almost no space, either physical or metaphorical.
The dancer simply has no product to market (no CDs and cassettes like the
musician or instrumentalist, no painting or sculpture like the artist,
no buildings or plans like the architect, no books like the authors and
poets) except the ability to create an intangible art form which springs
alive only for that moment, and then, evanescent, fades from all existence,
except in memory. And memory cannot be marketed.
Hence it is that all the related
industries that have cropped up to market the other arts, like galleries,
publishing houses, ad agencies, music companies with sales planets and
even galaxies, have no equivalents for dance simply because the dancer
and the dance have no commercial value."
- Geeta Chandran (‘World Dance Day’
Asian Age, Kolkata April 29, 2005) |
|
"Dance, like music,
knows no geographical boundaries, no linguistic barriers and no racial
divisions. All walls crumble where art is concerned. It is a great
unifying and integrating force."
- Vempatti Chinna Satyam
(Nartanam Vol IV #3, p46, July-Sept
2004) |
|
"My experience with
dancers has been very peculiar. They generally like a studio photo shoot
before their actual performances. I sometimes wonder how they are more
careful about their costumes during the shoot. It is interesting to see
them adjust to their surroundings to get the best shots, they would get
restless, put music on to give the best poses. The same evening you see
them so involved in their art form, oblivious of costumes and makeup."
Avinash Pascricha, photographer
("Rhythm at my feet," Pioneer, New
Delhi, April 29, 2005) |
|
There is no denying
that some critics have let power go to their heads. One of them declared,
"When I wish to annihilate, then I do annihilate." But, as may be expected,
the artist has the last word. Liberace, the popular American musician,
told his critics: "What you said hurt me very much. I cried all the way
to the bank." And John Sibelius, the eminent composer, said, "I pay no
attention to what critics say. There has never been a statue set up in
honor of a critic."
- H.Y. Sharada Prasad, 'The artist
and the critic'
(Asian Age, Editorial Page, 6th
April 2005) |
|
If you wish in this
world to advance
Your merits you’re bound to enhance;
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven’t a chance
- W S Gilbert |
|
"The rasika is one
who takes pains to sit through concerts, has a sense of appreciation, can
discriminate between cadence and noise, melody and cacophony, natural grace
and mere drill, genuine feeling and robotic expressions of face, gait and
stance, and rich profundity and brash mediocrity of ethos. He need not
be well versed in ragas and their lakshanas, mudras and adavus or the more
mysterious nadais, eduppus, sollus, jatis and teermanams. Aesthetics is
not academics. Let not the average audience hand over the authority to
distinguish between creativity and monstrosity only to illustrious celebrities
and learned critics. The rasika is the judge, and his language is probably
silence, at best. Let a few mind boggling, mindless swara-korvais, devoid
of any melodic values, gigantic in their scheme, pass without a murmur
or a resounding applause, let the audience show by face its disappointment
at a kriti being sidelined to give way to a singer’s exercises practiced
at home, let a vague presentation in a dance, whose meaning is not clear
to a rasika pass without claps – and then we would be seeing producers
of art taking a serious view and start exercising their imagination properly."
P S Krishnamurthy
(The ball is in the rasika’s court,
The Hindu, Dec 1, 2004) |
|
"Thinking is easy
but acting is difficult and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most
difficult thing in the world"
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
|
“Dance criticism
is necessary for the life of a nation’s cultural heritage and for the inculcation
of love and appreciation for the arts in the younger generation. In the
absence of checks and balances, the art, which is ephemeral, suffers since
it vanishes the moment it is created in space and time.”
- Sunil Kothari
(DCA News, Spring 2004, p11) |
|
“There is a general
decline of taste for classical dance, which is neglected and this must
be developed from the grassroots. There is so much of razzle-dazzle of
Bollywood dancing that classical dance suffers. Also, the stumbling block
is Bharata Natyam - it is the language that is not emotionally evolved.
Kerala has one peculiar phenomenon:
each girl learns Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, and they just
take part in inter-university competitions, and that's all. There is no
seriousness.
We have more students for Bharata
Natyam. When I ask them why they want to learn it, they reply: because
Hema Malini dances Bharata Natyam.”
- Kanak Rele, (‘My eroticism is
not offensive', Statesman, Kolkata, Oct 29, 2004) |
|
“In seeking wisdom,
the first stage is silence, the second listening, the third remembrance,
the 4th practicing, the fifth teaching.”
- Solomon Ibn Gabiro |
|
“The reasonable man
adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to
adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable
man.”
- George Bernard Shaw |
|
“Solo performance
has the key to the strength of classical dances like Odissi and Bharatanatyam.
Group work is very fashionable now, but the tapasya of the artists does
not show in them. Group choreographies are fine, but they should not be
done at the cost of solo performance, because the artist's ability to hold
the attention of the audience and delineate a subject comes through only
in a solo.”
- Sonal Mansingh |
|
“Varnam or Nrityopahaaram
(an offering of dance and mime) is the judicious combination of Nritta,
Nritya and Naatya, expounding the deep-rooted technique of physical, mental
and spiritual background of Bharatanaatyam. This can be termed as the quintessence
or epitome of a technique that has withstood the test of time.
The construction of the present
day ‘Varnam’ format in a solo Bharatanaatyam performance has the
time and space for a dancer to exploit her or his technical virtuosity
and keep the attentive interest of the audience, irrespective of the length
of delineation, whether it is for 30 minutes or 60 minutes or more.
The success and failure of a Bharatanaatyam
artiste depend on how well one could perform a ‘Nrityoopahaaram’ to the
fullest satisfaction of a discerning connoisseur audience.”
- V P Dhananjayan |
|
“More needs to be
done about changing the entire infrastructure that preserves culture. I’m
not talking of just dance; it’s an inter-related web of relationships.
Monuments, conservation, nature, ecology, music, dance, food – all are
interrelated. I think all of this is culture.”
- Swapnasundari (‘Her Story’, First
City, Sept 2004) |
|
“A true master is
not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most masters.
A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates
the most leaders. A true king is not the one with the most subjects, but
the one who leads the most to royalty.”
- Neale Donald Walsch in Conversations
with God. (The Speaking Tree, Times of India, Nov 16, 2004) |
|
“No artist is ahead
of his time. He is his time; it is just that others are behind the times.”
- Martha Graham |
|
“The really great
dancer is perhaps a rarer phenomenon than great musicians, painters or
sculptors. This is because dance is a consummation of all these arts. The
dancer, in addition to the qualities that pure dance demands, must be sensitive
to and have an uncanny ear for music, must have a painter’s sensibility
to the significant line, a sculptor’s approach to form, an architect’s
vision of space and a trained actor’s responses to dramatic situations.”
- K Subhas Chandran (‘Beloved Guruji’-
p3) |
|
“Dialogue between
critics and dancers is essential, not only for the flourishing of the art
but also for the flourishing of our society. Let’s remember that civilizations
are not remembered for the territories they have conquered, or the wars
they have won or lost, but for the manner in which they supported and recognized
their artists.”
- Rita Feliciano
(DCA News, Spring 2004, p10) |
|
“The real self of
an artiste lies in art, so when an artiste performs, all the pain, trauma
and tension get released through art, be it dancing, painting, singing,
writing or even martial arts.”
- Mrinalini Sarabhai
(“Dance, a great stress buster,”
Tribune, New Delhi, July 12, 2004) |
|
“For an artiste,
the place in the audience’s heart and in the history of the art form itself
is the greatest honor. Only genuine caliber and nothing else could buy
this.”
- Kalamandalam Gopi, Kathakali maestro
(“Lifelong Endeavor” by K K Gopalakrishnan,
The Hindu - Delhi, March 7, 2004) |
|
“A dancer should
learn from all the arts. Go to museums and look at the paintings. See how
they balance things. Everything you do in the arts enriches you.”
- Alicia Alonso
(‘Alonso inspires’ by Karen Hildebrand,
p 25, Dance Magazine, Jan 2004) |
|
“Man has used human
rhythmic movement as raw material out of which to create works of art,
as the composer of music uses sound, the sculptor uses stone and wood,
the painter his pigments, and the writer – words.’’
- Ted Shawn |
|
“It’s true of all
great artists that the more you see, the more you want to see”
- Peter Anastos – choreographer
(‘Balanchine Lives,’ p 93, Dance
Magazine, Jan 2004) |
|
“You should be very
contemporary in dealing with tradition. Don’t keep tradition as a tradition,
but as a contemporary art.”
- G Venu (p36, Nuances, First City,
Jan 2004) |
|
"When drama is all
embracing, it leads mankind. It is a means of education and instruction.
It gives relief to the lucky and the unlucky, to the successful and the
unsuccessful, to the joyful and the suffering. Those who are in the shadow
are treated the same as those who are in the light. Drama is an image
of the world and a vision of the supreme powers. Hence a theatrical performance
should not be held without worshipping the deities of the stage.
Thus the sacred wisdom of the Natya Sastra."
(p 207, "Rupa Pratirupa Alica Boner
Commemoration Volume" chapter 'Is acting an art?' by Georgette Boner) |
|
“There is no difference
between the left eye and the right eye, they both give us one vision. Likewise
with dance, the personalities are very different but they give you the
totality of one emotional and artistic expression”.
- Sonal Mansingh
(“Roll up the carpet,” Indian Express
Mumbai, Nov 13, 2003) |
|
“A dance legacy must
be performed in order to be preserved”
- Ann Daly, in DCA News Spring 2000 |
|
“Good art is a form
of prayer. It's a way to say what is not sayable.”
- Frederich Busch |
|
“I like to think
dance is an international language that all people can appreciate. All
societies have some form of dance as a form of communication.”
- Paul Taylor (American choreographer)
(Newsweek, July 28, 2003) |
|
“We enter through
the gopuram (center hall) of alarippu, cross the ardha mandapam (1/2 way
hall) of jatiswaram, then the mandapam (great hall) of sabdam and enter
the holy precinct of the deity in the varnam”.
-T. Balasaraswathi 1975
At the Tamil Isai Conference |
|
The self is the ocean,
the mind is a wave and thoughts are the sparkles on the waves.
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar |
|
Culture is the ability
to understand other people's point of view.
- Jawaharlal Nehru |
|
Art is the most secular
of all human inventions; it reaches out to human hearts beyond man made
artificial barriers of color, creed and political boundaries.
- Dr. R Sathyanarayana |
|
“The sensitive artiste
develops the “hearing ear” and the ‘seeing eye” which forever lead one
to seek search, making one’s entire life a voyage of discovery”.
- Chitra Visweswaran |
|
"Dance has to unfold
with the grace of a tree giving out leaves, flowers and then tiny fruit.
Nothing so beautiful can be done in haste".
- Pt. Birju Maharaj |
|
"There is no other
knowledge, no other learning, no other art, not even yoga or action that
is not found in dance."
- Natya Sastra |
|
Dance is the medium
that ties together modern cultures with those that are
fading, and a form that appeals
to both the wealthy and the poor.
- Madeline Nichols
(courtesy DCA News) |
|
"Education in the
art of dance is education of the whole man - his physical, mental and emotional
natures are disciplined and nourished simultaneously in dance."
- Ted Shawn |
|
"Contrary to conventional
wisdom, dance is not a universal “language’ but many languages and dialects.
There are close to 6000 verbal languages, and probably that many dance
languages."
- Judith Lynne Hanna
(Courtesy DCA News) |
|
"Dance is like wine
- it matures with every performance."
-Alarmel Valli |
|
“A dance performance
is rather like going out into a battlefield. You have to hold the attention
of as many as five to 10,000 people, a lot of whom do not follow your language”
- Yamini Krishnamurthy |
|
"The artist is nothing
without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work."
- Emile Zola (1840-1902) |
|
“Dance, like music
and other arts, helps us rise above the beast in ourselves.”
- Sudharani Raghupathy |
|
“Dance communicates
man’s deepest, highest and most truly spiritual thoughts and emotions far
better than words, spoken or written.”
- Ted Shawn |
|
"The higher up you
go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough
of them, it's considered to be your style."
- Fred Astaire |
|
"Art is not what
you see, but what you make others see."
- Edgar Degas |
|
"When you are trying
to serve society in any way,
you have to experience what they
call the inner loneliness.
It comes from the fact that you
don't do what people expect you to do.
All the time you do things differently
and that is why you are what you are."
- Nelson Mandela |
|
"I am simple and
I am sincere, therefore my art is from my heart."
- Pina Bausch |
|
"I do believe the
body is the center of your being, center of your world.
And you, after all, are the centre
that holds the universe together."
- Chandralekha |
|
"Our problem is not
so much one of rebirth of an Indian culture as it is one of preserving
what remains of it. Indian culture is of value to us not because it is
Indian, but because it is culture."
- Ananda Coomaraswamy |
|
"My dancing is not
an attempt to interpret life in the literary sense. It is an affirmation
of life through movement."
- Martha Graham |
|
"Whither the hand
goes, the glance follows,
Whither the glances lead, the
mind follows,
Whither the mind goes, there
the mood follows
Whither the mood goes, there
is “rasa” born."
- Abhinaya Darpana |
|
