Indian dancing

THE REVIVAL OF INDIAN DANCING

sciousness has not yet awakened to appreciation and encoutagement of the art. Theatre managers are notorious for forcing dancers to ‘popularize’ their performances by cutting down classical numbers in favour of flimsy dances that appeal to unenlightened tastes. To a great extent the dancer still has to fall back on private patronage. As Philistinism is rife among those who pull the pursestrings, the dancet’s plea for aid turns out to be a cry in the wilderness. When he does manage to make himself heard, he must dance to the tune of those who pay the fee and, more often than not, the tune called is far from elevated!

Dancing, and all art, must become part of life if it is to serve it. Tt must reflect not merely the artist’s individuality and skill, but must also hold a mirror to the contemporary life of the nation, to the social and cultural conscience of the community.

The dance technique of ancient times has a finished pattern because, like other arts, it belongs to an age when art was wedded to life. Thus the devadasi dancing in her temple was in those days no object of impertinent scrutiny but a part of the daily fabric of life, like the mason who helped to build monuments or the sculptors who carved beauty out of the Ellora rocks and perpetuated heroic themes in the caves of Ajanta. If dancing is to progress it must be allowed to develop in the air of freedom, not be stifled by the

-artist’s having to pander to degraded tastes. The artist, be he famous of a nonentity, must be accepted as an ordinary working member of society, who, like any craftsman ot member of a profession, has his contribution to make to the good of the community.

Any age is judged by its cultural attainments, but these must be related to the life of the time. Classicism has its place, but we must seek inspiration from the present as well as from the past, from life as well as from fantasy. The dancer must come down to earth and his art must teflect his own times. Industrialization and vested interests have shorn the modern world of much beauty. The dancer must join with fellow artists in restoring that beauty.

Tt is a diseased social order that neglects the artist and lets him go a-begging, for it thus restricts his contribution to the welfare of the community. Since we are all products of our environment,

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