Following my blog! I didnt quite know there is a fair amount of following of my blog and it is going to touch 10,000 views! Amazing. Well, the beautiful dance form is something everyone is now rediscovering for its true worth. The artistes are getting new recognition for their efforts. In my recent visits to the USA, the Orient and within India I find more people are getting interested in traditional art forms. More people are willing to spend money to train their children, take the effort to drive them to the classes and wait patiently outside for hours, go through the pain of getting the Arangerrams done. It is no longer fad, it is serious business.
Move over man!
Also I guess internet has also contributed hugely to this phenomena where people are able to track the best and also follow their favourite artists. Despite all this disconcertingly, the senior artists are still ruling the roost and in the process inadvertently denying the fair chance to the youth. Besides, such art forms as these require lithe young artists who could carry themselves in the stage. The elders should have the magnanimity to vacate the space and encourage the youth to take the centrestage as a show of their true maturity. Sharing of knowledge, researching and uncovering new knowledge nuggets is possible only if the elders turn to be mentors and not remain as competitors.
The ICCR show!
A serious research on some of the key shows that took place with government ICCR assistance in the last one year would easily tell you that 90 per cent of the funds have gone to a handful of senior artists which is pretty unfair. Someone in the profession should file an RTI to find out who has utilised the government funds, who has used the Doordarshan programmes, who has performed in some of the key government supported mega dance shows. A serious rethinking is needed to see that the big names remain big by mentoring and not by competing with the youngsters. This trend is not only in bharathanatyam, but in all art forms where government funding is involved.
Can someone also file an RTI to find out how much money was dished out, who benefited and what follow up action was taken while providing the ICCR scholarships. Here is the link http://www.iccrindia.net/otherschemes.html
Did you know that ICCR has dozens of Fellowships and Chairs abroad in practically every country you can think of. http://www.iccrindia.net/chairslist.html I wonder who used these funds and what follow up was done to pass this knowledge to the young artists in India.
Check this list and you can easily spot everyone who is anyone including the wife of a famous crickter is here. Most of the yesteryear artists who refuse to step down are also there in equal measure. http://www.iccrindia.net/iccr-annualreport-2010-11/Annexure%2011%20(Festivals%20of%20India).pdf
I rest my case!
Having said this, I must also place on record the tremendous contributions made by the senior artists like Padma Subramaniam, Alarmel Valli. Bhavalaya.com has an interesting collection of bios of leading artists of yesteryears and not so yester too! See this ">link

I happened to meet Padmavathi, the former danuese whose background and pictures adorn this blog elsewhere, after a long gap during which period she had "hung" up her Salangai, something very sad and very poignant and a great loss for the world of Kuchupudi. She just couldnt cope with all that happened in her life, her marriage, her daughter, her career first as a lawyer, then as an AirForce Air Traffic Controller, next as a Admin head of CSS, followed by a News Anchor at a popular Telegu channel and now as its head of administration and external legal support official. A great girl that she is and she will do a lot more and perhaps may even come back to Dance and contribute in a much different way than her peers who might still be dancing or set up a dance school.
Here is one artist, a professional and one of the Dance Trios of Chennai who stuck to dance and made a great career with fan following around the world. ICCR seem to have quietly supported many an artist to go abroad and perform, looks like. Shobanaa Bhalchandra of Om Shakthi Dance School is the youngest of the renowned Trio Sisters of Chennai. A seasoned and versatile artist, she is also recognized as a senior Bharathanatyam "Guru". One of the early disciples of the famous dance duo, Dhanajayans, Shobanaa was trained in the popular Kalakshetra style. She went on to complement this with an extensive study of Abhinaya (Expressions) under Padmabushan Kalanidhi Narayanan. In her quest for all-round excellence Shobanaa underwent professional training in Classical Music as well as Nattuvangam. Her dedication to this art form is also evident by the fact that she opted for a career in performing and teaching this dance form, in-spite of having a Masters degree in Business.
Finally, I was watching two different videos of Shobhana today, the versatile actress and dancer who is equally effective in both her roles. I am not sure about the way her life has gone so far, which is quite a sad thing for a artist and performer of her greatness and also coming from a legacy of the Travancore Sisters, Padmini, Rahini and Lalitha, all three of them known for their pure dance prowess. In one video, the artist had put on unusually lot of weight and in another, a more recent one she looked a bit sick and tired with her body slightly emaciated. Whatever private hell she is passing through, she is quite dedicated to her art which one can easily discern, perhaps this is what is getting her going.