I have been fascinated by four  dancers each answering different cultures, dance styles, cities and even ages and yet all four have in their own sustained my own interest in classical dance and made me write this blog after quite a gap.
First what is that which is sustaining me who is a perfect stranger to this art form and almost an illiterate when it comes to the techniques and nuances of dance or even music. I know no ragas, nor do I know any thalas and of course I have zero knowledge in bhavas, nritya and timings. I have nothing to offer when it comes to knowledge of dance and yet I have sustained this blog for nearly a decade purely hoping someday to attain the knowledge and depth necessary to turn myself into a critic rather than a casual bystander which is what I am today. I am writing this blog without overtly describing personalities or their rendering.  Aiswarya Ramakrishnan, a young Kuchipudi exponent of considerable depth and tremendous grasp of the techniques of this unique dance form from deep Andhra Pradesh.

Aiswarya Ramakrishnan

This girl is fascinating  as she is so well focused on dance as a career that she literally fought tooth and nail to get there being born into a prosperous middle class family of professionals. Father being a banker wouldnt listen to anything other than writing the bank officers exam and bagging the coveted job like for the life time Fortunately the kids Mom and her father are carnatic vocal singers themselves and Aiswarya herself is an accomplished vocalist.
he one who has fascinated me of late is an amazing dancer  who belong to the modern generation of a mixed race coming from a rich cultural family of considerable standing and reputation.

Being a  Young Dancer!

It is amazing to be young especially when it comes to Art like Dance though it also means responsibility at a very early age if you want to make it right to the top. Like most other professions Dance requires  early start, rigorous training and above all dedication. There is no such thing  as shaking a leg in a party and being called a good  dancer.  Also of course, there has to be some inborn talent for blossoming as a professional  even though this is not a precondition  as such.  There have been many who started out fairly late and yet made it very big without any  early signs of being a dancer.
But being young and pursuing this profession has its own hazards  as with age the dancer also grows their personality and being a spectacle  sport of sorts, dance does attract quite a crowd  which  may have little to do with the dance but a lot to do with the dancer.  Besides like any other competitive high profile sport, this field is also full of people who constantly sharpen their knives and come to you  with full gusto if you make even one slip.
Such dangerous  walking on the blade's edge makes dancing even more enchanting  and fruitful for the professional dancer.
Then the issue of  finding the right gurus as the crowd that teaches youngsters is pretty different from the ones who deal with children. As you graduate from being a child to a  strapping young lady or gent, there is the possibility of not finding a strong Guru  is very high. Most gurus at this level are busy professionals having their own academies and are not in a position to spend much time other than including the  talented youngsters as one of the  few backstage artistes.  This is the major pitfall of being with an accomplished dancer but there is no choice here either.
The other issue is emotional  which means, a teeanger is already tottering on the edges of a highly  stressful  growing up blues  and he or she has now deal with a bunch of strangers they would rather avoid.  The  practice sessions are usually late evening the time that whey would rather hangout with friends  and it may even go up to late in the night killing the precious extra hours the teenagers would like to curl up in the bed.
Besides, such pressures, the school or  college would also have their own set of traps to spring for the youngsters as their academic performance is equally essential  for their existence in a family fold.
Go through all this as the  end result is truly well worth striving for!