Special issue with the Sunday Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

MUSIC & DANCE : December 05, 1999

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In the Indian diaspora

Sunil Kothari

What do Menaka Thakkar in Toronto, Anandavalli Sivanathan in Sydney, Geetha Ravishankar in Ndola, Deepa Ganesh in Dubai, Chitraleka Bolar in Birmingham, Neilla Sathyalingam in Singapore, Viji Prakash in Los Angeles and Savitry Nair in Paris, have in common?

They are all immigrants to the respective countries where they have migrated - non resident Indians. But what binds them is their commitment to classical Indian dance forms which they have studied in India. And they continue to practise it abroad. They have also been running schools and academies where they train other NRIs and their children but also the nationals of those countries, who take interest in Indian culture.

With the unprecedented global popularity of a form like Bharatanatyam today, the dance scene is overcrowded not only within India but also abroad. This has led to subtle shifts in meanings and context and a whole new sociology of the form is needed to grasp the complexity of its specificities. The diaspora of Indians who have settled abroad practising, performing and teaching classical dance forms have added to the complexity. In terms of numbers, one has to cast a cursory glance at the latest edition of Narthaki, a directory of dancers edited by Anita Ratnam. It contains a staggering list of practitioners involved with dance.

Menaka Thakkar, Kitappa Pillai, Janak Khendry in Toronto.

These practitioners naturally would, as all immigrants, like to preserve, in an alien land, their own identity. And links with India. Once they are distanced from India, the age-old traditions, rituals, customs, festivals, religion, cultural expressions, performing arts, plastic arts, classical, folk and social dances begin to exercise a deep bond and attraction. In a society with different cultures, their own culture offers them an identity, which they like to maintain and nurture, as they realise its value more in another country than when they were back home.

They also develop a strong desire to pass on these Indian values and culture to the next generation to make them appreciate their own culture of India and their roots.

With this background it is easy to appreciate the proliferation of Indian classical dance schools in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and some countries in Europe. The facts are the same in all cases. Once the young man goes abroad for higher studies and plans to settle down there with better economic and other opportunities, he marries a girl, well versed in one of the most popular classical Indian dance forms, say Bharathanatyam, who migrates and adjusts herself in the new environment. With all the spare time at her disposal and a desire to do something with the art form in terms of either a performance or to train young children of Indian origin as well as foreign, she starts dance classes. In most of the cases, it is the same old story. Be it New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, London or Leicester. The pattern seems to follow the same course.

Dance comes as a blessing in disguise. It offers an identity to the young woman. Enthusiastic parents lend support. Often the parents visit the couple abroad and assist them to tide over the difficulties. Even under very strenuous circumstances the young enterprising dancer comes into her own and proves her competence. One example would suffice. It would also dispel a wrong notion on part of people in India that abroad it is easy to function and since there is enough money, one can "make it". Far from it. It requires grit, hard work and determination to build up a career, as a performer, a teacher and an administrator to run an academy.

Lata Pada and Sampradaya dance creations, Ontario,Canada.

Revathi Sathyu (ne Rangachar) from Bangalore, moved to Terrel, Texas, twenty years ago. It was not easy when she began. She used to and still travels 45 miles to Dallas and 275 miles to San Antonio to teach and coordinate performances. The support network for classes reaches far beyond Texas. The dancers have developed skills and strategies, as their counterparts in other states in the U.S., to disseminate technique, transmit it in a manner which the young aspirants can adopt and their interest does not flag. Saturdays and Sundays are devoted to training, as on other days the young students have to attend schools. The parents travel long distance on week-ends spending time either watching the classes or waiting for classes to be over and take their wards back home. It speaks volumes for their anxiety for their children who can learn through dance about Indian culture.

Today most of the dancers who came to the U.S. twenty years ago, have indeed made it good and contributed immensely to bringing Indian dance forms a certain recognition. Not all dancers perform. Some teach, some develop outreach programmes, visit schools and develop programmes to give information about Indian culture. Some study physiotherapy using dance extending it to other disciplines. In general they create an awareness about Indian culture.

As is natural, parents are anxious to see their children on the stage. In order to please these parents, the dancers do put up annual school shows. And for those who have after a long period of training shown sufficient promise, arangetrams are also arranged.

I have often attended the Saturdays and Sunday classes and watched the training. In the U.S,. dancers like Viji Prakash, Rama Bharadwaj, Mythili Kumar, Malathi Iyengar, Kunhiramans, Anjani Ambegaonkar on the West Coast, to mention a few names, have worked hard and have trained a generation of dancers. In Chicago and Houston, Hema Rajagopal and Ratna Kumar have done admirably well in imparting high standards of training. The dancers abroad stick to their banis and styles more faithfully, and when one sees them and their students perform in India, the standards are well maintained.

Vidhya Sridhar with students at Lasya Academy of Dance, California, USA.

Another phenomenon which one notices is that of the daughters of some of the dancers, taking to dance seriously and making a career of it. They continue to perform and even run the academies their mothers have established. Their repeated visits to India have been to legitimise their desire to win "the nod of approval from the cognoscenti". Dancers like Dr. Mamata Niyogi Nakra in Montreal, Menaka Thakkar in Toronto, Lata Pada, Hari Krishnan and others in Canada have shown exemplary commitment.

One must however take into account other factors which also follow a certain pattern. Like in India, arangetrams abroad have come in for criticism when there is a desire on part of the parents '"to show off", indulge in lavish expenditure and the arangetrams remain the first and last public performance. Serious dancers, have in the U.S. and elsewhere discussed this phenomenon on several academic fora, but the temptation on part of the parents does not seem to diminish. It is a crying shame that the pattern repeats itself abroad and hardly helps the dance scene.

With the overcrowding of the dance arena, the performances are "arranged" in India mainly during the season taking advantage of the "inequality of the exchange rate". The desire on part of the NRIs to obtain legitimisation of their practice, which is often done to the disadvantage of Indian performers causes heartburns and needs to be checked. Instead, what one finds is dubious organisations springing up during the season to arrange special festivals of the NRIs. However, in the long run, those who have no merit and manage only on the strength of foreign exchange do not last long. They are soon forgotten.

Deepti Gupta and Lata Pada choreography.

The second generation of the NRIs whose acolytes are studying classical dance forms often give up after a few years. This is bound to happen. For the young brought up in an alien culture cannot remain aloof and not mix with their peer group. To make a career as a dancer in a multicultural society is not easy. Competition is severe and unless there is a sound support system it is tough to follow a course which is not "a paying one". Though Arts Councils in the respective countries offer grants and financial award to artists who have settled there, the competition continues to grab the money, position and opportunities to perform. In the final analysis those who have the grit and merit succeed or survive over a long period. Often the dancers coming into contact with the other culture branch off into areas of experimentation, fusion and innovation. Very little of the indigenous art remains over a long period. This is natural as the interaction is bound to evolve dance in different directions.

One needs to be reminded of the rampant commercialisation, mediocrity, mindlessness, conveyor-belt syndrome of turning out dancers in large numbers and the resultant lowering of the standards. The diaspora of Indians will do well also to take into account these factors, as once the euphoria is over the futility of attempting to maintain the links with India in the name of culture and false values will be clear. The succeeding generations will also find it futile to pursue cultural expressions like dance and music when there are no adequate rewards.