22 Aug 2022
The school of Performing Arts and Indic studies held a symposium on Tradition, Transformation, Trend & Transition of Indian Classical Dance Forms on the 22nd of August 2022. It was held in the Kalpana Chawla hall in the Visvesvaraya block of Reva University. The symposium was a simple interactive yet informative session between all the guests and students who had attended it. The guests of honour for the day were Shri Rahul Acharya, Sri Kedar Mishra ji , Smt. Tapati Chowdhurie, Shri Harish Bal, and Dr Vidya Kumari Shimladka .
The session started of Shri Rahul Acharya ji who started talking about the science which is present behind Natya, he also told that there is no art no science which is not visible in natya . This was followed by Shri. Kedar Mishra ji, who spoke about the emergence of the dance form Odissi. He also spoke about the non-existence of the Margam tradition. He also told that during them everything in life was two spontaneous and as a normal life, there were no water tight compartments between the modernity and the traditions. As Odyssey was started by very ordinary people it is very necessary to understand the life livelihood culture and language to understand about Odissi deeply. Also they spread the fact that in the name of making things modern we all are leaving behind the aesthetics of nature. The basic language of dance is human and universal. Following this, Smt. Tapati Chowdhurie ji who is a senior dance critic, added that having a command over the language will help writing review become very constructive. A method of writing a review is not just pointing out the minute loss of a dance form but also praising the details which had been showcased very well. She also told us that unfortunately there are no dance schools who would teach dance critic and the dancers who are being reviewed act against since they are being reviewed strictly, and also the lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for people to pursue dance critic as a career. She also says that in India it is not a well paid job. Also it is a very difficult task if you don't have the command over your language because the art of translating the dance movements into literary words is not an easy task . She told us the difference between a critic and a judge. Moving ahead with Sri Harish Bal ji who said that children should be taught at the right age making exception to a child prodigy and also told that the connect with the older generation was better than the present generation as the connecting of the authentic quality has reduced by now. And at the end the director of school of performing arts doctor Vidya Kumari Shimladka mam give us an explanation about the marga and desi traditions followed with how dance education needs to be promoted and carried forward. The session ended with an interactive Q & A session.
This symposium made every dancer realise that dance criticism as well as dancing needs equal amount of efforts and study. And only if the person is a dancer can they be a critic. The whole effort taken by the director of school of performing arts to bring these personalities together to educate the performing arts students were tremendous effort. This educative session helped all the dancers realise and learn a lot.
