A Classical Conundrum

Juxtaposing the pedagogy of Bharatanatyam 'then' and 'now' with renowned dancer Padma Bhushan recipient Alarmel Valli

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Bharatanatyam is no more a regional pride; it has become global, as popular as Yoga in the classical dance genre. What got democratized after the disenfranchisement of the matriarchal hereditary community is today a decentralized industry. While decentralization is an imperative stamp for the oral tradition, giving the form a converging and diverging quality, what threatens Bharatanatyam is the non-traditional approach adopted by the dance educators, whose focus is merely on teaching 'items'. As a result, the essence of Bharatanatyam as a knowledge tradition has taken a hard hit.

Are the students of classical dance taught holistically to be intellectually observant and emotionally stable individuals? Is making loud noises using social media a healthy practice for the learners of the art form? I reached out to Alarmel Valli, a celebrated Bharatanatyam dancer to know more on how in the pre-digital era dance training was done.

Known for her adherence to the demands of the form, Alarmel Valli's dance is not just rich but such a delight to watch. Watching her dance is to witness poetry visually coming alive, where one gets to see the music and hear the dance. True to the Pandanallur bani, her Bharatanatyam will be musical.