Some surprising views of the season past

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Mar 2007, 04:10

http://www.narthaki.com/rtindex.html

Click on Season Talk...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Mar 2007, 10:58

Ravi,
Thanks for posting this. Interestingly enough, we have discussed several of these view points on the Forum. Surprising, how some performers sound almost like rasikas. Gayatri (vINA) is right. To discuss how many concerts one performs in a season, has become a gauge for measuring a performer's popularity or prominence. Ranjani and Gayatri are right. There is barely time for them to attend other artistes' concerts, when they have numerous engagements of their own. Yet, are the musicians prepared to limit the number of their concerts for the reasons that they spell out, when it comes to quantity and not much quality ?

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 09 Mar 2007, 20:51

Dhananjayan sir's comment about the Hindu elicits an eye roll... really, I thought the great artists didn't care about that sort of thing. At least not enough to mention it... twice.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 10 Mar 2007, 11:05

But at least he talked about other artist as his favourite performance; not his own. So eye-roll balanced by a smile

Does an artist ever completely stop wanting to be noticed, watched, talked about and so on? Perhaps some may achieve this state --- perhaps they are the ones most worth watching!

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 11 Mar 2007, 01:44

Well, nobody is immune from longing for praise (not even those who have won enough accolades). I know of one other award-winning dance teacher (who will remain nameless) who not only craves praise but is also very strict in demanding his set fees for doing naTTuvAngam for performances by his young students. He wouldn't settle for less although at his age money should not be that important. (ponnaiyum, pughazhaiyum nambi cinnattanam aDaindu....??.)

This phenomenon is rampant in all professions. When I was a young post-doc several years ago, I did some work in the field of my boss's expertise but in an area which was up and coming. When the paper was written for publication (I moved to Washington DC by then) the boss wrote the paper with his name as the first author although I did all the work. When I questioned him about it he said he essentially wrote the paper (I could have written it as well but he was the grantee of the project) and that he was not that "well recognized in this sub-discipline" (exactly his words) and hence he thought it fit to put his name up first. So there it goes...

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 11 Mar 2007, 02:52

nick H wrote:Does an artist ever completely stop wanting to be noticed, watched, talked about and so on? Perhaps some may achieve this state --- perhaps they are the ones most worth watching!

No, of course not, but I suppose I feel there are more subtle ways of doing this. Mentioning it as a "surprising" event of the season... a little dramatic in my opinion. But yes, I realize these are artists! And indeed the individuals that get to that point ARE the ones most worth watching.

I actually think there is nothing wrong in saying your favorite performance was your own. I think one or two other people on that page wrote just that. Dance has spectators, true, but ultimately the only thing that matters is how you have connected to God, and if your performance has made you happy. My 2Â¢.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Mar 2007, 11:48

Nick,
Your two cents worth is worth more...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 11 Mar 2007, 20:53

Please let me be clear that I do not begrudge artists the limelight.

In my tiny experience of being on stage I can say that, while the performance is underway one is too busy to think of such things --- but afterwards...

There is a balance, of course. Somewhere between a state of ego/insecurity that probably makes for a not-very-nice person, and the yogic state of detachment that, probably, few achieve.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 12 Mar 2007, 08:41

nick H wrote:But at least he talked about other artist as his favourite performance; not his own. So eye-roll balanced by a smile

I heard from a friend who attended the performance, dubbed as the best of the season by Sri Dhananjayen, that it was actually quite below parr.

Did anyone from the forum attend?