Live music for Arangetrams in USA

[sureshsambu]

Hi All
My Daughter is schedueld to perform her Arangetram in the US in 2020. We are being told that the only way to have Live music is to bring Artistes from India. Is there no option / groups in the US who can perform for Arangetrams??

Thanks
Suresh

[Nick H]

I'm shocked.

Arangetrams provide a good percentage of the earnings of many UK-resident accompanists and there is plenty of expertise. I can't believe that USA lacks the necessary.

Sounds to me like your adviser has good commission arrangements and airline shares.

Everyone has to make a living, but it is a pity that cash is king in a lot of the dance world

[mohan]

There are many competent musicians in the US who can provide live music for an arengetram. Reach out to your local Carnatic music circle in your city and I am sure you will find suitable musicians.

[rshankar]

Part of the problem with using musicians in the USA is that many of they have very successful and demanding day jobs, and if they are not truly local to the teacher/student, it is tough to get the practice with the orchestra done properly. When you have troupes from India - typically, this involves a group of musicians whose availability is coordinated by a third party - they are in the US for an extended period (say June to September), and their only function is to be available for the teachers and students. They work incredibly hard (I am amazed at the commitment of the groups I have seen so far) - typically, arangetrams are scheduled for weekends, one on Saturday and one on Sunday - so, for the week leading to it, they practice with one student during the day, doing a full run-through of that child's mArgam, and then after a couple of hour's rest, they are back at it for the other student. In between, they also manage to fine tune the music for the pieces, time the sancAris and decide what they will play for each of them, music entrances, and exits if needed, and figure out if they need to practice any songs for the intermissions/costume changes etc. All of this is not easy (not impossible either) for musicians in the US to coordinate and pull off, especially if they are not local.

[sureshsambu]

@Nick H
To be fair to the teacher, she does not insist like some teachers in US that live music is the only option. We are just exploring because we were very impressed with the live music (of course from India) in a recent Arangetram and would like to explore
Possibilities of the cost is not too prohibitive. Birmingham, Alabama does not have any groups that can support an Arangetram. If we don’t get a good singer and reasonable
Cost, we will settle for recorded music...

[sureshsambu]

I also checked in Atlanta but didn’t find any so far... but will keep looking...of course, we always have the option for artistes from India. Appreciate and understand the points raised by shankar

Suresh

[Nick H]

Good points from rshankar --- from his extensive experience*.

Londoners are spoilt for choice: I am not appreciating properly that that may not apply to large areas of the vast USA.

@sureshsambu, I do hope that you do manage to get live music, even if you have to do so from India. From my very small exposure to such things in UK, whilst it obviously adds a great deal to the actual performance, it is a also a wealth of experience, working with the performers, for the youngster.




*of the dance world generally, even if he has only had one [?] daughter's arangetram in the family.

[Umesh]

There is an experienced dance vocalist in the Atlanta area I can connect you with if interested (PM me). I don't know whether they have suggestions for instrumentalists or if you'll have to piece them together from other metros. I can understand Birmingham might be more challenging than other areas. I performed my arangetram many moons ago in New Jersey (read: a longstanding mecca for Indian dance and music in the States), but there were few local artists available for the purpose of dance accompaniment. More exist now, but the most popular option is to have folks touring from India. There are several very talented local people-- shortage of expertise is most certainly not the problem-- but in what little spare time they have, many choose to promote their solo kutcheri careers instead of taking the sidelines to dance. While this is unfortunate for dancers, I also understand it from a career development perspective of the musicians. Besides, accompanying dance, or at least doing it well, takes much more skill than the layperson appreciates.

[Umesh]

I also want to second a vote for live music. Invite only 20 people, serve Poland Spring and triscuits instead of a catered dinner, maybe keep the gulab jamun if you'd like me to attend. But do whatever you have to. The music and the dance are inseparable and the so-called dance graduation will suffer immensely (other than impacting the general experience of the day, it severely limits what the guru can choreograph and personalize for your child). Remember that an orchestra need only be a vocalist, violin/flute, and a mridangam.

[Nick H]

Well said, Umesh