what next after arangetram

[danseuse]

Dance is an expensive art. After arangetram, if one needs to keep dancing, it involves lot of money. who do we approach for sponsors. how does one go about it?

[mahakavi]

Good question! How does one get sponsors? No sponsor would come forward unless they can get something out of it. The first thing to do would be to get the guru involved. The guru should form the link to get a sponsor. It is similar to a mentor of a graduate student to get a post-doctoral fellowship or a faculty position for his graduate student. It is not easy. So many people would be with you till the arangEtram and until you are written up by the dance critics as superlative material and until you go to nAtyAnjali festivals and shine through, performances which pay do not come that easy. I know a family that still pays to get performances for their child years after arangEtram to get stage presence. The gurus, unforutnately, are interested only in their own monetary advancement. It is a long journey, for sure.

[VK RAMAN]

campaign/marketing/booking manager who is connected with influential circles, associations, temples, etc will go a long way; but it takes money to beget money

[ksl]

Put up a youtube video performing on recorded music. Make a webpage. Make people know that you are looking forward to performing and that you are good at performing it. Network with influential people to get opportunities to perform at every possible occasion. Perform for free on recorded music until someone gets so impressed that they ask for your performance. Build it from there. A successful dancer has to be much more than a dancer. Its not without reason that Bharatamuni said a dancer should have 64 qualities. Ability to strike and close deals and networking is definitely part of 'making delightful conversations'

[danseuse]

Thanks for the replies.

With namaskarams.

[rshankar]

Ability to strike and close deals and networking is definitely part of 'making delightful conversations'

'tattai mozhiyAL oru peN' -

[ShrutiLaya]

Just curious .. are you located in Chennai or in the US etc.,? And when you say "one needs to keep dancing", do you mean professionally i.e you want dance to be your only or atleast a significant source of income, or "recreationally" i.e occasionally at dance festivals or cultural functions. Would you consider Teaching, non-traditional dance arenas (fusion/ bollywood/ movies etc.,) to cover gaps between professional engagements. The strategies you'd follow would depend on the answers to these questions ..

- Sreenadh

[ganeshpv]

Also, please note that Arangetram is not the end of learning. It is just like High School graduation. Metaphorically speaking, one still needs to go to college for undergrad/grad/... etc. Most people who do arangetrams know just one or two margams and have not been taught how to choreograph.

I would say you also have to keep learning after arangetram.

[sou2]

Hi Ganesh,

I thought people with enough years of learning experience will know how to choreograph. I have never known of anybody telling that that their teacher taught them how to choreograph.

I know that there is much more to learn even after arangetram, but I did not know the teacher also teaches the student how to choreograph. this is something new that I hear.

thanks.

[mahakavi]

I thought choreographing is an intutitive art which comes after one has learnt and performed the dance for several years. Like manodharmam in music , choreography is very highly individualistic and comes from within the person. Of course, there are some basic elements for a framework but that is just the scaffolding only. The edifice that is constructed is purely up to the individual who does the choregraphy. Again, it is to be admitted that some dancers are good dancers but not good choreographers while some choreographers may not be very good dancers.

[ShrutiLaya]

I thought choreographing is an intutitive art which comes after one has learnt and performed the dance for several years.

Isn't it really a little more than that? To take a music analagy, dancer:choreographer is like singer:composer . While there are famous vaggeyakaras, how many people who learn to sing go on to compose?

- Sreenadh

[sou2]

Hi Mahakavi,

That was a beautiful statement that you made:

"Again, it is to be admitted that some dancers are good dancers but not good choreographers while some choreographers may not be very good dancers".

I would also add another statement here. I have seen some dancers who dance very well but are not very good teachers. I don't want to mention the names here, but their students are just ordinary. I think teaching comes with passion and lots of patience is required.

I think students learn choreography in Kalashetra. This is what I read in website of Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant "I learnt Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, Veena, Choreography, Nattuvangam, Philosophy et al, in my six years at Kalakshetra"

I think only in Kalashetra they teach theory, bharatnatyam, nattuvangam, choreography etc. Many dance schools do not teach all this.

Infact I think theory is the most important thing in dance which every dancer should know. I think bharatnatyam is incomplete without theory. But I know of many of my friends who don't know theory, because it is not taught to them. Teachers just handle practical classes and do not give importance to theory. I don't know why.

I am sure you may have your views on this.

[rshankar]

kalAkshEtra is a collge/university etc, and the students and have to pass exams (in addition to performing an arangETRam) and graduate with a degree (undergrad, or postgrad). Most other schools are not set up in that way; I do know of some that are linked to universities that qualify their students to become eligible to sit for exams conducted by that university.

For most dance schools, gurus teach their students about their style of dancing. I wrote something about the evolution of dancers, but again, I can't find that thread, but here is a gist of what I wrote:

The unfortunate fact is that for the vast majority of students of dance, the arangETRam is an end in itself, with no clear or concrete plans of continuing with it. For those that do have thse plans, here are some steps:

Step 1: Interpretting others' choreography
I think they should continue to work with a guru (the same one they were with, or someone entirely new)...in this phase, they will continue to 'learn' new mArgams, but should also try an understand the 'whys, why nots, what other way can this be done' not just for the abhinaya segments, but also on how the jati is structured, how it ends, the math that goes into it etc. In this phase, taking naTTuvAngam classes (from a dance guru, or even a mRdangam player) will help.

Step 2: Choreographic one's own pieces
I think this can start even while 'under' the tutelage of another guru, and learning the guru's choreography, and as one gets better at this, they go out on their own - but many, even in this stage remain as students (albiet advanced ones who take several pages of notes on how to structure a single line or even a sangati)

Step 3: Choreographic for others
Becoming a full-fledged teacher, or teacher-performer - where the onus on taking into account the abilities of the student into choreographic a mArgam that suits them

Anyway, all this rambling may not answer the original poster, but continuing to stay attached to, and learning from a guru even in the post-arangETRam phase will allow opportunities for continued exposure, and hopefully attract sponsorships etc.

[mahakavi]

I have another thought. In the old days it may not have been possible. But think along these terms. Let us say there is an outfit (if there is none perhaps you should create one) that will "manage" dancers and market them to sabhas pretty much along the line of sports marketing outfits which manage certain players. Initially you would pay the management to prepare you to be on the forefront--such as preparing a profile, videographic some exemplary performances of yours, and then take them for presentation to certain sabhas with or without you accompanying. If the organization is successful in presenting you to a sabha for a remunerative performance you'd pay a percentage of your revenue to the managment outfit. That is a beginning. Once your talent becomes manifest in the public domain, then the marketing outfit will get calls and from then on depending on the demand they will negotiate the deals for you. It may sound far-fetched but perhaps no one thought about it so far.

[ganeshpv]

I was told in olden days nattuvannars were taught how to choreograph (among other things) while dancers were taught only how to dance. We saw nattuvannars disappear and dancers become teachers. Perhaps this is why choreography is not taught any more. We see a lot of people clubbing jathis randomly and calling it choreography.

I do think choreography can be taught. I also think a very good teacher explains why jathis are put together the way they are to students.

A very very good example was one of the presentations by two Toronto based dancers at Dance matters conference in chennai. (someone had posted a link of those here in this forum). It was about Guru Kittappa Pillai's choreography. It gave a glimpse of how Kittappa choreographed and also showed it wasn't just putting together random jathis.

I believe in current times, to be a successful dancer one has to understand and be able to choreograph, compose Jathis, come up with innovative dance ideas, .... In olden times nattuvannar did a lot of that for the dancers and dancers just danced. These days you hire everyone including someone to do cymbols for you during program.

[sou2]

Hi Ganesh,

Can you pls. post the link(by the two toronto based dancers) again so that we could also get to watch it.

thanks.

[Umesh]

I do think choreography can be taught.

I am split on this. I think becoming a good choreographer parallels the process by which one becomes good at abhinaya. The foundation can be laid by the guru, but true skill only comes from experience and innate ability (creativity!). IMHO, a critical component of the development of choreographic skills is watching a wide variety of artists and attending as many quality programs as possible. Also, dancing in front of a mirror and understanding YOUR OWN body is paramount.

[rshankar]

Umesh/Ganesh,

I agree with your opinions that choreography can't be taught, especially for abhinaya, but for nRtta, I think some sort of formal teaching may not be a bad idea - to prevent the very thing Ganesh writes about - a random, disjointed putting together of adavu sequences and calling them 'jatis' and a further collation of these to form the whole piece. Isn't there is a grammar to the sequencing which has to be learnt (and ergo, needs to be taught)?

[Umesh]

Ravi, that's what I refer to as the 'foundation'. But even then, no one formally taught me how adavus go together or what should or should not be done in terms of putting together a theermanam. The rules exist, but they're more tacit than explicit knowledge. So, maybe you are "taught" them indirectly and gradually as you mature as an artist.

Then again, maybe I need to reevaluate my own choreography... !

[mahakavi]

I am split on this. I think becoming a good choreographer parallels the process by which one becomes good at abhinaya. The foundation can be laid by the guru, but true skill only comes from experience and innate ability (creativity!). IMHO, a critical component of the development of choreographic skills is watching a wide variety of artists and attending as many quality programs as possible. Also, dancing in front of a mirror and understanding YOUR OWN body is paramount.

I am with you Umesh. To get the full bhAvam to be demonstrated two things are required. 1. Lots of experience and performances which get evaluated critically by both the gurus and the dance critics. 2. The mirror part is very essential so that on top of what others say, you get to see how you come across by doing different poses, with curves and mudras. It is just like acting in a drama. Assume you are doing a soliloquy without the speech part.
As for choreography, it is a blend. There is the basic element that you learn while being a student. Then you perform and watch the videos and see how you come across. You must be a critic yourself of your performance. Then as you mature, you use that maturity along with intuition (which cannot be taught) in order to develop into a good choreographer. As you go along you blend the theory with the practice. One does not get to be choreographer by studying theory and passing an examination.

[sathirdance]

I was taught the Art of choreography for bharatanatyam by my teachers.

I was challenged to make effective and highly creative use of the adavus to get vibrant graceful non-static movement. I was told to combine or not to combine certain adavus and it was explained to me why to do so or not. And not to use certain adavus beyond a certain speed. I was told that while constructing a jathi for a varnam it should become part of the music and poetry – the music, the lyrics and the jathis combined should all be poetry.

Since we cannot isolate any of the elements of bharatanatyam art - dance items, nattuvangam, choreography and so on – was all taught simultaneously.
A good teacher will only give you the right tools for nritta, abhinaya, nattuvangam and choreography, and then gives you the freedom to explore for yourself. To become an artist in your own right and not just a copy of your teacher.

If dance really has to come from within, we have to use as less possible tools from outside for it to really come from within. A cut-and-paste job from looking at a collection of dvds is not choreography. Using videos and mirrors is not dancing from within.
As according to the Abhinaya Darpana - where the hands go the eyes follow, where the eyes go the mind must follow- how will you do that while looking into a mirror?
As one of my teachers used to say: “Will you bring the mirror on stage to see if you’re doing it right while you perform?!” “Just dance and practice till you drop on the floor and you will get it!”

The “mirrors” we should use are teachers, dancers or others who can help to correct. With those mirrors and continuous practice, dance will really come from within and you will know and feel when you are on the right creative path.

Unfortunately the nattuvanar dance masters are gone. So are most of the regular dance masters. We now have mostly performers who teach. They are often too busy with performing to actually teach let alone teach choreography for dance. And fitting all elements of bharatanatyam into a one hour a week class is also not possible. And I don’t think the -I did my arangetram last week so now I’m a dance guru- kind of teacher will ever understand that choreography for bharatanatyam is a separate discipline and should be part of the learning process.