For generations, classical art was not merely performed; its sacredness was preserved as it’s strength .It
lived as a sacred trust, passed from breath to breath, born of a quiet reverence for the unseen and the
eternal. Today, that protective shield has shattered. Be it the lucrative choreographers or the masses who
lap it all up We are stretching the crazy urge inside in seeking to impress more than express to extreme
limits .
Ananya Panday’s viral Chand Mera Dil controversy is the living embodiment of a tragedy that laments
the death of a sacred art form —with Bollywood just staging the execution to create an uproar all around.
Pandey’s viral “fusion” dance was labeled a “catastrophic misunderstanding” of Bharatanatyam by
legendary dancer Anita R Ratnam. Even committed performers all over the world and critics have
watched Panday’s performance and watched aghast at a centuries-old spiritual discipline being reduced
to aggressive, soulless modern gymnastics. Panday’s team defended the act as a “creative experiment,”
proving the point that today you have systems that prioritize cheap entertainment over cultural
guardianship .
Today’s artists view themselves merely as entertainers rather than guardians of a sacred heritage. Fearing
the verdict of a profit-driven industry where artistic compromise is the price of survival and few dare to
champion the true system. We watch with quiet grief as pure folk and classical traditions are butchered
on the altar of reality television, reduced to mere instruments of shock value. Manmade monstrosities like
“Disco Dandiya” are paraded about, stripping away the spiritual sanctity of our roots.
Worse still, the very choreographers and mentors entrusted with our lineage seen to have lost their way.
They orchestrate a scenario where mere acrobatics soar above the depth of performing arts. We are left to
witness the sorrow of Bharatanatyam twisted to Bollywood beats, where immortal melodies like “Raina
Beeti Jai” and others are jarringly reimagined as cinematic ‘padams’. Even festivals are curated with
cinematic songs to draw the crowd and cremate the sanctity of the art drowning and calling for help in a
tide of commercialism.
Oh, yes—how deeply we yearn for the golden eras of classical grace! We remember the master
choreographers and the luminous, lotus-like grace of that Kamala, Padmini, Ragini , Dr. Vyjayanthimala
Bali, and Gopi Krishna. Through their devotion, forms like Kathak and Bharatanatyam transcended the
boundaries of tradition to become a cultural craze even within the concrete jungle of Mumbai. In those
days, young and eager souls lined up to enroll, hungry to imbibe a chosen style under the watchful,
uncompromising eye of a committed Guru.
Actors today view themselves as entertainers not cultural guardians and they rarely fight the system
because doing so risks career suicide in an industry that prioritizes survival and profit over artistic
purity.
But then what about so called stream of dancer/ choreographers and mentors themselves creating a
scenario with acrobatics soaring over performing arts and Bharatanatyam with Bollywood songs ..
We had the legendary Pandit Lachhu Maharaj who debuted as a choreographer in Indian cinema and
shaped the performances of Bollywood’s greatest leading ladies.Recognized globally as a Kathak maestro,
legendary Maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj (also from the Lucknow Gharana) composed and
choreographed for highly acclaimed Indian films . The legendary Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai taught
and showcased star silver-screen dancers like Kumari Kamala, Vyjayanthimala, and the Travancore
Sisters (Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini) in several blockbuster films.
Today sacred, centuries-old art form like Bharatanatyam and other classical and folk forms are being
stripped of their spiritual depth just for cheap entertainment value.
The beauty of the adavus are now replaced with body techniques and calculated drills .. without realising
that these adavus accord Self control more than physical control . Each thick skinned youngster today
taking up to teaching has one aim which is to create a package to push into educational systems , to
market it into curriculums and gather systems to imbibe these easily . The imaginative and financially
well off and respected Mentors also join the race to promote drills and tools as part of classical dance
training all in the name of body control .
The sudden influx of gym drills, resistance bands, yoga blocks, and biomechanical tools under the guise of
“body conditioning” and “injury prevention” is fundamentally altering how classical dance is
taught.When gurus and mentors jump onto this trend, it often masks a deeper failure in traditional
teaching methods, creating several distinct points of friction within the parampara (tradition). You have
the redundant replacement of Traditional conditioning with the the irony of “Body Control”;
Classical Indian dance forms are entirely self-contained, rigorous physical conditioning systems. For
generations, perfect body control, core stability, and lower-body endurance were built through the
repetitive, grueling practice of basic adavus (steps) held in a perfect Araimandi (half-squat).
Mentors frequently use resistance bands or ankle weights because they provide a visible, quick shortcut to
muscle activation. Instead of building the long-term, specialized muscle memory that comes from hours of
pure dance practice. Students are given gym drills that train muscles for linear movement rather than the
complex, multidimensional geometry of Bharatanatyam.
Monetization and Content Creation has taken over mentorship.In an overcrowded digital space, many
modern mentors use fitness tools to make their teaching look “scientific,” modern, and premium. It
allows them to package standard dance training into trendy “conditioning workshops” or “bootcamps”
that can be easily monetized online.
You have today the aesthetics of the drill. It is far easier to market a “30-day ankle-strengthening drill”
than it is to explain the spiritual and physical endurance required to master a single Varnam over the
course of a year.
Just look at the disconnect from geometric grace, muscle hypertrophy vs. fluidity !
Gym exercises focus heavily on muscle contraction and hypertrophy (building mass). While cross-training
is beneficial for stamina. Over-indexing on standard gym drills can make a dancer’s body rigid and have
it lose the aesthetic Lines. The Classical dance forms of India relies heavily on fluid flow of the grammer
of the dance form and effortless extensions, and statuesque framing.
When the body is trained primarily to fight resistance (like gym tools), the subtle, fluid transitions
between movements become blocky, aggressive, and athletic rather than artistic. This athletic obsession
shifts the ultimate goal of classical dance. The stage is no longer a sacred space to evoke bhava (emotion)
and rasa (sentiment) in the audience; it becomes an arena to show off physical feats—how high a leg can
lift, or how many spins can be executed.When mentors focus heavily on the mechanics of the tool, they
treat the student’s body like a machine to be optimized rather than an instrument of spiritual
storytelling.While supplemental sports medicine has a valid place in helping professional dancers recover
from injuries, incorporating gym culture directly into the daily fabric of classical dance classrooms risks
erasing the unique, organic physical cultute of the dance itself .
Ultimately, we cannot simply dismantle a system we have quietly allowed to reshape us into passive
receptors—a compliant flock chasing the hollow currency of metrics, audiences, and algorithmic
applause. Instead, the duty falls upon each of us to fiercely safeguard our own unique cultural identity. If
art is to truly survive, it needs to be carried on the shoulders of those quiet, dedicated mentors—the
hidden jewels scattered across the globe who understand that innovation is inevitable but it is not the
enemy of tradition, but its very breath to ensure continuity . Mentors who remind us that creativity must
adapt its innate grammar to changing times without severing its core.
Tradition is the foundation and innovations are its branches reenforcing it’s very essence through
adapting it’s innate grammer to an ever changing life always . Realisation of it is knowing that we only
touch the heavens by anchoring ourselves firmly on earth . Like the grandest tree reaching for the stars
or the wildest bird soaring out of sight, our greatest heights are forever anchored to the home that birthed
us.”
By Kalashri Dr Lata Surendra
( Renowned Bharatanatyam Exponent Teacher Choreographer Writer Curator, Independent Researcher,Dance Journalist and in the field of Performing Arts for over six decades )
