Tell us about AttendDance Awards 2024.

It is a platform to honor exceptional dance talents. We started in the pre-Internet era, when we had no idea what happened in the arts throughout the year, who died, what books were released, or what achievements were made that year. This is where Attendance came in to fill that gap. There was a yearbook that documented all of this and it still is a yearbook.

Its purpose was to capture the memories of the past year and I can say with confidence that AttendDance was at that time the only book based on Indian dance including Bollywood, folk and classical. We did not talk about world dance, but about everything related to India.

The Attenddance Awards was started 15 years ago because I realized that some artistes get national awards quite late in their lives. Some are in their 60s or are in wheelchairs, while others have been forgotten or sidelined by the system for whatever reason. That’s when we started the Atdance Awards, wondering how we could fill this void. We decided to give awards to young dancers below 40 years of age and senior artists above 70 years of age who were not nationally known.

You are also a critic. What would you say are the qualities of being one?

It’s interesting to be a critic in the age of social media, where everyone is praising themselves. each one is one Brahma Gnani (omniscient). For me, being a critic does not mean passing judgment, but evaluating the art and the artist. A critic should not be judgmental but should describe and define the work presented by assessing how well the artist’s foundation is, how well it is presented to the audience and how well they connect with the audience . In a way, a critic sets the standard for how a presented art work is.

Performing arts are not like painting. In a painting, the art is captured for eternity in all its splendor, value and beauty and there will never be another painting similar to the one previously created. This is not so in dance. There is definitely dance. It’s for that moment. So, for me, dance is a delicate genre, which should not only be celebrated but also appreciated and appreciated. Dancing on stage is a litmus test. This is where the art of criticism comes in.

What about entrance? Isn’t this a kind of litmus test?

Rangpravesh is a small wedding and it requires the parents to spend a huge amount of money without any returns. Sorry to say, this has become an overstatement. Originally, Rangapravesha or Arangetram was presented when the guru felt that the child or ward was ready to take the first professional steps on the stage. Now it has become a ritual or show-off activity, a public relations thing. It also means that the person is ready for the marriage market, as dancers who marry outside the country have the advantage of having a background in the culture. I believe that pageantry should be simple, and gurus do not need to display every child or product as a commodity, because not everyone can afford this extravagance. We should keep decency and aesthetic sense alive, at least in the classical forms.

As an art historian, in a country like ours, which is filled with diverse art forms, how do you decide which forms to choose and which to leave out?

Sometimes I wonder how I became an art historian. I was weak in mathematics and geometry, but good in history and English. When I graduated, I became a history teacher and realized that soon I would become a history teacher too! I wanted to do something and I loved history, it came to me on auto pilot. I really liked the stories related to this topic. I’m blessed with a photogenic memory and since I come from a family of dance, it was easy to combine the two.

When I saw any dance or art, I wanted to know the personality behind the work, where they came from, what their background was, etc. I wrote some biographies simply because I liked the process of reconstruction.

There is no qualified dance historian in the country. And, those who wrote history, either focused only on dance or history. So it is very rare that you find both these qualities together in a person.

Folk artists are innocent. They come from humble or rural backgrounds, and they respond to any celebration. Lok is not a star artist, yet his face lights up when you talk to him.

When I started writing about films, I used to watch a film more than once – for the story, for the dance, for the music and so on. Cinema is also a complete art. Good or bad, it has a story, costumes, dance and music and I too am attracted to it.

Which artist has been the most challenging and memorable for you to document?

The first name that will come to mind is Maya Rao (late Kathak dancer). When we came to Bangalore, she was like a mother to me and her house was the first place we visited. We even have a lifetime achievement award in his name.

Mrinalini Sarabai has made an impact on me. She came from Kerala and settled in the dusty city of Ahmedabad after her marriage to Vikram Sarabai and started an excellent organization Darpan, which is today run by her daughter Mallika Sarabai. Mrinalini was one of the kindest people I have ever met, there was no pretense in her. Art comes from the heart and if the heart is good, the art will inevitably be good.

Padma Subramaniam is one of those rare dancers who is adept at theory as well as dance. She can discuss any topic and has deep knowledge of various subjects. She is a brilliant dancer and has an equally good academic mind.

Participate in dance awards Will be presented on November 30 at 6 pm at Alliance Francaise Hall, Vasantnagar. The event is open to all and will feature dances by award winners and local artists of Naadam.