"A dance critic should be sympathetic to an artiste" --Dr Sunil Kothari
He is also a full-fledged chartered accountant. He is at present the vice president of World Dance Alliance and will be in charge of the Bangladesh chapter of the Alliance. Kothari had come to Dhaka recently at the invitation of the Indian High Commission. While here, he gave a lecture demonstration on dance followed by six dance performances by eminent Bangladeshi choreogra-phers and dancers.
Sharmila Banerjee, a prominent dancer of Bangladesh, recently spoke to Kothari on a gamut of issues revolving around dance. Excerpts:
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. How do you visualise the role of a dance critic?
As a starting point, a dance critic should be sympathetic to an artiste. He can very gently point out where the aesthetic standards have not met but otherwise he should be very careful. This is necessary because artistes are very sensitive and if they are discouraged their creativity would suffer.
How do you view the connection between the Bangladeshi dancers and the World Dance Alliance?
The World Dance Alliance is an international body. To become a member, all the Bangladeshi dance organisations should be approached and their own constitution formed. They will have to pay a nominal fee for registration and then can become members of the Dance Alliance officially.
What is your opinion about the dance scene in Bangladesh?
I have enjoyed immensely what I saw. It was a pleasure to see your choreography and that of the other dancers as well. Bangladesh is indeed rich in terms of dance.
Is it necessary for a dancer to learn classical dance?
Learning classical dance gives a dancer a sound grounding. With a strong foundation in classical dance, the dancer comes to know all about taal-chhanda, laya, jathi and praman. This helps a lot and then according to your thoughts and imagination you can choreograph and dance beautifully.
Can the same person learn two classical dance forms?
Yes, for instance I can speak Spanish as well as French. Both are similar but the beauty of Spanish should be kept separate from that of French. Similarly if a person has learned both Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi, the movements of the two dance forms should not merge into each other.
In Bangladesh, dancers are not encouraged to perform after a certain age but dancers like Madhavi Mudgal and Alarmel Valli are still going strong. Your view?
Dancers, like all other performers gain maturity with age. Indian and Bangladeshi classical dance is based more on bhava, emotions and expressions. People who are not interested to watch mature dancers perform should be discouraged because this is a wrong notion.
What is your opinion about Tagore and Uday Shankar dance styles?
Tagore brought Manipuri and Kathakali and combined them beautifully according to the tala, chanda, bhava etc. As he was a great poet he had a clear vision. Uday Shankar created his own dance form. He knew the movement of the body and his original approach towards the movement evolved as an individual dance style. He learned all the dance forms but formally studied only Kathakali. He gave scope to his imagination. The creative dance is very well established now. So it is good to have one dance tradition of Tagore and another of Uday Shankar. They are the contribution of two geniuses.