The Artiste and Research

RESEARCH is a systematic investigation of material and sources in order to establish facts and arrive at conclusions. If the definition holds good for any research, how does one extrapolate this definition in the field of arts? Considering the numerous factors that influence and are influenced by the arts, research in the arts would encompass all these: dance and music history, economic-political structures, ethnographic factors, socio-cultural norms, technique, body language, religion, gender and so on. In India, particularly in classical music and dance, the idea of research has two facets. One is the theoretical aspect and another the practical or performance-centric aspect. Cross-disciplinary areas between the two also exist. From the number of scholarship title holders in recent times, one may be led to believe that research in arts- theory or otherwise, is a recent phenomenon. It takes only a little deliberation to clarify to ourselves that research in fact has always existed- sans patents, publications and conferences.

From the times of ancient codified texts to devadasi artistes who extracted the essence of poetry effortlessly and incorporated it into their music and dance; from the vaggayekkaras and nattuvanars of the previous century to the modern day choreographers and academicians; research has existed but has evolved with time to mean different things. In the current scenario, what has an artiste gained from research? Are artistes pro-actively pursuing research- either for performance or academic insight? Are the different fields of study complementing each other - in order to create or revive matter of substance? What are the factors that help or deter an artiste pursuing research- in the practical world? There is much to ponder on. I asked Smt. Nandini Ramani to throw light on a few such questions.

Expert Speak: Smt. Nandini Ramani is a multifaceted artiste and veteran Bharatanatyam artiste. She is the Managing Trustee of Dr. V. Raghavan Centre for Performing Arts (Regd), Chennai. She is engaged in preserving and propagating the multi-dimensional aspects of Indian culture in theory and practice.

The relationship between dancers and research has evolved over the years. What in your view has changed for the better?

A few decades back, dancers were mainly soloists and they followed the Margam to a large extent. With the advent of group productions and theme-based dance festivals in recent years, it has become very important to back these productions with well-researched material. This definitely paves way for the current generation of dancers with an opportunity to learn, which is welcome. With respect to academic research, some dancers are serious with their academic pursuits while some others glide through the research processes for specific needs. However, the attitude and intention behind the research is as important as the outcome.

Many dancers in recent times have collaborated with resource persons/historians to complement their research and to obtain inputs. Your thoughts on this.

Dancers will benefit more if the scholars are well-oriented in their specialized areas as well as in the grammar of dance, as then the material they get can be well-inter linked to their productions or further research pursuits. It is left to the dancers to bring the best of both worlds together while working with experts/resource persons.

If one were to set out to do research in dance, are there enough resources and archives that are freely available and accessible?

Archiving and documenting, especially in Performing Arts has been in practice in India over the decades. However, their preservation and dissemination need to improve further. The Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, the apex body of our country for Music and Dance, and other private bodies like the Mohan Khokar archives are treasure –troves and they are accessible. There may be restrictions on the free use of these archived material as per their norms. It is important that dancers/researchers make themselves more aware of the availability of these resources.

And with respect to funding research...

Funding through Fellowships, Scholarships as well grants for Productions and research –oriented projects are available at National and State levels under the Ministry of Culture schemes. Applying for these require considerable paper work. Sometimes lack of interest in undertaking such efforts on the part of artists remains an obstacle in getting such national level support. The most prevalent practice of private sponsorship is mainly aimed for performances and that involves sustained networking with funding partners in the cultural scene. Such sponsored events attract publicity for the major sponsors.

In recent times, pursuit of degrees in dance through college education is catching on. One is led to believe that this provides a better environment for academic deliberation and research in addition to nurturing the practice of dance- as compared to the guru-shishya method of learning. Your thoughts?

One must understand that scholarship and performance are two different entities. All that is prescribed in the treatises are not oriented into the performance format which has a codified set-up. Most of the dance legends of  yester-years never indulged in serious academic work and were mainly performers; but they  had a sound understanding of the grammar of dance. They simply formalised the knowledge in their minds and applied their understanding to their performance and handed down the same methodology to the gen next. In current times, many young dancers are striving to strike  a right balance between theory and practice of the art which will help them to sustain the text and context of performing arts.