Dance Education - A Prelude to the New Year

Movement is intrinsic to the body. It can be intuitive, responsive, explorative or all of the above. But in the noise of everyday existence, many of us lose the connect with this body and its intelligence. The responses of the body and the mind to the internal and external world and the play between body and mind can be baffling to many of us, let alone be acknowledged and assimilated. And therefore for raw movement to be refined into a language of communication- for movement to become an art form- is an act that in itself is mind boggling to many of us. Surely, only individuals with a meditative connect with self and environment could have translated a primordial response into a stylised medium of dialogue. But can entire languages and dialects be a construct of a few individuals? Can it be attributed to one preceptor? 

We are looking at a river through time - one who has over centuries or even thousands of years charted a path for herself- a river that takes on different tastes, different hues, different speeds and different qualities as she navigates through every generation. But what or who does she navigate through- not inanimate objects but people who bathe in her waters and add their own to her waters too. It is the living that engage with the arts- those that 'live' in the truest sense - the practitioners, the students and the teachers. And so in order to begin to understand the emergence and evolution of the arts, it is primarily important that we understand those who learnt and taught the arts. It is in the teaching-learning environment that art is shaped. It is in the hands of a skilled teacher that artistic minds are given impetus. It is in the process of teaching that we learn much. 

'Teaching' and 'Teacher' have taken on several connotations over time. How do we understand the process and methods of teaching. Is it an active give-take environment for a teacher and student or an open space of discovery? Is it a set methodology or an evolving understanding? Does an art form rely on the teacher or the taught? Who should teach and who should learn? Are there aspects to an art form that are never taught? What is the difference between learning and imbibing? Is art always relevant or is it a struggle to find it sometimes in the classroom? Do indigenous knowledge systems impact teaching methodologies? How much has been lost in a Chinese whisper from one generation to the next? What constitutes radical methods of teaching? Should one assimilate a global outlook to teaching? What do we learn of the evolving body and mind through an art? How should art be taught tomorrow? Has the teaching environment led us into mini-bubbles of rigidity or freed us from the warp? Can career strategy be taught and learnt? Should teaching be structured or fluid? Do institutions and individuals teach differently? What is the intent of teaching- performance or academic study?

I have several more questions. But we will look at one or few at a time. Over the next year, we hope to present to you discussions and deliberations with artistes, teachers, performers, institutes and more. Dance education as it stands today is a vital link between the art and the world at large. However, the teacher and the teaching environment are seldom given the importance that they command. We have to take a closer look at it and also understand it from different perspectives. That will give us a clear picture of what art in the 'morrow might look like. Even if it doesn't, it will give us a clear picture of the river as she flows beneath our feet.