Alistair MacCaulay's obsession with Indian classical dance

As long as you dress up and bang your feet around a little bit this New York Times critic will be taken away by the label "Indian Classical Dance".

That's all.

Dance on Camera Festival: Nrityagram

I don' t know why people are so afraid to say "I don't know, maybe someone in the audience does..."

I encountered this particularly frustrating panel (Mark Morris and the director of a movie on Nrityagram named Nan) who repeatedly answered questions in a misleading fashion. There's no better way to perpetuate ignorance and unfounded lies than to put someone on stage who you *think* knows what they are talking and have them unequivocally and matter of factly spew BS. And it happens so often in Indian classical dance.

The worst was there were several knowledgeable artists in the audience who kept trying to answer the questions and we were shushed or ignored! "Traditionalists" of Indian dance were vilified, and a very one-sided picture of Indian artists and the dance scene was painted.

So if you don't know, say so, and open it up to those who do!

Sigh. How sad.

Great article about why sanskrit is fascinating...

http://www.2indya.com/2009/01/28/importance-of-sound-in-language/