Leading Bharatanatyam danseuse and carnatic music exponent, Padmashri Geeta Chandran said, “Dance can change social issues and arts can actually transform people. If we had invested more in arts and education there wouldn’t have been so much violence and stress around us. The arts do make you more sensitive.” The versatile dance teacher, activist and founder-president of Natya Vriksha dance school engaged in an hourlong session of Ek Mulakat Visesh organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation and presented by Shree Cement.
Geeta Chandran, who has worked in television, video, film, theatre, shared her views and life’s experience in a freewheeling online session with danseuse Shinjini Kulkarni of Ehsaas, Women of Noida, and was joined in by attendees from across India. Geeta Chandran has been experimenting by collaborating with cross arts like puppetry and martial arts and also within Bharatanatyam, drawing the ire of many from the traditional schools of Bharatayam.
“Earlier, all the audience were for kathak. Bharatanatyam used to be given a time slot like1 o'clock or 2 o'clock at night after all other artists had performed. It used to be like that in those days. I had fast paced my dance and it paid off. Getting non-dancers as an audience was a trade off,” Geeta said.
I think people have really slogged to work for an audience in Bharatanatyam. My humble pranams to those who paved the way for us to come in so easily and have an audience. Bharatnatyam is deeply enmeshed in the culture of Tamil Nadu and completely rooted in the tradition in it's not so structured form because after that it got very structured and institutionalized teaching happened,” Geeta Chandran said.