I had a Zoom conversation with two wonderful artists today in Australia from Agal Dance Company. One of them asked me straight out. What is Shastram TV? Does it have a structure?
To be honest, I didn't have a proper structure when I began Shastram TV. I was documenting as I went and sharing knowledge. The question that came to me though was.. Where was I headed?
See, I am, I believe, in essence, a "student of dance" and a rasika. I really truly think that going to dance class and learning technique is not enough to understand dance. Especially not something that seems to have such a long complex and deep history. One might ask why? Why not go to dance class learn the technique look flash on stage and all is well.
That to me is just the tip of the iceberg. I suppose everyone practices dance differently, but for me, even for technique you need to understand Bhava.. because the energy you give when you do your technique is bhava. And! Bhava to me is a projection of self. It's all about how am I portraying a character or situation and therefore the emotion. So I truly need to understand myself, and I need to understand life, I need to understand my history, my art's history, I need to understand its background, I then need to form a perception of it. All this will also affect the movement I make, i.e. the Nritta or pure dance. My dance changes along with my understanding, which I don't think will ever be complete. But I enjoy that change because there is always room for innovation and new ideas and new energy.
Now, as a student, I have so many many questions. And in my journey into the study of dance, I speak to artists, each person I have interviewed, has clarified something for me. I feel that this journey is something the universe is taking me on, so the people I meet are the ones with the answers or they instigate an answer within me..Knowingly, when I meet an artist who gives me this vibe, I don't miss the opportunity to take out the camera and explore their minds and their hearts and their space. As I do this, I also become their Rasika . Only then can i surrender to their knowledge and beauty. Shastram TV is a documentation of this.
In fact if you take all the projects I've done through Shastram, they too have been experimental and knowledge seeking in nature. Or they have been a documentation of the knowledge I've gained.
Shastram I suppose in one line is a documentation of my study of dance.
And as I discover, I share... as I am doing right now.
Along with this, there are many initiatives of course, but even through these initiatives I am constantly learning from everyone and everything I come across in this path. I hope the ones who follow my journey also do the same.
Oh! and there is no structure to this, I am blindly following the path set out in front of me.. meeting many amazing artists , experiencing art, experiencing and understanding life, seeing places and all along learning.. constantly learning.
No... no real structure.. but its definitely an adventure.
Shastram.. Undying Knowledge passed on for the love of dance. ;)