Dancers caged in a Studio!

Dancing. Just reading those letters makes you feel like sighing of relief. Many of us love to dance or watch someone else dance. It soothes the body and mind!

"Dance is a way to find yourself and lose yourself, all at the SAME TIME". Many dancers would relate to this quote, since dancing is one activity where you feel like everything else around you stands still. Dancing makes you feel free.

Which is why, I find it ironic when I see the plight of dancers in this generation. All of what I've observed is in the Indian subcontinent - hence my views will be heavily biased by the culture and tradition here.

I've known many types of dancers - classical, jazz, freestyle - and all of these dancers have been a part of an institution, studio, company, etc. Many kids right from the ages of 5 begin to learn dancing. Ofcourse, some would quit along the way but there is a significant population that realizes their passion for dance along the way and aspires to take it up professionally.

This latter population is unfortunately caught in some very thick soup. 

In India, your teacher is your 'Guru'. And your Guru is probably the most important person in your life (or so, our culture asks us to believe). This may have been relevant in the medieval ages where, students used to live at the Guru's home and learn in a system called Gurukul. All of their adolescence is spent at this Gurukul and the Guru teaches every student all the knowledge that he has (and imparts life's lessons along the way too!).

Today, the teaching system happens in parallel with life. You study in school, you study in college, in parallel you learn to play the Piano, dance jazz, juggling perhaps and many other skills. But yet this Guru believes that he/she is the most important part of your life.

Courtesy Pinterest; Pinned from weheartit.com

Lets take Dance Gurus for instance.

"You cannot dance with other organisations / other dancers"

"You cannot learn from other teachers"

"You want to start-up something new on your own? What will happen to this class then?"

Many Gurus do not embrace the concept of diversity these days. Our Gurus believe that this would 'dilute' the purity of the style you've learnt so far. And you might also start taking them for granted, spending lesser time in your original institution.

What about the dancer's freewill? Dreams, aspirations, goals? The Guru is an established person who has made a name for themselves in this field. When do the dancers get such an opportunity? Why should they shadow under your light for eternity while you demand for them to hold you in the highest regard?

Several institutions have signed contracts with dancers regarding the terms and conditions for their time, money, choreography copyright protection, etc. Dealing with such professionalism is actually quite refreshing to hear.

Most other Gurus 'assume' that their students will blindly follow instructions. "I have taught you all this while, now I am asking you to teach new students - how can you not oblige?". What is in it for the students? Nothing. No value for time, no value for money, no 'thank you' in return even. 

Courtesy: Flickr; Velocity Implosion

Shouldn't dancing be considered as just another profession? Write the rules of the game clearly, give people the space to evaluate what THEY want (instead of deciding for them) and keep things as simple as Black and White. 

If Gurus continue to believe that dancers will feel indebted to them for life, they are in for a lot of disappointment. And this disappointment results in questioning their loyalty, which leads to a dark vicious circle hurting everybody in the process.

Dancing is all about feeling free. Let them Go. Don't cage them in, they aren't yours to cage in the first place. Make life easy for them, without all the emotional turmoil. Be a leader, not a teacher.

Let them free...