How important is The Season of Dance for the Upcoming generation?

By Ayshwaria Lakshmi

Margazhi season is a festival for dance and music that happens during the Margazhi month of the Tamil calendar from mid-December to January. It is a festival for art lovers to enjoy the music and dance of their favourite artists. 

As the year went by, it became a season of opportunity and a platform of recognition for artists to showcase their talents to the world. For years now, the Margazhi season has provided a stage for young dancers to exhibit their talent. Dancers from across the world travel to Chennai to perform during the season. In this story, we talk to young dancers to understand their view of the Margazhi season and the potential it offers in the field of performing arts. 

“To the young dancers, Margazhi is an opportunity to dance as it becomes very rare these days. This is a completely devoted season just for dance and music. When we get this opportunity, no dancer wants to not miss it,” said Varun Shivakumar, Disciple of Guru Gayatri Sriram, Shrutilaya School of Dance. Varun has been learning dance since the age of 5 for almost 13 years now. 

Varun Shivakumar

He further shared, “For the season, we spend 11 months working on our craft, learning new pieces, refining it, and then finally culminating it into performance at the Sabha in front of an audience who understand the craft.” 

Dancing in front of the Sabha audience, Varun added, gives every dancer the motivation to give their best performance. This, he explains, as the dancer might be new to the audience but not the craft. The standards are higher in a Sabha program as the audience would have experienced artists, people with knowledge of the craft and even those who have been following the Margazhi season for years. 

While the audience can be a motivation, Varun does say that the stage in itself adds more value and meaning. From a younger age, most of the dancers had the opportunity to watch shows by renowned dancers. Growing up to perform on the same stage pushes the younger and upcoming dancers to rise to the occasion. 

Genesis of Margazhi Season

The Margazhi season has existed for a long time and has been part of every Chennai local and performing artist’s life. But what do we know about Margazhi’s genesis? 

According to a recent article in The Hindu, the December season started in 1930. For the first time, Music Academy conducted a week-long music festival, coinciding with the Christmas week holidays. Dance became part of the festival the very next year in 1931, after a year-long discussion. 

The first performance was by dancer Tiruvalaputtur Kalyani's daughter Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, also known as Kalyani Daughters. In 1932, the Music Academy invited Srimati Gowri (Mylapore) to dance with Balaraman of the Nadamuni Band. While the reception from the audience was considerably weak, the Academy wanted to continue hosting dance shows and bring the recognition it deserves. 

Later seasons saw famous dancers like Padma Subrahmanyam, Chitra Visweswaran, Sudharani Raghupathy and Alarmel Valli. Also there were performances by students of Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai., actor Kamala performed with her sisters Rhadha and Vasanthi, Vyjayantimala Bali and more renowed dancers perform like them. 

Working with New tools

Compared to earlier seasons of Margazhi, the present has newer challenges and changes. When the season started there were fewer platforms and getting a show was not easy either. Most of the well-known names were those that would have performed during the season. But as years went by, this changed. The season began to get more inclusive and the upcoming dancers were getting more opportunities. 

Now, the season is immensely competitive and to get a show one has to put in their application six months prior. Even a month late, the dancer would have to skip the season that year. Then, the challenge of filling seats. It solely falls upon the dancer to fill up the seats. When it comes to well-renowned dancers, filling seats might not be a challenge but to a younger dancer, it is. The younger dancers to sort these issues rely on the new age tool, Social Media to build a brand as well as to market their shows. 

“Social media allows us to introduce ourselves to the world. Using Social media marketing to bring an interested audience to the show. But again this may help you only to some extent. We would have to use all our resources to bring more audience,” said Sai Brindha Ramachandra, Disciple of Achārya Smt. Indira Kadambi. Sai Brindha has been learning dance for more than 16 years and decided to pursue it as a career from Class 10. 

Sai Brindha

Doing a Margazhi show is a costly affair, but younger dancers like Sai Brindha say they would save up for 11 months to get into the season as it is an important and integral part of the dancer's life. In Sai Brindha’s words, “Dance is a costly industry to be in. Any tardiness could cost us a show. One show in the Margazhi season would be a good enough motivation for dancers for the next year.”

Route off the Traditional path

Performing during the Margazhi season is not a criterion for a dancer to get recognition these days. In the early days of the season programs, it was said that critics were sitting in the audience. The review from the person could make or break a dancer's career. So, a Margazhi performance in a dancer’s life was a very important stepping stone. 

In the new age of technology, there lies a path that can be taken without performing in the season. One can be considered a professional better than a team dancer, without regularly performing during the season and building a brand through social media platforms. But at the same time, there is that challenge where social media is dictated by this algorithm that does not necessarily have an audience that is educated in the art. 

“You do not need to be performing in the season to be considered a professional dancer, especially for someone like me who's in the diaspora, like in Australia in Melbourne. They don't understand the season or Sabha performance and why it's necessary so I can still establish a name for myself there without coming to perform in the season, said Rukshikaa Elankumaran, a disciple of Guru Smt. Priyadarshini Govind. She started dancing at the age of three under the tutelage of her mother, Smt. Meena Elankumaran. 

Rukshika Elankumaran

One can have a social media audience, perform in places and be invited to perform at different places. The season allows for more people within the community to recognise one and simultaneously if the dancer can establish a social media name wherever they live.

Rukshikaa further shared, “It goes back to the intent like why is it that you want to perform in the season. Every dancer has a different need to perform during the season. So even if your goals align with what the benefits of performing in the season are, then I guess you can consider the costs as an investment into where you want to head. But you have the option now, where you don't need to perform during the season because of social media. We have this option now of not following this conventional path of performing during the season.”

Future Seasons

The Season has gone beyond the traditional performance. Dancers are allowed to showcase their talents to a much more global audience. Dancer Apeksha Kamath did a video showcase for Spirit of Margazhi on Andal and Tiruppavai during the season. This expanded reach allows for dancers to further network within the dancer's community across lands and helps with the possibility of collaboration.

Apeksha Kamath

Apeksha Kamath is the disciple of Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi. Initially, she started learning in Udupi from the age of six under Smt. Manjari Chandra and Smt. Vani Rajgopal. l before she learnt Bharatanatyam. Margazhi season, Apeksha says, has gone beyond the regular performance to a time for networking amongst dancers from across the globe. The dancing community has also started to become a very tight-knit community that extends its support to dancers in the community. 

“Margazhi season is a beautiful initiative that will not be given up easily by the people from the community. I believe there is a promising future for Margazhi and the youngsters of this generation are equally eager to know about this art form,” said Apeksha. 

“There is going to be no end to Margazhi and the future possibilities are vast. Adding the new age tools like social media and digital platforms, the reach of Maragazhi would only grow. The collaborations among artists and cultures with various art forms, artists, community engagements to include local art forms, and more can be discovered and delved into for the future seasons,” she concludes.