Whenever I reach out to companies for corporate social responsibility (CSR) to support classical dance, I am told that there are other priorities; school classrooms have to be built, toilets have to be constructed. Yes. Of course. Those are both highly immediate concerns of our nation. But if we ask the classical arts to wait till the very last classroom is built or till every family in our country can access a toilet, I am afraid there will not be much performing art culture to support in future.
That is because the arts need support now. The gurus who are there today may no longer exist two decades later when CSR seeks culture to support. Their fragile banis and paramparas will be in oblivion. Already, in the past 70 years of our nation’s history so many banis have been lost and/or been diluted.
That is why I always say that some support to the performing arts must be considered sacred at all time. The most fragile of the arts—classical dance and theatre—cannot face the pressure of the market since they do not have ready products to sell outside of their performances. The case of the folk art forms is even more fragile. As entertainment becomes more electronic and more mega-event oriented, the small, the weak and the fragile cannot and will not be able to survive.
That is why we remain dependent on state/government support for the arts to offset this fragile future.
Hence I am canvassing support for a more agile CSR policy that embraces Corporate Cultural Responsibility. I am lobbying for artists to begin a petition demanding for 10 percent of all CSR funding to be earmarked for culture. That way we will not fight with classrooms and toilets, and our fragile culture can move off the ventilator where it currently is.
Funding is required to make the classical dance scene more robust. Young dancers need to be supported through their 30s and 40s so that they can stay the course and emerge as full-fledged dancers. Senior dancers need to be documented for their thought processes and their cultural memories. New choreographies need to be commissioned and created. All this requires funds. There is no point saying that the classical cannot compete with Bollywood if we do not create a level-playing field for the classical arts to compete. A more agile CSR framework can ensure that our classical dances—once the source of great national pride —do not languish.geetachandran@gmail.com