Steeped in art from dawn to dusk

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At 4 am, a profusion of teenagers and adolescents file out of their beds quite readily, armed to face the day. After sessions of yoga, comprehensive workshops teaching dance, music and art, and a few lectures, they still have the energy to watch good cinema and take in an evening’s worth of dance and music performances. For all those who wallow in self-pity as they mourn an increasingly homogenised world, this represents a wondrous scene. The students we see are at SPIC MACAY’s annual National Convention, held this year at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Odisha. Over six days, beginning from May 23, 2011, participants from across the country will be treated to a heady smorgasbord of art events.
SPIC MACAY is a handy acronym for a breathtaking name — ‘Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth’. The society took root in 1979, seeking to promote an awareness of India’s rich cultural heritage amongst the youth by taking its initiatives into educational spaces like schools, colleges and universities. The organisation is volunteer-driven; most of their volunteers are also students.
Every year, the various chapters of SPIC MACAY work to bring some of India’s greatest musicians and dancers to schools and college campuses. They also organise performances in public spaces like parks. In the summer, students are offered scholarships to spend a month living with a guru of their choice. Summer also marks the arrival of the National Convention, which travels to different educational institutions across the country each year.
The intent of SPICMACAY performances for students is mostly educational, with a view to cultivating respect and appreciation for artistes and their art. Dancers and musicians are encouraged to discuss their work and performances. Sometimes, banter-loving artistes may take this to heart and turn performances into lectures, where the words prevail over the music. However, between the chinks of what seems like inflexible pedagogy, one finds dancers like Pt. Birju Maharaj. Maharaj, for one, is so used to young viewers that he frames his performances by drawing on his childhood experiences and his humorous interpretations of contemporary, youthful dilemmas.
Odissi and Chhau dancer Ileana Citaristi is one of the teachers invited to conduct intensive workshops at this year’s convention. On May 25, she delivered a lec-dem on how traditional dance forms might stimulate experimental work. Citaristi is optimistic about the outcome of this event. She says, “The students in my workshops might not learn much Odissi technique, but they will end up understanding the attitude required to learn classical dance. It gives them an idea of the concentration, dedication and discipline that a dancer must put in.”
Citaristi also has a word of praise for the hosts, the Odisha chapter of SPIC MACAY. “Hosting an event of this magnitude is quite a daring proposition for them, because they are still at a delicate stage where their initiative is mostly individual-centric. But this will also bring out their capability and boost their confidence. Ravenshaw University, where the convention is being held, is an institutional of great educational and historical significance in Odisha. Its ambience makes it an apt venue for a convention that aims to reinstate an awareness of Indian art and culture among the youth. These days, students grow up learning little about the arts; sometimes, they even have the desire to learn but might not have the time to do so. Reaching out to them with such a compact module on the arts will have a very strong impact,” asserts Citaristi.
The performers at the National Convention include dancers like Sujata Mohapatra, Methil Devika, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Kapila Nangiar, and a host of illustrious musicians –— the who’s who of Indian music — Abdul Rashid Khan, Girija Devi, Bahauddin Dagar, T.V. Sankarnarayan and Ashwini Bhide, to name a few. Besides educating students, an event like the convention also performs the important function of taking art to approachable spaces that exist outside the marked universe of “performance.” They foster a public culture of performance, signalling a marked exit from donor-card culture. Here, a packed house is acceptable because it is egalitarian; the students squinting at the stage from the 26th row are there for the love of art and not because they cannot afford better seats. The “dwindling” numbers of regular concert-goers could do with taking a leaf or two out of SPIC MACAY’s book and opening up their domains to make unlikely audiences feel more welcome.
Interestingly, all the performances are also available as live webcasts on the SPIC MACAY website.
Harsh Narayan, one of SPIC MACAY’S central coordinators, is a veteran of many national conventions. He explains how students are afforded a sensorial perception of the arts by learning, living and breathing it. “The convention is an opportunity for students to experience art forms and explore their underlying philosophies. Attending performances is only a small part of this complete immersion in art. The tight schedule, beginning with yoga at 4 am and ending after the evening’s performances, leaves no time to mull over anything else,” he says.