People Dancing

Bithika Chatterjee, dance development officer and Mira Kaushik, director of Akademi - the London-based organisation for South Asian dance in the UK - offer their perspective on continuous development projects for South Asian dancers

Continuous professional development (CPD) is a recent political term that is applied to a wide range of professions and has recently become one of the buzzwords in the dance strategist's lingo. CPD calls for adaptation to our fast-changing world and within the arts sector it implies the need for today's artist to respond to the ever-changing demands of our culture. Few may know that CPD is a notion that is deeply rooted in the South Asian psyche.

The concept of being a shishya or student all your life forms the basis of the student-teacher relationship in all the sixty-four South Asian fine art traditions and begins with the first lesson, continuing throughout the artist's life as a performer, teacher and creator. This ideology seeks to establish a humble and healthy curiosity towards the art form and is often misinterpreted as a life-long commitment to one teacher and one isolated source of knowledge. The need for versatility can be traced back to the Natyasastra, the ancient Indian text of music and dance, which considers the study of any art form incomplete without an in-depth study and knowledge of the others. An accomplished dancer was thus not only known for her grace but also for her music, her writing and her painting.

CPD for South Asian dancers in the UK
Since its inception twenty-four years ago Akademi has dedicated itself to the South Asian dance profession in the UK and has come to regard training and professional development initiatives at the core of its activities. This is due to its unique position as a nurturing organisation in a community of South Asian dancers that is not only split by age and culture, but also by the fact that it represents the vast spectrum of South Asian dance styles within the considerably small geographical area of the UK. Due to the community-based nature of teaching and performing of dance, the South Asian dancers appear to work in a vacuum, isolated from cultural and political developments outside its community.

As Akademi continues to strive towards raising the international profile of South Asian dance, it acts on the advice of associate artists and dancers, offering induction and training sessions in a variety of projects ranging from stage and costume design, the use of new technology in performance to the appreciation of Western contemporary dance. In answering the call towards establishing a general standard of excellence in South Asian dance training in the UK, Akademi set up a syllabus for Kathak and Bharatanatyam with the Imperial Society of Teaching of Dance (ISTD) and is currently heading research towards a (unique) BA course in South Asian dance.

Another way of bridging the age and cultural gap between a generation of South Asian dancers trained in their countries of origin and a considerably younger generation trained in the UK is Sambandhah, Akademi's Visiting Artists Scheme. Akademi recognises the desire of first generation South Asian dancers to stay in touch with developments in South Asia and continue the training and learning of new skills within their art-form. A handful of UK-based South Asian dancers are lucky enough to pay an annual visit to their teachers in South Asia, but often they find their stay a frenzied juggle of family, financial and other social commitments. By organising workshops and master classes with well-established visiting South Asian artists, Akademi conducts a form of teacher training that ensures that the South Asian dance teacher is well equipped with the means to train a new generation of South Asian dancers at the same time as it opens channels of communication between the young UK-trained dancers and performing artists practising in South Asia.

On a one-to-one level, Akademi often finds itself in the position of an adviser for dancers who seek to break into the professional dance world. Apart from mentoring and determining key professional strategies for the individual dancer Akademi also provides work opportunities appropriate to the dancer's skill. CPD is available to dancers of all ages and all levels through short courses and various other projects - Akademi is frequently the home dancers return to when they feel the need to develop their skills. Most of these CPD events take place in London, but are now also available to the larger community thanks to the efforts of the South Asian Dance Alliance (SADA) - which includes Kadam and Sampad as strategic regional partners working in other parts of the country.

CPD in community and education
Akademi is a springboard for South Asian dancers who seek to work in community and education in Britain. Over the years Akademi has established itself as a pioneer in education and community work by developing several training schemes where the dancers work-shadow community dance teachers for a couple of months before taking on larger projects as their skills develop. These schemes are designed to cater for the lack of formal training in education work in South Asian dance. The first generation of South Asian dancers relied on their classical training and their self-created formulas of teaching dance, their lack of formal education qualifications is largely because of lack of the financial means to pursue a training programme at a recognised institution, and/or the social pressures to pursue another vocational careers.

Akademi offers these training schemes free of charge to all dancers who are interested in education work, which is a strategy to work against the general trend of schools employing dancers without appropriate experience or training.

CPD and large-scale site-specific performance projects
'Coming of Age' was a key event in Akademi's recent history. A large site-specific event locatedat the South Bank Centre in London, it involved a hundred South Asian dancers of all ages, regions and styles. For the first time contemporary dance artists from India and Britain (Mavin Khoo, Chris Bannerman and Filip van Huffel) came together to work with Keith Khan (Moti Roti), Srikanth Sriram (musician) and Simon Corder (production designer) towards this ambitious event celebrating Akademi's 21st anniversary. This artistic process proved to be a great CPD opportunity for South Asian dancers to work with western contemporary methodologies and happened in an atmosphere conducive to mutual cultural exchange. Akademi's next production 'Escapade' will take place in August 2003 and will create similar opportunities for South Asian and British artists. As an organisation the staff's shared experience ranges from fundraising to management, enabling Akademi to deliver strategic and systematic goods. Akademi supports its staff in its training needs and offers a work atmosphere that encourages the development of professional skills.

Reinventing itself every three years, the organisation considers itself to be primarily user and artist led with a constant drive to keep in touch with audience, artists and South Asian dance forms. CPD is well engrained within Akademi's existence and the organisation sees itself growing from one stage to the next, making a measurable difference in both quantity and quality.

Contact Akademi on + 44 (0)20 7691 3210 or email: admin@akademi.co.uk

The content of this site is proprietary to the Foundation for Community Dance and any access to this site or the use of any content made by any person is expressly subject to these terms:

Unauthorised copying of any material (including artwork) on this site and the reproduction, storage, transmission or the distribution of any content, either in whole or in part and in any medium or format, without the prior written consent of the Foundation for Community Dance and, where appropriate, the author or artist, is not permitted.

Please read our website terms & conditions by clicking here

Animated: Winter 2003