The demise of Professionalism - Sobha Naidu
Nani Iswara
This is not an attempt to malign the reputation of the great artiste
of Kuchipudi, but the decline of professionalism in Sobha Naidu and
some of the members of her troupe IMHO, prompted me to share this
experience of mine at Chicago where she performed last Sunday on
July 14 1996 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Telugu
Association of greater Chicago (TAGC). (TAGC deserves a great praise
for arranging the two-day celebrations with a very good organizational
skills).
Later I heard from the organizers in Allentown (Pennsylvania)
who were unjustly vilified by the "spokesperson" of the troupe for
standing on their decision not to change the item previously
announced and much advertised (srI Krishnam saranam mama). I shall
post their story later.
Before I comment on the performance in Chicago I should give credit
to those who richly deserve it. The musicians did an excellent job
in the entire dance drama which was changed to bhAmA kalApam instead
of the announced srI Krishnam saranam mama. Especially I have a great
praise for SrI MahankAli Mohan for his brilliant job of nattuvAngam.
The clarity in his nattuvAngam is unsurpassed by many masters I heard
so far including the living legend of Kuchipudi Gurus Sri Vempati
Chinna Satyam.
The vocalist had a beautiful voice and the accompanists did a very
good job too. Also, I have seen Sobha Naidu at her best in several
performances in Hyderabad and when I heard of her tour in US I was
very excited. I strongly believed that she richly deserves every bit
of praise for her excellent contribution to Kuchipudi. I was greatly
impressed by her nrittA and abhinayA in all those solo performances
of her. She was also very highly recognized for her role in Vempati's
srInivAsa kalyAnam among his several dance dramas in which she took
part in leading roles.
NattuvanAr SrI MahankAli could be clearly seen reminding the dancers
with the exception of VedAntam RAghavayya (who played satyabhAmA's
sakhee and was the best of the dancers) what is to be done through
his gestures, as they forgot their parts. There were a couple of
incidents where Sobha Naidu herself seemed to have lost track of
what was going on and looked at MahankAli for help while performing
on the stage. There were no glimpses of her creative abhinayA, of which
she was very highly praised by many critics and her nrittA was very
bad as she lost tAlam while Mahankali covered it up well with his
high-volume beats. Needless to say, the other betAl's (the other
dancers who lost tAlam) can be clearly excused after Sobha got herself
into the category.
In fact, as the team of dancers came on to the stage with
Sobha Naidu behind the curtain at the beginning of the dance drama,
(ironically, to challenge the audience if anyone can do bhAmA kalApam
better than the dancer behind the curtain, she would cut her jada)
one of the dancer's costume was coming off and she had to run behind
the stage to quickly adjust her costume. The incident is not strange
to most professionals, but the dancer apparently lacked the
professionalism and stage presence as she walked out and walked back
rather awkwardly, lacking in grace. Usually, the dancers make sure
they take enough care to avoid such incidents and in case it does
happen they walk gracefully out of the stage and come back as if the
sudden exit and re-entry is a part of the dance item. It was most
unfortunate to note that within a few minutes as dancers entered the
stage most of their make up was coming off and so were the jewelry
and the flowers. Whatever happened to pinning them tightly - it was
disgusting, to see them so unprofessional !
Can't we term this as the demise of professionalism?
Regards,
Nani
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Venkateswara Rao Veluri
Nani Iswara <isw...@cig.mot.com> wrote:
>Before I comment on the performance in Chicago I should give credit
>to those who richly deserve it. The musicians did an excellent job
>in the entire dance drama which was changed to bhAmA kalApam instead
>of the announced srI Krishnam saranam mama. Especially I have a great
>praise for SrI MahankAli Mohan for his brilliant job of nattuvAngam.
>The clarity in his nattuvAngam is unsurpassed by many masters I heard
>so far including the living legend of Kuchipudi Gurus Sri Vempati
>Chinna Satyam.
Amen! No disagreement at all!
>The vocalist had a beautiful voice and the accompanists did a very
>good job too.
Yessiree!
>NattuvanAr SrI MahankAli could be clearly seen reminding the dancers
>with the exception of VedAntam RAghavayya (who played satyabhAmA's
>sakhee and was the best of the dancers) what is to be done through
>his gestures, as they forgot their parts. There were a couple of
>incidents where Sobha Naidu herself seemed to have lost track of
>what was going on and looked at MahankAli for help while performing
>on the stage.
It has happened to much bigger artistes! Could be forgiven for
such minor, yet very common lapse!! Not that it is excusable, but such
lapses I have observed with Indrani Rehman, Kamala Lakshman and severl
others!
>There were no glimpses of her creative abhinayA, of which
>she was very highly praised by many critics and her nrittA was very
>bad as she lost tAlam while Mahankali covered it up well with his
>high-volume beats. Needless to say, the other betAl's (the other
>dancers who lost tAlam) can be clearly excused after Sobha got herself
>into the category.
Aren't you overly critical? Under the circumstances ( the accoustics,
the very smalness of the stage, the badly hung side curtains, the
poor backdrop... she and her troupe deserve a better applause!
I saw Sobha Naidu in 1985 and she was superb. But, she was 11 years
younger too!
>........................................................ It was most
>unfortunate to note that within a few minutes as dancers entered the
>stage most of their make up was coming off and so were the jewelry
>and the flowers. Whatever happened to pinning them tightly - it was
>disgusting, to see them so unprofessional !
>
>Can't we term this as the demise of professionalism?
>Nani
A little clumsiness, in deed. Certainly not to be characterized as
'demise of professionalism.'
Any way, - de gustibus non est disputandum - there is no disputing
about tastes!
Regards.
-- V R Veluri
Nani Iswara
Venkateswara Rao Veluri wrote:
> >NattuvanAr SrI MahankAli could be clearly seen reminding the dancers
> >with the exception of VedAntam RAghavayya (who played satyabhAmA's
> >sakhee and was the best of the dancers) what is to be done through
> >his gestures, as they forgot their parts. There were a couple of
> >incidents where Sobha Naidu herself seemed to have lost track of
> >what was going on and looked at MahankAli for help while performing
> >on the stage.
>
> It has happened to much bigger artistes! Could be forgiven for
> such minor, yet very common lapse!! Not that it is excusable, but such
> lapses I have observed with Indrani Rehman, Kamala Lakshman and severl
> others!
>
times !
I have seen Prof. CV Chandrasekhar when he came here in '93 and '95. At
the age of 60+ his nritta and abhinaya is unsurpassed even by the most
talented
artistes in their teens. I do not want to be overly critical about
Sobha's
loss of her previously beautiful form, grace and control on the stage,
which
I was very fortunate to have seen in her earlier performances (probably
she
was younger?).
> >There were no glimpses of her creative abhinayA, of which
> >she was very highly praised by many critics and her nrittA was very
> >bad as she lost tAlam while Mahankali covered it up well with his
> >high-volume beats. Needless to say, the other betAl's (the other
> >dancers who lost tAlam) can be clearly excused after Sobha got herself
> >into the category.
>
> Aren't you overly critical? Under the circumstances ( the accoustics,
> the very smalness of the stage, the badly hung side curtains, the
> poor backdrop... she and her troupe deserve a better applause!
> I saw Sobha Naidu in 1985 and she was superb. But, she was 11 years
> younger too!
abhinayA and tAlam have nothing to do with stage and back drops. Lack of
coordination and (enough?) practice can be attributed to this. To give
my earlier example of Prof. CV Chandrasekhar again, he makes sure his
entire troupe practices rigorously before they go on to the stage each
time they are set for a tour. He is a very well-known and well-respected
professional in the Indian Classical Dance circles.
>
> >........................................................ It was most
> >unfortunate to note that within a few minutes as dancers entered the
> >stage most of their make up was coming off and so were the jewelry
> >and the flowers. Whatever happened to pinning them tightly - it was
> >disgusting, to see them so unprofessional !
> >
> >Can't we term this as the demise of professionalism?
> A little clumsiness, in deed. Certainly not to be characterized as
> 'demise of professionalism.'
This kind of performance in India would have meant the end of one's
career!
An artiste can be excused for one or two acts of clumsiness, but a
professional
- none at all ! My characterization was meant for just a well-known
artiste -
Sobha Naidu and some of her troupe!
Please excuse me if I sound vindictive; I have a very high regard for
you
and your opinions. I could not hold myself from replying your mail. In
fact there
is more about Sobha's tour that I can share with you which might confirm
my
opinion ... some people who saw her Allentown PA tell me that I was not
critical
enough ...
Nani Iswara
This is a posting on this subject in RMIC (posted anon, ofcourse!) ...
although the person's conclusion is most unfortunate...
Any more opinions?
Regards,
Nani
Subject:
Re: The demise of Professionalism - Sobha Naidu
Date:
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 05:16:15 UTC
From:
an3...@anon.penet.fi
Organization:
Anonymous forwarding service
Newsgroups:
rec.music.indian.classical
Here is one more person who went to the performance by Sobha Naidu
and troupe in Washington D.C. (well, in Maryland) 3 weeks ago and
was utterly disappointed, primarily by the poor choreography, but
also by the music direction. Talking about choreography, there
were many scenes/sequences (for example, the Kalia mardhanam) where
it looked as if we were watching a popular dance item in a film,
and not a classical dance program. The music only enhanced the
lightness at such times. It looked cheap, really. Also, some of the
visual aids (if that indeed is the term, I m not sure) were gross,
like in the 'the viswaroopa darshanam' scene.
The nattuvangam and the vocal support was excellent, however and the
orchestra was good also, but the overall sense of disappointment was
very strong as I left the hall. I could'nt help thinking about the
wonderful performance staged by dancers from Kalakshetra and some other
groups in Madras (yes, dear old Madras). Madras sets the standard for
Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam, in my humble opinion.
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Nani Iswara
This is the story sent to me from one of the unfortunate patrons of
Allentown, PA.
The artists and their spokespersons literally had no timing concept and
lacked
coordination. They had no responsibility to communicate that they will
be
arriving late and just landed about four hours behind schedule. At that
late
hour they wanted hot indian food. They did not make any attempts to go
the
place of performance before hand and make assessments and then check out
what is needed. Instead landed up at the place right before the
time and then started making all requests.
The day before their show in Allentown, the organizers called and
indicated
that the program has been changed by their madam and the new program
will be
Bhamakalapam. By that time we had given all paper advertisements, radio
ads
and even the brochures were printed with Sree Krishnaha Saranam Mama.
When
asked for the reason, they said baggage was lost in transit from Lubbock
to Washington D.C. They have refused to give details about their flight
information and any information about their baggage claim tickets, so
that we
can call the airlines and see if anything can be done. All this happened
the night before and have insisted that both Washington D.C and also
Chicago have readily agreed for a change in program and why not
Allentown, a
small place do the change. Knowing the community here we have insisted
that
they perform Sree Krishnaha Saranam Mama as that was orginally agreed
upon and
since there was about 24 hours for baggage to arrive. The next morning
when
we contacted the organizers they have indicated that all their baggage
has
arrived and will proceed as agreed upon.
Upon arrival here at the auditorium, we have showed them the place and
showed
them the two dressing rooms. Here in US the school auditoriums do not
have
green rooms like the ones we have in India. As a result, two long
mirrors were
provided to do any makeup. One of the organizers and her husband got
furious
and insisted that they immediately get about ten mirrors. In the mean
time one
of the artists came running from inside and indicated that they needed
puja
samagri like coconut, flowers, campor and agarbatti. All this is taking
place
right before the program start. Then we indicated that it is not
possible to
run around at that time as the auditorium was located far from any
shopping
malls and it would be late to get the mirrors and they have to adjust
with the
couple of mirrors they had. At this time two of the members got furious
and
said that they would walk out if we fail to provide the mirrors as
requested.
In that heated discussion we were forced to say that if they walked out
then cops would be called and the troupe will be sent back to India.
At this point th MC came in, saw the situation and apologized them
and they have literally refused to talk as we are not providing them
with the
things they wanted.
At this time the MC, who literally grew up in the midst of her late
father's
(Sri Banda Kanakalingeswara Rao, Kuchipudi as a classical dance can
never be
complete without his name firmly chiselled) enormous contribution to
Kuchipudi,
asked the troupe members if they are doing Bhamakalapam or Golla
Kalapam, since
they indicated that they are not performing Sr Krishnam Saranam mama.
Apparently the person was not aware of a dance drama called Golla
Kalapam and
took a strong exception to her words, claiming that the MC insulted
their
teacher by asking about the program and maintained that we cannot talk
to her.
Meanwhile, we got about three more mirrors which we have purchased from
a store
for about $150 each. They were not happy again as we did not get ten as
they
indicated. We were very upset since by this time we had lost
about two more hours. Somehow the program has been performed with some
of the artists dropping their wigs and jewellry. What was more
surprising
was even Ms Shobha Naidu, stopped in one scene to adjust her crown. This
reminded us of actress Bhanu Priya in SwarnaKamalam, where she stops for
a
photographer to take some pictures. For a casual audience this may seem
to
be "part of the dance drama", but if someone is used to seeing the dance
performances of REAL PROFESSIONALS, one may agree what was described
earlier as grossly unprofessional, certainly not "esthetic" and
"creative"!
In the end of the program, the spokesperson who was already notorious by
then
with her disgusting behavior off stage came onto stage and pointed out
to the
public where the senators and other congressmen were present that in
Allentown,
the patrons were very rude to them, and have insulted their teacher
personally. We were surprised as we never did get a chance to even talk
to
Ms Shobha Naidu and all the talking was between the two local reps and
us.
We have provided them with accommodation at Holiday Inn here as they
have
requested and provided with all their requirements as they gave
in the printed request which was sent earlier, We are not sure what went
wrong. Even in the list nowhere is it indicated that they need green
rooms
with all 4x6 mirrors all around the room and we have followed to the
point what
was given in the list. Basically they had no communication and
organizing
skills and it is a bunch of arrogant kids trying to do something with
their
foolish stubborness.
We strongly feel that it is our fault to accept and arrange their
performance.
Coming to the performance the musicians did a wonderful job especially
the
female singer, apart from that no other person is worth the money and
trouble
to go through.