Art is as important as Maths or English,” said well-known Bharatnatyam dancer and Padma Shri awardee Geeta Chandran, speaking to the young audience of Tycoons 2009. Chandran, also called as a dancer activist, believes in blending tradition with issues of contemporary relevance in her dance. She shared her ideas on the topic “Pursuing an art and its impact on personal growth.” Chandran, who is associated with Spic Macay, is an ex-LSR student of statistics (honours) and chose dance over media research. She did her post-graduation from IIMC, Delhi. She is into dance performance, teaching, conducting and organising shows.

She said that entertainment today is largely Bollywood and not essentially classical dance and that the classical dancers face more competition today than ever before. While you get to see a whole spectrum at the click of a button on TV channels, there is not even one channel dedicated to classical dance. “Disparity between dance and other professions is more glaring today than ever before,” she added.

Born in Cochin and brought up in Delhi, education was the main priority in her family but learning an art form was a must. She started learning dance at the age of five. “There is never a dull moment in dance,” she said.
Everything today is with stakes. People look for instant gratification these days but the art gene is not learnt that way. “Youngsters need to be exposed to classical dance as an art form. There is a huge mental block to classical music. If you are rejecting something, it has to be informed rejection… You need to be able to keep an open mind,” she said.

She emphasised on how art pursued for the love of it can give immense creative freedom. The participants were receptive of the experience and thoughts shared by Chandran and posed several questions to her.

It was an interactive session where the contestants delved into the idea of how to take forth the classical dance forms and music to a higher level.