THE ROLE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMING ARTS

This is the title of the paper I submited in the National Conference on "Contextualizing the Present Kannada Theatre" held in the campus of Bangalore University on 27th March 2010, Saturday.

Here is the abstract:
"ROLE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMING ARTS"

Performing arts are those arts or skills that involve performance before audience in the form of Music, dance & drama.

Music

MUSIC is an art of arranging the sounds of voice or instruments or both in a pleasing sequence or combination.
It is said that, music is born much before any language could come into existence & is an integral part of human life from birth to death. It is a unique language by itself; the language of the sole.

Since the time of Samaveda, Music, as we all know, has developed itself into a complete art form with many of its genres or styles, the most prominent of them being the Classical music forms like Carnatic & Hindustani in India & Western classical in the rest of the world.

Carnatic music – the classical music of Southern India, is considered as one of the oldest & most scientific system of music in the World with its complex, perfectly systematized raga, tala & gamaka techniques, giving greater importance to creativity & enormous scope for solo performances.

Dance

Dance is an artistic form of nonverbal communication. In simple words, to move one's feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps to the accompaniment of music.

Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story. Dancing has evolved many styles. Every dance, no matter what style, has something in common. It not only involves flexibility and body movement, but also proper physics.

Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and Entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations.

Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of
Bhimbetka paintings in India.

Many early forms of music and dance were created and performed together. This paired development has continued through the ages with dance & music forms all over the world.

In India, Bharata Muni's Natyashastra (literally "the text of dramaturgy") is one of the earlier texts. The text elaborates various hand-gestures or mudras and classifies movements of various limbs of the body, gait, and so on. Beginning from here, raised the various classical styles which are recognized today. Therefore, all Indian classical dances are to varying degrees rooted in the Natyashastra and share common features in the mudras, some body positions, and abhinaya.

The Indian classical music provides the accompaniment for the dance, and as percussion is such an integral part of the tradition, the dancers of nearly all the styles wear bells around their ankles to counterpoint and complement the percussion.

Drama

The genre of literature represented by works intended for the stage. It is an expressive process which is best understood through the idea of symbolization and its role in the discovery and communication of Meaning.

Both music & dance are an intimate & integral part of drama. Though the main theme of Natyashastra deals with drama, dance is also widely featured, and indeed the two concepts have ever since been linked in Indian culture.

There are particular ragas associated with a particular rasa. For instance, the ragas Kambhoji & Kalyani are related to Shrungara rasa & the ragas Mohana & Naata for Veera rasa.

The contribution of mass media like Newspaper, radio & T.V as well as print media in the development of performing arts is very well known. Some of the recordings of legendary musicians of yester years that are otherwise out of reach have been well preserved & propagated by radio. T.V, is able to create a cultural consciousness among the younger generation by telecasting various classical, semi-classical & folk dance & theater forms.

But apart from these there are other modes like electronic media, which can effectively be put to use for this purpose for spreading our performing arts globally.

“Electronic media are that utilize electronics or electromechanical energy for the end
User (audience) to access the content.
The primary electronic media sources familiar to the general public are better known as Video recordings, audio recordings, multimedia presentations, slide presentations, CD – ROM and Online Content.

Many hours of Music, dance & drama performances can be recorded & stored in Cds & DVDs. Portable devices like CD players, recorders. & ipods are also aiding in this regard.

Multimedia presentations, slide presentations etc are effective especially during lecture demonstrations to explain the theoretical concepts

The gadgets like microphones, amplifiers, speakers etc used in enhancing the quality of the performing arts are all the great contribution of electronics to the world of fine arts.

Today, through the developments in the field of electronics, people’s knowledge on the subjects like Acoustics & sound engineering are so great that the well developed theaters like Ranga Shankara in Bangalore make the best use of it.

The world of internet has enumerable wonderful things to offer to the development of performing arts-
There are several websites & search engines offering enormous inputs on the subject.

Discussions & exchange of ideas are possible on the net through blogs, discussion forums, e-mails, mailing lists etc where people from any where in the world can participate. Sharing of materials have become possible through streaming audio & video content & uploads & downloads of files on the net.

The above developments have created awareness towards many western theatrical forms such as Absurdist Theatre, Symbolist Drama etc & these forms have been well adapted to fit into Indian context

Many play in foreign languages like Shakespeare’s work have been translated into Indian languages & vice versa... This indicates cultural exchange between different nations happening through these technological advancements & provides good scope for novelty & innovative ideas in the field.

Some latest Advancements
Today, with a computer with internet, we can listen to thousands of radio stations broadcasting 1000 genres of music, from classical to religious & from rock to folk.
Unllike standard broadcast radio, internet radio stations can be heard virtually anywhere.
We are able to watch 3,500 of most popular television channels Without any hardware installations like dish, receivers, cable, other equipment or monthly subscription fees. This digital innovation provides DVD-like picture quality, high definition transmission, and crystal clear audio output

The points enumerated above are just a few samples of what electronic media is currently offering to the development of performing arts & folk forms.
But the actual scope is much more and amazing looking at the inventions in store and its day-to-day growth. Effective utilization of these would greatly enhance the quality of our Performing Arts and, would no doubt take us to international standards.

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All Glories to God.