Guest guest Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Divine World Yoga Family This is the copy of Ammas letter to the press regarding certain fixed competitions that are going on in the Art field i am sure that many yoga competitions are doing the same!! we want Yoga Sporots to develop in the Yogaic way unlike other competitions yours in yoga Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani --------------------- ART FOR ART’S SAKE “Art for Art’s Sake. Art nourishes the heart. Truth is beauty, beauty truth. Perform, to re-form.” Every artist must anchor him / her self in these dictums, else the whole purpose of art-whether in dance, music, drama or visual mediums – will be defeated. Art should – must – elevate and enlighten the individual as well as society. Art should make us better human beings. This is the message of the Bharat Shastra. Sadly, we see the “competitive cancer” eating away the soul of our artistic community. It is a “dog-eat-dog” mentality. Project oneself by hook – or – by crook. Self-promotion holds sway over the day. As adults and mature personalities, perhaps we can deal with this. Shrugging our shoulders and saying, “Survival of the fittest is the law of life.” But, unfortunately, this fierce competitive spirit is now spoiling the sweet joy of young children who practice our ancient cultural arts. Competitions in dance – in music – in drawing - are being held, in which the “winners” are decided long before the event even began! Persons in power use such competitions to influence parents who have become almost mad with desire to see their offspring garner award after award. Promises are made, this for that, and judges are carefully chosen, who, in turn, know whom to choose as the winner. The stage is carefully set to produce desired results. Winners in dance competitions are judged after performing only a single line of the item. Winners in singing competitions are chosen on the basis of a few vocalised verses. Visual art awards are given on the basis of a single drawing. All behind closed doors! No teachers, no parents, no observers are allowed to monitor the competitive process. Results are final, at the whim of the organiser, to suit the organiser’s purpose. Young children’s hearts are broken. They question their own skill, their own competence, their own self-worth. The childish joy in their art is destroyed by the question: “Why did I not win? Was I not good enough?” Now there is talk of “Special Awards in Art for Children,” similar to the “Kalaimamani !” Is all this necessary? Will it produce positive results? Will it create artists who love the art for its own sake, or who perform from the heart? Will it produce the kind of performances which can re-form the thoughts of society? Or, will it simply create one inflated ego and multitude of deflated egos (only one can win!) Will it create a generation of children who hate themselves because they are losers? If there must be competitions – and one cannot deny the motivating power of the competitive spirit – let such contests be open, transparent and fair. Let there be a genuine spirit of friendliness, and of learning from each other in such affairs. Let each stimulate the other to greater achievements in a spirit of love and generosity. Let judges be carefully chosen and the whole affair monitored. But let us not be caught up in the terrible greed for self-aggrandizement at the expense of innocent children ! Let us not harm our children’s self esteem. Let us not pollute our ancient cultural arts, which after all, are a spiritual Sadhana, a means of ennobling and enriching the human spirit. There is something deeply ignoble about constructing “contrived competitions,” especially for children, whose psyches can be seriously damaged when they come to understand that it is not merit, but something else, that wins the day. If we feel compelled to hold competitions, let us take it as a sacred responsibility to hold such contests in a spirit of friendliness, openness, transparency and fairness. Give each child a fair chance to show its talent fully and completely. Choose knowledgeable experts in the field as the Judges people who have no vested interest in the outcome. Construct an environment so beneficial that even if the child does not win, it still will learn valuable life lessons and will improve its art. Let such competitions instill even greater joy and happiness in “art for art’s sake” and not damper childish enthusiasm with the evil desire to achieve, to win, even at the cost of basic human values. All participants in every competition – whether in dance, in music, in chess, in quizzes, in sports, what ever, - should think at the end of the day : “If I win, I win, but if I lose, I still win, for I have learned.” Let us keep the “heart in our art”! Let competitions kindle the spiritual light which shines so brightly in the our children’s eyes, not extinguish it ! Yogacharini Kalaimamani Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER 25,2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry-605 013 Tel;0413 2622902 / 0413 2241561 abb,yognat2001 Website: www.icyer.com SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Hello Yogis and Yoginis Amma's comments remind me of a flight I took out of San Francisco once. The lady seated next to me was flying home after completing an audition for an open seat in the San Francisco Symphony. When I asked her what she played for the audition she told me 2 notes. The judges listened to 175 applicants and according to her all of them played from 2 to 4 notes. What I didn't think to ask her was whether or not the winner had been determined ahead of time. Affectionately Rajudev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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