The importance of an audience

Interface 2012’, an international festival of alternative and contemporary expressions, was kickstarted recently with a panel discussion on the kind of role an audience has when it comes to influencing an artiste’s work.

Held at a restaurant in the City, the panelists included Jagadish Raja from Jagriti Theatre; Idan Cohen, a choreographer from Israel; Vyjanti Kashi, a bharatanatyam dancer and Ajith Hande, an actor as well as film-maker.

The speakers discussed how important a good audience is for an artiste. Jagadish Raja, who opened the discussion, said that all performing art is self-induced. “If I am putting up a Shakespearean play, my portrayal of Hamlet will be very different from that portrayed by someone else. I will show a Hamlet that I believe in, but that does not mean that I am to trying to usurp the role of Hamlet — an actor always shows a little bit of himself and that is completely fair,” he explained.

Ajith Hande, who was also the coordinator of the discussion, narrated various anecdotes to bring out the importance of the audience. “The life of an artiste comprises the artiste, as well as the audience. I can recount a small anecdote, in which Tansen was applauded by Akbar when he sang songs written by Surdas. Akbar was so impressed by Surdas and his composition that he called him to his court, but Surdas refused to come. The next day, when Akbar met Tansen, he told him that Surdas was a greater singer than him. Tansen replied by saying that while he sang for the greatest king — Akbar — Surdas sang for the almighty himself. Hence, it always matters who your audience is,” noted Ajith. Idan Cohen, a choreographer from Israel, pointed out that an artiste does not need to be arrogant and vain, nor always watch what he is saying and doing.

The festival, which has previously been conducted in Delhi and Kolkata, will showcase contemporary art — especially dance — and the organisers feel that Bangalore is a great place to showcase this. “The audience in Bangalore is mature and enjoy art from all over the world. Contemporary dance has a lot of scope in the City and this year, we have artistes from Israel, a French artist named Michel Casanovas and a group called ‘Theatre of Rhythm’,” says Paromita, the co-director of the festival.