Ramli Ibrahim rues youngsters' approach towards classical dance!

Soumitra Das / TNN / Jul 31, 2011, 11:26 IST

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Noted Malaysian Odissi dancer and choreographer Ramli Ibrahim speaks his mind about his craft

Ramli Ibrahim rues youngsters' approach towards classical dance!

Be it classical ballet, Bharatnatyam, Odissi or contemporary dance, Malaysian artist Ramli Ibrahim traverses these territories with effortless ease. Ibrahim, who was in Vadodara for a performance, says, "While I am a qualified mechanical engineer, I was inclined towards dance right since childhood. I am happy that I could follow my passion."
A "tough teacher" by his own admission, Ibrahim isn't very happy with the way youngsters approach classical dance."I am a firm believer in the guru-shishya tradition. I am a hard taskmaster too and teach students everything, including how to behave or dress. Unfortunately, not many youngsters look at dance as their calling in life and they have very little time for dance these days. Many of them are nowhere to be seen once the arangetram is over. And that is really sad. Classical dance badly needs some new blood. It's a complete theatre experience and can become more popular if we get more exciting young talent." he rues.
Talking about his guru, the late Odissi pioneer Deba Prasad Das, and Indian classical dance in general, he says, "The Odissi performances that people see mostly belong to the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra style of the form. However, as many critics have observed, my guru always encouraged a very broad and uncluttered style. That is not to say that it didn't have any refinements, but it is important to understand that a performance should not be so over-refined that it loses content. That was a great lesson taught by him. Nothing can match Indian classical dance when it comes to expressions. They are just so graceful!"

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