Hello group, what an interesting discussion. I was born in India and spent my childhood there and grew up with the culture. I suppose that’s the essence we all are talking about. Well when I see a foreigner doing an Indian classical dance or even Bollywood I think I know whether he/she is feeling the dance or just doing it. But does it bother me at all? No in fact I feel proud when I see somebody trying to learn something from my culture. I believe most of the Indian people think the same way.
Most of the Bollywood teachers that I know in Australia are not Indian. 80 % of them cant speak or understand a single word of Hindi or any other Indian language, Most of them probably will never visit India in their life time, And surprisingly some of them probably never met an Indian whom they can discuss about the culture. I saw them dancing, some are technically almost perfect, but a lot of time I don’t feel the same when I see an Indian dancer doing an Indian dance. The essence will never be there , Essence is something you get only if you are born and lived in that country or lived there from a very young age. Its more complex than we think. but somehow I do feel pleasure watching others doing my culture. All I could do is encourage them to learn some very basic things about my culture and let them do what they enjoy, The interested ones always ask if they want to know something and I am always happy to answer their query or direct them to the resource they looking for.
I am aware that many people make fun of Bollywood or they totally dance something and call Bollywood, Again don’t bother me at all. As long as people present my culture respectfully and have fun doing it I have no problem with it. When I get a chance to see a Bollywood night or something in Australia I don’t expect to feel the essence but I try to enjoy it from entertainment point of view.
When those two foxy ladies did the Kamasutra style fusion , I thought that was quite weird but very intelligent move to do , I bet they enjoyed every bit of publicity , Now am I supposed to get angry because they used Kama sutra to depict some kind of dance. And you know Kama Sutra is not all about Sex but love and it belongs to my culture.
Regards