Tradition in the Education of the Future: The Bharatanatyam Story | Gayathri Iyer | TEDxYadavagiriED

Tradition has often been misunderstood and sidelined, if not left out entirely, in the modern ecosystem of education. One of the most aesthetically pleasing forms of Indian art and tradition is Bharatanatyam, an expressive movement dating back to the ancient era. In a thought-provoking talk, dancer Gayathri Iyer shares her journey of truly understanding tradition in its essence and purpose, thereby revealing the need to interpret and question tradition, practice and preserve it the right way, and incorporate it into its rightful place in the education of the future. Gayathri Iyer is an art historian, dance historian and Bharatanatyam dancer. Raised in New York, she wandered back to India a decade ago in search of Indian art. Since then, she has studied a Masters in Arts and Aesthetics, an M.Phil in Indian Art History, and she is currently completing a PhD in Temple Sculpture at JNU. She is an India Foundation of the Arts grantee for her project on the dance history of Bangalore, and she has consulted with INTACH on the inscription of the Hoysala heritage sites on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. Trained in Bharatanatyam for over 27 years, Gayathri has performed at venues all over the world, such as the United Nations, and she specialises in the abhinaya tradition in the effort to understand heirloom classical dance repertoire. She is equally well versed in the Natyashastra and other theoretical aspects of the form and seeks to understand the meeting point of the static and the dynamic through her practice and research. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx