One of the most important phases of your life is when you are bored. Boredom is active, unstable, and demanding. Boredom is good! It forces us to get uncomfortable in our comfort zone. It forces us to look the other way and explore. It forces us to wonder ‘what if?’. Boredom is not caused because one loses interest, but rather because the activity becomes monotonous in content or routine.

A similar thought sparked some of my first conversations with a bunch of enthusiastic, creative, and artistic students, about how we all were bored with the idea of performing only on stage! There have been and will always be opportunities to perform on stage but it started to feel like this routine stifled our creativity. So we looked the other way to explore and formed two dynamic teams – Team Limelight and Team Encore.

The only constant in an artist’s life is their commitment to their art form. Despite their contradicting ideas, varied opinions, and different styles; the only thing that was common in these students was their fierce commitment to their art. Team Limelight decided to explore the idea of using anything but stage as a performing space – staircases, bridges, tabletops, windows, etc.. Team Encore wanted to get the music community in the school together through jamming sessions, giving them more scope to explore their talents. The plan was to document these creations in videos instead of performing on stage.

Limelight and Encore’s ideas were aligned with the demands of the future… they were virtual, inclusive, and unconventional. Why fit a few hundred people in an auditorium when you can reach a million through a screen?

Artists all over the world have been garnering popularity on social media for a few years now, but will they overtake live performances? Are stage performances, concerts, and live shows becoming obsolete? Honestly, does it matter? What an artist needs is an audience, not necessarily a stage!

The arts haven’t seen a better time in decades! The arts have always been considered as just a ‘hobby’ but today, the world is at home spending most of their time watching movies and videos, listening to songs, playing video games, reading books, learning how to cook, bake, paint, dance. Most will stick to their interests forever. The actors, musicians, dancers, painters, writers, chefs, bakers, designers, animators of the world are keeping the world sane in these tough times. They may have a brighter future than ever!

Of course, the world is not going to be cooped up at home forever, but the increasing dependence on technology along with the added luxury of now being able to work from home is going to give people the liberty of working at their pleasure. According to a study by Management Consultancy giant, Bain & Company, “with the declining cost of distance accelerating, many companies may prefer having their employees work from home even after the pandemic”. This is likely to give people more time to invest in other interests.

But does this exposure to a wider audience bring down the value of performing arts? Are viral dance and music covers killing originality? Are they making training and technique redundant?

Not even close! Because when people get bored, they look the other way. Monotony is boring, not the art itself. The more the masses are exposed to art, the more they will start appreciating quality. Gone will be the days when the masses appreciate anything that’s fed to them. Competition for quality is bound to get tougher. Only training and technique can ensure that level of quality. This gives more opportunities for disciplines of performing arts to thrive and spread.

In a world of YouTubers and Tik-Tok influencers, artists are rising and falling every day. The luxury of choice is spoiling people. The opportunities are immeasurable but they come with the responsibility of creating genuine, relevant, and inspiring content. As a teacher, I will always be a cheerleader for innovative ideas as I am for Limelight and Encore. But above all, as I always have, I will continue giving utmost importance to training, originality, and commitment.

– By Ms. Krittika Shastri