ALAPPUZHA: Dr Anita Ratnam, internationally-acclaimed dancer and choreographer, has criticised dancers accepting honorary doctorates from unrecognised foreign universities. Dr Ratnam, who is also managing editor of the largest portal on Indian dance www.narthaki.com, has begun an online campaign against the trend of fake D.Litt among dancers.
Raising the topic in Narthaki.com under the title ‘Roses &Thorns,’ Dr Ratnam has called upon the people to respond and put an end to this unhealthy tend. She asked in a post on January 27: “Why are dancers so desperate for titles? A recent series of news articles in Deccan Chronicle reveal a fake US university dispensing D.Litt degrees. Two dancers have accepted these spurious honours. Do send us your thoughts.”
Dr Ratnam had served as a member of the executive board of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICC-R), the government panel to select performers for international tours. “Being creative people, we naturally like appreciation and recognition. But we have to get it only through our art. Not with these fake degrees,” she said. Dr Ratnam is currently the vice-president of ABHAI, the Chennai-based arts organisation that represents the Bharatanatyam dancers of India.
