On Mon, 2008-01-14 at 13:25 +0530, Charles Haynes wrote: > How much innovation is happening in dance and music? Is it like > western classical music where there are rigorous requirements on how > to do it "right" with years of practice required to get to the point > where you are "expressing yourself" rather than "doing it wrong?" I've
the notion that innovation in art (as opposed to technology) is necessarily a good thing and a reflection of creativity is a peculiarly western one, resulting perhaps from a boredom with or a rejection of classical traditions. many other cultures have different values that are certainly no less supportive of art. there are probably far more starving artists in india than in the US and europe, which would show that the need for creative expression is hardly lower in india; simply that people in the west have more money to spend on everything from icecream [1] to art. you don't have to look far back in US or european history to find parental and social attitudes to professions exactly the same as those of today's bangalore professionals. the change in the west is directly a result of greater material wealth. -rishab 1. europe spent $11 billion in 2004 on ice cream; rich mostly western passengers spent $14 billion on ocean cruises; but clean drinking water for everyone on the planet would cost $10 billion - http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1784#a2
