Several dancers like Yamini Krishnamurthy, Uma Sharma, Sonal Mansingh, Raja and Radha Reddy, Madhavi Mudgal, Prerna Shrimali, Swapna Sundari and Geeta Chandran met at the dance school of Uma Sharma last night to discuss their game plan. No longer were they going to sit passively while the arts died a slow death. In alliance with people from other creative sectors, they have launched a movement which would take the issue up with the Editors' Guild, the Prasar Bharati, the Press Council and even newspaper proprietors.

The next step would be to try and elicit support from institutions like the Sangeet Natak, the Lalit Kala and Sahitya akademis. And of course, the sensitisation of those who really take the issue to the masses -mediapersons.

Interestingly, critics and artists who are usually not the best of friends, have joined hands in the crusade. Said art writer and columnist Shanta Sarabjeet Singh, `Dancers have a special cause for concern as unlike the other artistes they do not have a tangible product like a painting or a sculpture which survives. Classical dancers themselves are the products.' She mentioned how these `products' would then be projected at the media's whims and fancies. `Whenever Sonal Mansingh has a dinner at the TK's (restaurant), it is flashed in the society pages'. She explained how this is an act of trivialising the roots which made her a celebrity in the first place.

What raises the hackles of the artistes is the space dedicated to cats, dogs, vastu, agony aunts, relationships and fashion at the cost of the arts. Said danseuse Sonal Mansingh, `Art has to compete with so much banality, and if this neglect of the arts continues, there will be a total blackout of it in this country'.

Her contemporary,Uma Sharma refused to compromise with the values that the artists stand for. `We want to keep it serious. We do not want to make it a cheap and light entertainment just for the benefit of the media,' said Sharma.

They felt that media plays a key role in initiating the masses to the arts, which is one of the few things these days that is truly Indian. `Our judicial systems and others, and even the language that we speak these days, is influenced by the West,' said Shanta. She gave the instance of Russia where even in the face of an economic crunch, they refuse to neglect the arts because without that there is nothing left. She also had great hopes in the youth whose inclination she said was truly reflected in Spic Macay and not the MTV culture.