Years back when Zakir bhai (Hussain) said, “Sharon, I can’t believe that Dr Dixit is organising your U.S. dance tour!”, I replied, “Bringing an accompanying team of musicians with me from India needs the same support as any other artist, even if I am American”. However I didn’t realise the significance of this particular sponsorship.
No other individual has done as much to promote Indian performing arts in the USA and Canada, other than the earlier efforts of Pt Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan-sahib through his college and continuing work of Zakir Hussain. Dr Balwant Dixit, assisted by his wife Vidya, has presented over 1,800 performances and some 400 workshops at over 80 Universities, Colleges, schools and arts organisations since 1985. A Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, with a passion for Indian performing arts and a background organising programmes during his student days, Dr Dixit rose to the challenge of sharing this passion during the 1985 Festival of India-USA coordinating all classical music programmes. He presented 20 top Hindustani and Carnatic musicians in over 90 individual concerts, along with 30 workshops and 3 festivals as a joint effort between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) of India, the ITC-SRA and the University of Pittsburgh.
What makes this even more amazing is that his University Circuit for Indian classical music, later changed to the Centre for the Performing Arts of India, University of Pittsburgh, was entirely self-supporting. This means that all expenses of musicians: payments, insurances, travel crisis-crossing North America, posters and press and secretarial help, except for international travel covered by ICCR, was covered by participating organisations contributory payments for their local performances.
His centre brought in more than $2 million and he never took, or earned, a penny from this. It is quite remarkable that Dr Dixit received no financial compensation from anyone or any organisation for his work as the director of CPAI. On the contrary, he and Vidya not only hosted innumerable musicians at home, but even carried home cooked food to the airport as his artists transited through Pittsburgh between cities in the days before airport security stopped easy access.
Dr Dixit and I have never been able to figure out what led him to decide to organise my Odissi dance tour, as it was the first time he agreed to bring a dancer on tour. (The untimely passing of Kathak maestro Durga Lal cancelled an earlier planned tour.) In those days, staying with Indian host families on tour was the norm as it both saved expensive hotel charges and visiting artists preferred Indian home cooking and hospitality. At the onset of my first tour with his sponsorship, friendly predictors of doom and gloom managed to convince Dr Dixit that he couldn’t possible host me, an American, with Indian hospitality and I must be put up in a hotel.
The first performance was in Salt Lake City, Utah where we stayed in such a beautiful home that I momentarily wondered if I might not be better off living in the USA when I saw their refrigerator door make ice cubes and boiling water for tea coming from a tap at the sink. I shook myself out of this by recalling that, as a performing artist rather than a heart surgeon or investment banker I would never have such a fabulous kitchen even if I did live in the USA, and I have a wonderful domestic staff to make my tea and loosen the ice cubes from the tray! Dr Dixit called to say that I would be staying in a hotel because it would be more convenient to reach the theatre. Knowing that airplane strikes had caused expensive rerouting of the tour and hotel costs would put the tour in the red, it still took my wonderful Utah hosts to convince him that we were all enjoying being together and it would be more than okay to have me and my troupe stay in his cozy University professor’s home. After this initial hiccup, we became as close as family, extending through future tours and beyond into his retirement with regular visits in both countries.
It would take a book, and an interesting one at that, to cover the amazing methodology of a man whose face would not be recognised by the over 100 universities, colleges and arts organisations to whom he provided great Indian classical performing artists as he never travelled with any on them.
A few highlights: Each and every lead and accompanying artist had US Income tax returns filed which was both required and not done by virtually any other organiser. Supporting this legal compliance was the fact that everyone came on correct visas, J-1, through the University of Pittsburgh, had health insurance long before this was required and had individual contracts for each member of a troupe.
Travel itineraries in the USA can be extremely complicated as the distances are vast and transit stops at airline hub cities count even in visit USA circuit tickets. The greatest expense of touring in the US and Canada is the airlines and once schedules are set a year in advance of a tour, Dr Dixit does not change it.
During my tour the Indian Embassy requested my programme somewhere and Dr Dixit refused as travel plans were already locked down. With such advance planning, all the artists know exactly where they will be, with host names and numbers, in advance of arrival. He also collects information on food and other requirements in advance so there are no surprises or hungry stomachs! To do some of this work, a secretary, tax accountant, printer and poster designer, are recompensed from a clear percentage deducted from the tour income.
After the stellar organisation of all the Festival of India music component, ICCR and Dr Dixit, through the University of Pittsburgh, carefully crafted an exchange programme where ICCR would fund the international travel of 4 groups a year and Dr Dixit would select the artists and do everything else to arrange and pay for their performances and workshops. The Centre for the Performing Arts of India was the only, university-based centre in the USA that served as an exchange programme between a consortium of American universities and the ICCR, nationally recognised programme for its quality and organisation. The only glitch in this successful partnership was when ICCR was requested to provide international travel for my 3 accompanying musicians (not my travel as I am not an Indian national). Although the choice of artists had always been left to Dr Dixit’s discretion, after inviting me, ICCR decided that he should no longer be allowed to select the artists he presented. Eventually this was dropped as he had little motivation to do all this work for artists he didn’t respect enough to have invited himself. Happily, the relation continued for many more years and included the musicians for another Odissi tour as well.
Although originally the Centre used to sponsor both Hindustani and Carnatic musicians, it was decided that there were credible organisations focusing on Carnatic music and there was no need to compete.
I’d like to mention the top artists that CPAI presented over decades, but actually they are all top artists. Everyone knew that the tour planning and local sponsors would be top-notch if Dr Dixit organised it. In fact, once when Rajan and Sajan Misra decided to take their families along on a CPAI tour because of absolute confidence in the arrangements, Dr Dixit called me to go with them to the US Embassy who had first turned down their visa applications thinking that the whole family going meant an attempt at illegal immigration!
It was Dr Dixit who organised the historic session for Viswa Mohan Bhatt with Ry Cooder that resulted in the Grammy award winning album A Meeting by the River. Shubhendra Rao wrote me, “I had the wonderful opportunity of touring for Dr Dixit’s programme tours in 1998. Of course I had heard a lot about him for many years and was looking forward to touring for him. Apart from the complete professionalism that he showed during the entire tour, what made it most memorable was the personal touch that his wife, Vidya and he gave his artists. Every single time I went through Pittsburg airport that was the hub for US Airways, both Vidya and he would come over to the gate where we could have to change the flights and hand over home-cooked Indian meals! I think Indian music and Indian musicians owe a lot to Dr Dixit for promoting it in the US and make it more popular and acceptable.”
Over the years he had chaired and been interim dean of the department of Pharmacology, established the Departments of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics, as well as several programmes, served as Associate Dean for graduate studies and research, Director of Affirmative Action, Director of the Animal Care Facilities and Director of Continuation Education in the School of Pharmacy and been awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Dr Dixit retired in 2013 after 50 years of service at the University of Pittsburgh School Of Pharmacy.
I am happy to share a debt of gratitude to Dr Dixit and Vidyaji with so many great artists for making it possible to share our Indian classical performing arts across North America. The impact of their contribution needs no Padma to enhance their stellar contribution in the promotion of excellence and excellent classical performing artists.
Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose 4 decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of Modern Dance and Ballet in the US and an M.A. in Dance from the University of Michigan. She can be contacted at sharonlowen.workshop@gmail.com
