krishna tubhyam namah at a ttk wedding in the early 70s and hema malini and vyjayanthi took pride in dancing for connoisseurs at private events the bride and groom sat there in the front on a velvet sofa for the entire one and a halftwo hours watching no food or drinks no floating in and out recalls ratnam she herself accepted invitations to dance at wedding events till she found that it was becoming a between drinks and dinner entertainment event organizers caught between finicky artistes and revelers admit classical shows at weddings are a challenging assignment you need a really refined audience perhaps older and with some discipline usually requests to shut down the bar dont go down too well says delhi event manager vandana mohan sufi kathak dancer manjari chaturvedi who jokes that she acquired more fame by turning down an invitation to dance at the ashabhishek bachchan wedding than she could have by accepting it says that she cannot stand being asked to do a 10minute sufi number whatever event organisers may say you cannot stop wedding guests from eating and drinking so i dont get into that space at all says chaturvedi who would rather forego the fat cheque that usually comes with such invites dancers point out that there are reasons to let go of the cultural high ground for one weddings like corporate events could become a platform to showcase and promote classical dances why should only bollywood and bhangra be the only cultural offerings this is beautiful and entertaining in a different way and you get the young to watch it at weddings and pique their interest says nikoleski then the money is nothing to sniff at ratnam says that a wellknown dancer can rake in anywhere between rs 25 lakh at an elite wedding and as a dance scholar who didnt wish to be named pointed outit isnt fair to sit in judgement on how struggling artistes with few avenues choose to display their talent