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Archive for the 'Dance/Theatre' Category
I am in awe of Indian dance; this is an art form that utilizes costume, makeup, music, and choreography to create one of the most intricate and beautiful performance traditions I have ever seen.
As I am learning from a book titled Indian Theatre (a recent addition to my bookshelf) there is no easy way to classify Indian performance traditions. Unlike Western theatre that (generally) enjoys neatly-defined categories, India’s traditions fall within a spectrum from classical to modern, with styles that flow together and create complex amalgamations of dance, music, storytelling, and ritual.
For the past few weeks, I have spent many of my free periods at school watching some of my students prepare a piece for the folk dance competition at a local youth festival. Folk dances, as the introduction to Indian Theatre explains, are “characterized by immediate accessibility, by vitality and exuberance, and by readily communicable modes and messages of performance” (9). These dances are predominantly secular, adopting much from the classical style but telling stories that appeal to the masses. Under the leadership of James Sir (who is also teaching me), my students danced to a Malayalam song about overcoming the vices that attempt to destroy the motherland. Their dance told the story of a mother who sends her son out to play, only to have a demon snatch him away. After fruitless searching, the mother begs the demon to return her child, offering her eyes as a sacrifice. Taking advantage of her blindness, the demon attempts to fool the mother, offering a statue instead of her son. The mother retaliates, threatens to curse the demon, and ultimately wins back her child.
The two groups from Christava Mahilalayam gave beautiful performances and ended up taking first and second places in their respective age groups! I was extremely proud of them for their hard work. Here are a few pictures of the younger group (from standards 3 and 4):
(Richmond, Ferley P. and Darius L. Swann and Phillip B. Zarrilli, Eds. Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1993.
[Three of my students, waiting as the others get costumed and made-up
[Sruthi (top) and Anjala (bottom), receiving the final touches to their make-up]
[Showtime]
[The demon, on the prowl]
[The mother, frightened of the demon who has stolen her child
[Helen slays the demon]
Read comments (3)Youth Festivals are inter-school competitions, featuring events that range from trivia to classical singing, Hindi recitation to folk dance . . . and sometimes everything in between. I attended one this past weekend with a friend who teaches at Rajagiri Higher Secondary School. Here is a taste of the fusion dance competition. This particular dance tells the epic story of the emperor Ashoka . . .
I came to Kerala knowing one thing: that I had to learn Classical Indian dance. Thus, as soon as I heard that my school had a ‘Dance Sir’ who comes a couple days a week to teach our students, I went into action mode . . . I am now learning Bharatnatyam, a dance of southern India. In Kerala, dance teachers give private lessons, so I will be getting lots of personal attention as I navigate the intricacies of the art form. The downside . . . there’s no way I can hide my magnificent bumbling as I try, oh-so-hard, to get my feet and hands (and eyeballs) to coordinate.
I must say, I don’t know what I would do without Manju Miss (the same teacher who took me saree shopping). Not only did she help me set up my dance lessons, breaking the language barrier between James Sir and myself, but she also made sure I was prepared for my first class. It is tradition to present one’s teacher with a Guru Dakshina and a one rupee coin at the beginning of training, and Manju Miss ensured that I would not come across as the ignorant American, right off the bat . . .
[The Guru Dakshina]
Last summer I spent a month in Prague during the height of tourist season. While I still maintain that it is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, the constant onslaught of (often obnoxious) visitors left me disenchanted with the city, and I was not eager to return to its crowds. One of the places Prague’s status as a ‘European Hot-Spot’ becomes the most obvious is on the Charles Bridge - the connector between the city’s historic old town and the castle district. During the day, it is almost impossible to make it across the bridge unless you’re an expert at crowd-weaving and elbow throwing. However, it is quite nice at 6:30 in the morning. My friend, Erika, and I maintained our weekly teaching schedule (waking up at 6:15) so that we could be on Charles Bridge by 6:30. Our hostel is located on the castle side of the Vltava River, in a park five minutes away from the base of the bridge. Taking this early-morning walk along the river and across the bridge allowed us to see Prague at its quietest, when there was nothing to distract us from its beauty. This was a moment to fall in love with Prague all over again.
My day only got better with a matinée performance of Solo For Three at Prague’s National Theatre. This is a dance piece inspired by the lives and work of three European musicians: Jacques Brel, Karel Kryl, and Vladimir Vysockij, all of whom share a hauntingly melancholy musical style. I find it almost impossible to describe dance pieces; in my opinion, they are meant to be felt rather than analyzed. It’s art for the soul rather than the mind. This was a performance that grabbed me in the gut as soon as the curtain rose, and didn’t let go until after five rounds of applause.
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