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Drama

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Children love to act. All of us love to act, or Dumb Charades would not be such a popular game. One thing I stress during all my workshops is the importance of copyright. I insist that children don't just rip images and articles off the internet, print them and use them. In keeping with that idea, I usually use my own stories during workshops, in addition to traditional tales from around the world. A story I love is a Japanese tale of Amaterasu, the radiant one who lights up the sky. Her brother Susanowa ravages the earth with storms, so Amaterasu hides in a cave. The gods are desperate to bring light back to the world, so they call Uzume, the god of laughter and joy. Uzume begins to dance, and the gods roar with laughter. Curious, Amaterasu peeks out - the first streaks of light appear. She catches sight of her own brilliant reflection in the mirror opposite, and she emerges some … [Read more...]

Little Red Riding Hood

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In the first session of a workshop, particularly one with a heavy name like "Language and Literature Workshop", I like to start on a light note. Humour is a great place to begin, and I turn to an all-time favourite - Roald Dahl. This time, I chose five of my favourite poems - "The Crocodile", "The Porcupine", "The Tummy Beast", "The Anteater" and "Little Red Riding Hood". I divided the participants into groups of five, and gave each group a poem to read. I gave them ten minutes to read and understand the poem, and then asked them to perform a little skit based on it. (Spoiler warning: This blog post spoils the punchline of Roald Dahl's "Little Red Riding Hood".) In Dahl's version of "Little Red Riding Hood", after the dutiful comments on Grandma's big ears and big eyes, Little Red Riding Hood says, "... what a lovely great big furry coat you have on." To this, the irate wolf replies, … [Read more...]

Spellbound

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Too much telling and too little showing. Never mind. I'll read some more. This is strange and unbelievable. Never mind. I'll read some more. That is exactly how I ventured into Spellbound. And before I knew it, I had finished reading it. Athene and Zach are opposites in every possible way. They just happen to be brother and sister. Athene hates Zach. She hates him, resents him, and takes joy in bringing him grief. Zach, on the other hand, is a happy-go-lucky kid and never seems to mind that his sister Eeny is always nasty to him. Everything changes when Athene meets Humdudgeon and Huffkin, two members of the Humble Gloam. In a world where Athene, a day creature, is called a 'Glare', the young girl finds the perfect way to get rid of Zach. But she does not account for the guilt that kicks in and compels her to take risks she would never have dreamed of facing for herself, let alone for … [Read more...]

Lyon

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On the 15th of June 2006, I validated my second Eurail pass, officially valid for fifteen days. Maybe the official at the station was being nice; maybe he could not count. He marked the end date as the 30th of June, giving me 16 days of free travel. Building up to my departure from Grenoble, we did many, many things. I visited museums and churches. We played children's games like 'Duck-Duck-Goose'. I took a ride in an 'egg' - the ropeway up to the Bastille. My sister was leaving Grenoble, perhaps never to return, so we filled our days with things she wanted to remember. And then, I left Grenoble for Lyon so she could say her last goodbyes alone. Lyon is a place to spend a lot of time or none at all. Around the station, there are business hotels. Reach Lyon, and you get the impression that it is a no-nonsense, commercial place. I'm an unabashed people-watcher, and I felt even the way … [Read more...]

Paid Artists

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I have been learning dance for 22 years. Yes, that is a lot. Often, people ask us whether this means that we have our own dance classes. No. That is not the only reason to learn dance. "How much would you charge for a performance?" is the next question. "It depends on what sort of performance it is," I reply. "If you want a full-fledged dance drama, obviously, our cost is higher, so we charge more." If it is not a dance drama, people ask, "Why is it so expensive?" I never know what to reply. I have so many ideas in my head, but I think, "Isn't it obvious?" 1) We practise a lot. If we need to put up something that is professional, it is necessary, don't you think? 2) If you want us to be "professional", at some level, you accept that performance is our source of income. We perform three or four times a year, usually. Calculate how much a performance ought to cost if you think of it in … [Read more...]

Too Small to Fail

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I read Now a while ago and I was not impressed. When Too Small to Fail caught my eye, I realised that it was by the same author, Morris Gleitzman, so I put the book away again. When I visited the library, it caught my eye again. And again. It was time to read it. Too Small to Fail was sweet and pacy. I am not a fast reader. I like to mull over books I read as I read them. I don't devour books, unless they capture me wholly. I read Too Small to Fail in one sitting. Oliver's parents own a bank, but he wants more. Not squillions of dollars. He just wants a dog. When the dog is used to blackmail Oliver, he gets immersed in the murky world of investment, banking, liabilities, assets and credit default swaps. He realises that being "nice" and "kind" are not part of an investment banker's job description. The problem is that he wants his parents to be nice and kind. Unfortunately, they are … [Read more...]

Cet espace …

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"Yuk, what is that disgusting smell?" I asked. My sister chuckled and pointed to a board - "Ici, je fais ce que je veux" - "Here, I do what I want", accompanied by the picture of a dog. I found that lovely. Not only were there designated zones where dogs could do "whatever they want", there were cute little signs saying so, all over the city. The next day, I took a deep breath, ignored passing stares, and took a photograph of the board. I went around Grenoble taking photos of all the dog boards that I could find, to the amusement (and sometimes wrinkled-nose disgust) of people passing by. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost all my dog photos from Grenoble. So much for my nose-holding, stench-standing commitment to taking photographs. I found two that I took in Annecy, though - here they are!   … [Read more...]

Musée Dauphinois

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"My parents loved the Musée Dauphinois," a friend told me. "It was the best one of all." Intrigued, I decided to go. As usual, I had nothing to lose - the museum was free for those under 25. It was farther than I expected, not being a fan of climbing the Bastille alone, but I did reach, eventually. "The ground floor was - um - uninteresting, to say the least," I've written in my diary. The museums I had seen before, right there in Isère, were much better. All the Musée Dauphinois had was general information about the history of humankind, without even the audio guide that was available at the Musée de l'Ancien Évêché, a museum I quite enjoyed. What that meant was that I had gone all the way there, climbing up towards the Bastille, to see sharpened stones. The first floor was not much better. I could not understand what had earned such high praise - until I got to the second … [Read more...]