Day one of Indian Rhythm and Arts Association’s Gulaal was wonderful. We went essentially for Alarmel Valli’s performance, but were blown away by the second part of the evening – Nandita Das’s Between the Lines. Valli, in keeping with the season, performed two pieces on spring and concluded with a Nritta Lahiri. The upper part of her body was […]
Experiences on Stage III
Performing in Chidambaram is an experience that any dancer would cherish. Mythologically, it is the place where Lord Shiva came and danced the Ananda Tandava, at the request of the sages. The golden temple of Chidambaram finds its way into many traditional songs, thanks to its splendour and history. When we danced there, one of […]
Getting into the mood
Before any performance, my dance teacher encourages us not to talk about anything unrelated to dance and the programme ahead of us. She asks us to be silent, thinking about what lies ahead of us, meditating in our own ways. In keeping with the idea, if ever we dance to recorded music, I try and […]
Experiences on Stage
I’m sure every performer could write a book about things that go wrong on stage. The most wonderful part about performing on stage is the fact that nothing is predictable. Even after practising for, say, a year, something is bound to go wrong. I remember when we performed the Ramayana on stage. Deeply inspired by […]
Performed today!
Nothing is the same without our teacher, but we did what we could anyway. The good news: We carried off Pinnal Kolattam well – no mistakes, thank God for that! Even with our teacher not there, no one’s hair fell, nothing terribly embarrassing happened, thank God for that too! Changes were hurried, but were carried […]
Parikramaa 2012
Parikramaa 2012 – this weekend at Balgandharva, Pune!