2019 was not an easy year for me as a dancer. In February, I fell and sprained an already weak ankle and nursed a swollen ankle for three months or more. I continued to teach, but practising and performing were out of the question. I was restless, of course, but I do know that I gained much from the experience.For one, for the first time in many years, I watched our troupe perform. I wrote about it in a Facebook post, and it sums up what I feel.So often, when we perform, people come and tell us how much they enjoyed the show. When I listen to their wonderful responses, particularly if I'm happy with the performance myself, I long to be two people. I long to watch, while also dancing. I want to see us.At today's performance, I will.Anyone who's ever worked as part of a troupe knows this: there's no 'me' and 'you' when we dance together. We go together, we dance together.And so, … [Read more...]
Experiences on Stage – Udupi
Performances, performances.So often, the joy of dancing on stage comes from the story it creates, which can be told and retold ad infinitum. I've written about this before, so many times.My first performance with the 'big girls', when we got so immersed in the drama that we ignored the recorded musicThe time when we staged the Ramayana: Ravana did not come in time for the swayamvara, and we were on stage trying to buy timeOur performance in Chidambaram, when the music suddenly looped backThe time Nisha and I entered from the wrong sides of the stageWhen the stage dimensions weren't exactly what we were told they would be - in the craziest way imaginable(There are a hundred other stories to tell; perhaps I've blogged about those too. But these came to mind, so I linked them here. If you explore the Dance category, I'm sure you'll find … [Read more...]
Performances Ahead
Why do we dance? And why do people suspend their lives for a couple of hours to watch?Performing arts seem to exist in a world of their own, with their own rules and rigorous demands. What other field has a saying like 'The show must go on'?I think the joy of a performance is that it feels like a huge secret that the artistes share. A secret is special. It creates oneness, like being part of an inside joke. What unfolds on stage is just a tiny part of everything that goes into a performance - hours of rehearsal, chatter and choreography; rising tempers, annoyance and laughter; work, play and food; balancing family, professional lives and dance.Where we perform is often secondary, for me. What I, as an individual dancer, "get to do" is also secondary. It's dancing together that unfailingly gives me a high.Knowing another dancer so well that I can predict what she will do … [Read more...]