As dance season 2011 draws to an end, I feel guilty at neglecting my blogs. This summer was as demanding as the past month of Durga Puja. In America puja spreads out over a month. People have plenty of opportunities to drive and go pandal hopping. My long desire of dancing in every puja of New Jersey came true. We started with Voorhees, South Jersey then danced at Plainfield, Central Jersey and finished with Jersey City. RDM Kids went to other puja pandals and Dusherra festival to cover all major celebrations in the state.
Meticulous planning & logistics was involved in performing continuously for 4 weekends. Changing costumes can prove to be an art but now we have mastered it. Keeping calm and having a prescence of mind is the key to appearing unfluttered specially if we have to go on stage before time. I am now very careful with taking my watch off in the car.You never know when the curtain goes up.
All the sweat & hardwork paid off as we capured the heart of the audience. The halls were jampacked as the crowd swayed to the beats of our ghungroos.It was homecoming for RDM.
The last show was at the university campus in PA. The love & enthusiasm of the students and faculty draws us to the campus.It feels like home. I can drive in any weather along the windy roads of the interstate. I performed dasabatar with Mitradi. Something very challenging since my friends were caught up with their own fasting challenge. This year Karva chauth clashed with Diwali fest. We finished dancing before the moon was out and my friends could break their fast.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Baltimore bound
The fourth of July weekend is marked annually by the largest gathering of Bengalis in the world. Banga Sammelan is a mega event attended by Bengalis all over North America. The 3 day festival transforms any locale to Kolkata. 2005 was the first time I attended Banga Sammelan in New York City. I was too stressed out seeing people change sarees at every meal. To top it I climbed the Empire state building thinking I was beating the crowds. That was the day I learnt my lesson;never to do anything but dance on show day.Over the years I have perfected this balancing act of dancing, sightseeing and changing sarees.
Like Atlantic City,Inner harbour, Baltimore was transformed into another street of Kolkata with ladies displaying their beautiful sarees & glittering jewelry. We too joined the fashion parade all dolled up teasing one another,chatting non-stop in Bengali and browsing the Indian stores. To the delight of my family,I have now turned into an avid Bengali movie watcher. Meeting acclaimed director Sandeep Ray, actress Raima Sen, singers Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu was the highlight of our stay.I was glad to be in tune with the movie scene.
It was 2 days of non-stop fun. Hanging out with friends until the wee hours of morning,listening to Indian music and watching cultural shows. Luckily we were scheduled to perform in the afternoon. There was barely enough time to grab coffee & breakfast before the gruelling dance preparations started. The dances went well and the costume changes were perfectly timed.Performance over, once again we joined the crowd in our new sarees,getting into the spirit of the festival.
It was an ideal combination of dance & socializing.It felt like the last day of puja once the closing ceremony was over. Unless you attend these events you never realize the enthusiasm of the diaspora who put so much passion to keep a part of their culture alive.
Like Atlantic City,Inner harbour, Baltimore was transformed into another street of Kolkata with ladies displaying their beautiful sarees & glittering jewelry. We too joined the fashion parade all dolled up teasing one another,chatting non-stop in Bengali and browsing the Indian stores. To the delight of my family,I have now turned into an avid Bengali movie watcher. Meeting acclaimed director Sandeep Ray, actress Raima Sen, singers Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu was the highlight of our stay.I was glad to be in tune with the movie scene.
It was 2 days of non-stop fun. Hanging out with friends until the wee hours of morning,listening to Indian music and watching cultural shows. Luckily we were scheduled to perform in the afternoon. There was barely enough time to grab coffee & breakfast before the gruelling dance preparations started. The dances went well and the costume changes were perfectly timed.Performance over, once again we joined the crowd in our new sarees,getting into the spirit of the festival.
It was an ideal combination of dance & socializing.It felt like the last day of puja once the closing ceremony was over. Unless you attend these events you never realize the enthusiasm of the diaspora who put so much passion to keep a part of their culture alive.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
A trip down memory lane
I always feel nostalgic during this time of the year. Couple of years back,I made that crucial call to Guru Mitra that changed my life forever. After waiting a lifetime I had to know if my dreams of pursuing Odissi would ever materialize? Or would I have to train to be an aerobics instructor(another of my crazy obsessions)?
I had never heard of anyone teaching adults classical dance. Mitra is a pioneer in that field. After years of teaching school kids, she had started training a few adults. I stuck around the adult & kid classes till my basics were perfected. I knew I was on the right track when my muscles ached. Mitra was the perfect guru for me, with her wealth of knowledge & never ending enthusiasm, she was determined never to let me give up. She always set the bar high, forcing me to dance under all circumstances & making me drive long distances, (to her disappointment I still cannot parallel park).
I learnt to dream big. I promised to train harder than anyone else to realize this dream of mine.
For years we had a mixed group of kids & adults performing all over New Jersey. But somewhere down the line, more & more adults started signing up till we formed RDM professionals in April 2010.It gives me immense happiness to see the girls so motivated.They literally keep me on my feet. I am grateful for getting such a great bunch of friends. Together we dream of many more successful shows.
I had never heard of anyone teaching adults classical dance. Mitra is a pioneer in that field. After years of teaching school kids, she had started training a few adults. I stuck around the adult & kid classes till my basics were perfected. I knew I was on the right track when my muscles ached. Mitra was the perfect guru for me, with her wealth of knowledge & never ending enthusiasm, she was determined never to let me give up. She always set the bar high, forcing me to dance under all circumstances & making me drive long distances, (to her disappointment I still cannot parallel park).
I learnt to dream big. I promised to train harder than anyone else to realize this dream of mine.
For years we had a mixed group of kids & adults performing all over New Jersey. But somewhere down the line, more & more adults started signing up till we formed RDM professionals in April 2010.It gives me immense happiness to see the girls so motivated.They literally keep me on my feet. I am grateful for getting such a great bunch of friends. Together we dream of many more successful shows.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Looking back at 2010
RDM team had a super run this year. The Indian festivities are over as we get ready to embrace the holidays. In a month's span we did 4 shows before I squeezed in 2 lecture demonsrations. All of them were highly demanding. I had been the one wondering why there was such a lull after our mega Aug 1st show. God certainly heard my complaints. The test was my endurance to withstand the pressure of changing repertoire and gruelling rehearsels.I thrive on such challenges. Nothing makes me more happy than counting the number of shows we need to do.
I started learning dance to find a little joy in this alien land. Little did I know the call of stage grows on you. I love the groups where I can feel the vibes and energy of my team. Switching gears to do the solos is extremely challenging but once on stage everything else is forgotten-it's only the dancer and her audience.
Winter isn't a quiet sabbatical for us. We learn new pieces getting ready to hit the stage for summer. Most conferences and festivals are booked in July. August is the only time off before we get into the Puja frenzy.
This year I had the added excitement of 2 shows during Diwali. We presented a totally different repertoire at the ESU campus. We had a challenge to top our last years performance. It is always a joy to be at a college campus, feeling the buzz and enthusiasm of the students. The audience was spellbound by our stunning rendition of Bollywood classical songs. It was a departure from our all classical repertoire. A lot of thought and practice had gone into making our choreography novel and refreshing, yet true to our pure, classical Odissi technicalities. The Diwali dhamaka was there in our Bollywood beats.
One more show lined up for me in December at the prestigious Sruti event in Philadelphia, when I go back to performing timeless pieces from my Odissi repertoire. Then I too can get into the Christmas spirit. Let's hope the new year proves to be more successful and challenging than this one.
I started learning dance to find a little joy in this alien land. Little did I know the call of stage grows on you. I love the groups where I can feel the vibes and energy of my team. Switching gears to do the solos is extremely challenging but once on stage everything else is forgotten-it's only the dancer and her audience.
Winter isn't a quiet sabbatical for us. We learn new pieces getting ready to hit the stage for summer. Most conferences and festivals are booked in July. August is the only time off before we get into the Puja frenzy.
This year I had the added excitement of 2 shows during Diwali. We presented a totally different repertoire at the ESU campus. We had a challenge to top our last years performance. It is always a joy to be at a college campus, feeling the buzz and enthusiasm of the students. The audience was spellbound by our stunning rendition of Bollywood classical songs. It was a departure from our all classical repertoire. A lot of thought and practice had gone into making our choreography novel and refreshing, yet true to our pure, classical Odissi technicalities. The Diwali dhamaka was there in our Bollywood beats.
One more show lined up for me in December at the prestigious Sruti event in Philadelphia, when I go back to performing timeless pieces from my Odissi repertoire. Then I too can get into the Christmas spirit. Let's hope the new year proves to be more successful and challenging than this one.
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