Girls night out in Delaware

Delaware was the surprise this season. We were excited to be going to a different neighborhood. The RDM team went in 2 cars, stopping at places to pick-up dancers en-route to Delaware. I-95 was notorious as ever; the traffic heading for a game in Philadelphia. Some of us had to do make-up & hair in the car.
It was a hilarious car ride. We knew that even though we had split up, all of us were practicing the same songs, since we could see heads and hands moving in unison in two different cars. Practically all of us drive nowdays with one hand on the steering, the other in a mudra. Facial expressions is practiced on all other drivers. Driving to a venue is always adventurous. It's the drive back later in the night which is awful. You feel so drained out that no amount of Dunkin Donuts works on the system, all you want to do is sleep.
The organizers had a killer dinner waiting for us. We were royally treated. Having always had a diet of samosas, Gatorade or energy bars this was a treat- something unexpected. We had to dance after eating the mithai and batura. Fo the Aug 1st show, we hadn't eaten anything the entire day. What a contrast? It's a bad idea to bring us food before our show but all that drive made us forget our usual discipline.
The dances went without a hitch. We had a different sequence here since Guru Mitra was dancing and some of our dancers were not there. All this had to be co-ordinated in less than a week. I did my solos and disappeared to help with the costume changes. Suddenly there was loud applause, I literally ran on to the stage to find my series of group dances starting. If I didn't enter at the right minute, the rest of the dancers would be stuck on stage.
It was a rare treat to watch our Guru dance. I never watch any dancer before I perform but I too couldn't let this moment go. I had to be there to understand the essence of the moment. Videos would never bring the same feelings in me. Her Bangla dances to Tagore's poetry were a big hit with the puja crowd. Standing in the wings we could learn first-hand how to emote & captivate the audience. Mitra's fast paced Odissi piece, Battu dedicated to Nataraja had us all spellbound by her complex footworks. We were charged up to do our pallavi. The pace and mood had been set by Mitra. We had to keep the momentum going.The audience equally appreciated the classical pieces and the Bangla songs. This was well worth the travel!
Show over, having wooed the Delaware folks we switched back to Mommy mode. I had made numerous calls before going on stage trying to fix my son's imaginary tummy ache but I knew it would disappear the second he reached his friends house. Still all of us were crazy worrying about dinner and bed time, none of us were in a mood to enjoy the puja festivities. Strangely, all we wanted to have was a regular Saturday night, reading to our kids and tucking them in bed. But we are dancers, this is our version of Girls night out.

No turkey this Thanksgiving!

For a while, I have been toying with the idea of making a dance instructional video. In the field of Odissi it would be something unique. This task proved to be quite a challenge. I had to get into the finer details of the dance as well as the technicalities of shooting. With Guru Mitra's blessings and encouragement, I knew I could achieve my dream.
For days I was heartbroken and demoralized as I couldn't find the same kind of joy and spontaneity in my indoor recordings with a hired crew as I typically feel when dancing on stage, so my husband decided to shoot the video himself. He went ahead and bought a new camcorder. I was only too happy. I knew it would take an endless amount of patience and hardwork to get everything perfect-just the way I had envisioned it.
This was going to turn out to be a different kind of Thanksgiving!
No laboring over the turkey or visiting our family, instead we would shoot the dance video. Starting on Thanksgiving day, we shot for 3 days on our patio. Nestled in the breathtakingly scenic Ramapo mountains of North Jersey, we probably have one of the most picturesque backyard. It took me a video to realize that.
Fall brings out a different kind of beauty, something very hard to describe. Devoid of any stress and tension, I could enjoy every moment of making this video. I must confess that we needed to do numerous takes in the cold, breezy weather. Being outdoors has its disadvantages, turning blue in the cold is one of them. We constantly had to take breaks.
I am not the kind to give up. I had to get this out of my system before I could get back to my gruelling dance rehearsels.
Finally finishing our shooting, I relaxed with the boys in the hot tub being thankful for having such a loving and supportive family. This is the true spirit of Thanksgiving.