Bridging the gap

With crazy unpredictable weather in the North-east, I was relieved to have 2 good days when I was scheduled to perform. Despite road closures and flood watch issued, I had people come in well before time. Hats off to them for being so enthusiastic about world culture. I strictly maintain my time schedule so things went on as planned.
Randolph library proved to be a breeze after Wayne. I didn't sweat over lugging all my heavy display items. I had good practice by now. The staff were amazingly tech savvy. I was on Facebook before the end of the evening.
The chairs were filled up but it was one eager eyed girl, who really made my day. It was hard to believe that a little child would be that interested in my talk. She attended the talk since her mom wanted her to learn about our Indian heritage. I am glad that I made an impact on her.
I never had predicted this response to my lectures. I am a performer,being on stage is what keeps me charged. Interacting and reaching out to the people in this manner is a different ballgame. I have performed scores of times in these towns at Indian community events but the mainstream never attends these Mini-Indian festivities. It is the same crowd I meet, so in a way it was very different catering to an audience, who wants a literary, intellectual approach to this art. I am enjoying the challenge and am happy that I am able to reach out to a wider network of people with the sole purpose of doing my dance and heritage proud.
This year Bridging the gap series covers libraries at Edison, Princeton and Cedar Crest Community, Pomptain Plains.

Khandita nayika on Valentines

I am the perfect person to play the role of Khandita nayika, one of the ashtanayikas.With my globe trotting husband this is always a joke in my dance circle. Rather than sit and mop,this Valentine, I went to my dance class to complete my ashtapadi. The song is about travellers wives, who are grief struck by separation since they cannot enjoy the joyous beauty of nature. Mercifully with nasty snowstorms there isn't much to grief about.
Ashtapadis give me a lot of peace and happiness, which I can't really find anywhere else. I do love Lady Gaga and all the dancey technopop but when in turmoil, it's Jayadev whom I turn to. The ashtapadis transport me to my childhood when I was forbidden to learn them. I would watch them being performed time and again by my adi Guru's best dancers. I didn't understand their meaning but could certainly appreciate the beauty of the pieces. Unknowingly, I developed a deep rooted love for them.
I am blessed to be able to learn them finally from Guru Mitra, for whom these are her most precious gems. Like a typical Guru Shisya parampara,I have had to put in years with her, imbibing her style before she was ready to pass them on to me.
You have to love the ashtapadis in your heart, have a true yearning for them before you can learn them. I dream of the day when I too can pass on these rare jewels, more precious than any gold, diamond or designer clothes.

Vande Mataram

The music genius A.R. Rehman has once again brought this song to our lips. He has made alive the sacrifice of millions, who died in our freedom struggle. Like a lot of folks, I knew the song by rote, but never connected with it until Rehman came along. Giving life to these beautiful, powerful words-connecting with an entire generation in his inimitable way.
We started working on this song 3 years back. Every year we changed our choreography, added different versions and made the song richer. Every singer brought his own emotions to the forefront in his rendition.
By the time Lata croones, "Ma tujhe salaam!" the audience is teary eyed and proud to be an Indian. Show after show, we have brought entire generations together, not only the IT guys but the seniors and the high schoolers.
When we did the closing act at Montclair State University, the kids cheered and sang Vande mataram, drowning the music. But we kept our beat, continued dancing as the energy was infectious- something magical, hard to describe.
Vande mataram has become the trademark choreography of Rhythms of dance and music. We have to squeeze it in even if it means another costume change. I have performed it a zillion times solo and in group- but the crowd response has always overwhelmed me.
Thank you Rehman for opening our eyes and heart to this gem!

Happy hour

With all the chaos of the holidays, dance has taken a backseat. I have been aching to get back to my usual routine. Come Saturday, I cannot stay home. I have to dance, so I did some catching up in my Latin dance class. The new choreographies and fast steps deter many newcomers but there are always a faithful few. I count myself amongst this group.
Having taken that class for the last 3 years, even if I miss many lessons, I can still catch on. It's a challenge when you discover the steps are done in double speed or the music has changed completely. I keep calm and tell myself that I know the basics, it may look crazy but I need to break it down.
Instead of crosswords, piecing together this guy's choreography is my mind game combined with all the challenges of dance, dance revolution. With the catchy Latino music it's my happy hour, where I can transport myself to the Carribean beaches-never mind the sweaty gym clothes. The energy is so invogorating! You feel happy and that happiness radiates in your dance.

Pursuit of perfection

It takes a lifetime to achieve some measure of perfection. Dance is no exception. I treat my dance learning as a lifelong journey. There is no end to mastering this art. Inspite of having performed the Odissi dance repertoire as a teenager, I had to learn all the basics from scratch. This was the condition if I were to switch gharanas. The subtle nuances were different, I was now seeing through the eyes of an adult. What I had retained was only my deep love for Odissi.
It took a lot of dedication and determination to mould myself in my Guru's style. In the past 6 years, I have never missed a lesson or been late. It has taken me months to master some steps.
I never do things half-heartedly. I always strive for perfection: be it my costumes, my stage make-up, my video or my dance. Everything is done with total passion.
When people ask how I manage to breeze through certain steps, I tell them to step into my shoes and show committment to your Guru-Guru shradha and ofcourse, work hard. There is no getting around that! I practice with all different age groups repeating the same choreography again and again. Unless, I have guests for dinner, I stay on while batches of students come and go.
I would have learnt faster had I stuck with private lessons but this group interaction has helped me develop better. Going for dance is my only break from the daily mundane routines. In the US you have many more household responsibilities. You have to feel happy and energetic to get through the week.
Dance is my elixer. I don't complain about the driving or the rehearsels, I am grateful to be able to pursue it with my mind, body and soul.

Santa's magic

Christmas is around the corner. I wish I could be in my kids shoes once again believing in Santa's magic.
My DVD saga continues. If I thought scripting and shooting were the hardest part, I had no idea of post-production. My bad luck with professionals contines. It is about making a quick buck never mind how. I am fed up with their narrow vision and callous work ethics. With my penchant for perfection, I am back to my husband for technical support. For nearly a month now we have been getting into all aspects of video making. It's something we never imagined we would be doing. But circumstances forced us to. We have gone over every single frame countless times. Thanks to good technology and techno savviness, I bet we will give these so called professionals a run for their money. I am so mad at times that I vent my anger on the food. It's a miracle when the dinner turns out good.
The day I get to sell my DVD will be a long cherished dream come true. Meanwhile, I need to get my battery recharged by heading off to the dance class.

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.