Victoria and Albert Museum are hosts to the splendid Maharaja Exhibition this season, finishes on 17th January I think
It concentrated on the Indian kingdoms and their rulers, old school Indian art that sells! of course it was a ticketed which explains the content. However it didn't feel superficial and seemed considerable research was done for the material up for display. The Indian miniature paintings (with detailed expressions, hair, pearls, clothes and everything in the frame) seemed to be the highlight mostly along with some videos, photographs and objects.
Other than the Indian miniature paintings the exhibition concentrated on the artistic details of the courts that I or any other person would have taken for granted if living in the 18th or 19th century! Things like embroidered cloth under a tent, a beaded and jewel woven canopy, meena work on the insides of the belt, beautiful turban jewels and necklaces, diamond, ruby, emerald studded weapons, a gold plated throne, Jewel studded umbrellas, Royal Palanquins (palkis), embroidered gaddis (or royal thrones) were the typical features of the splendour of India's Royal courts. But because they were kept on their own, in glass chambers, it was fascinating to notice the details and feel so proud of our meticulous artists who devoted selflessly into making the Royal courts look magnificent!
My friend and i also observed how the paintings of the rulers, courts, processions never had a mention of the name or family of artists who created it but only the name of the ruler who possessed it. Which is why my heart goes out to those artists even more!
She was also quick to spot if the painting was by foreign artist or Indian, as honestly in the foreign artist paintings, the minute details were missing and the facial expressions seemed much colder and stern perhaps.
Photographs by Man Ray portrayed two sides of the early 20th century British inspired princes. There were fantastic pictures of the Prince of Udaipur in his Indian prince outfit with his wife and three piece suit with his mistress in France where he studied. Another aspect of splendor?
In fact the Indian Princes were so influenced by the west that they commissioned their jewellery from french companies, Cartier and Louis Vitton and no they weren't wearing western designs, but the same emerald, ruby, diamond studded jewels.
The Indian jewels designed by Cartier and Vitton for our Maharajas in 1930s definitely became a trend. The travel bags were amazing by Vitton, with little compartment and boxes for everything. I want one! dream on!
Also the 1st Rolls Royce commissioned by an Indian ruler, that became symbol of modernity was probably another example that embarked the concept of possessing western goods. To see that car right there was such a bonus, there was also footage playing of it being driven around in Jodhpur. I think this is where it all started our obsession for everything western.
In almost every museum in London the last gallery always leads to the museum shop! So yeah you could find everything there from outfits, pens, spiritual books, little purses to ambi printed umbrellas. Even those flat Damarus, that you find in Melas (when we were kids) were there!. overpriced artificial jewellery (overpriced for me as i know they're cheaper in India), ghungroo bracelets, embroidered bags and every damn thing you'd find on the streets of Janpath in New Delhi. I wanted to go home (in Delhi) and Natalie (my friend) was consoling me!
Overall it was really nostalgic for me and i loved it for those reasons. I also enjoyed the variety, the colour, loved the classical music in the background and the fact that after seeing three rooms full of Indian splendor I was gutted it finished and where those two hours just disappeared!
Friday, 18 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Dancing Naked
This post is a part of the Extend Project, includes my experience and personal thoughts on partially planning a live event. Most of it was done by Akademi.
It was about three months to Daredevas (24/11/09 - 25/11/09) when a concept was lingering in my mind and I had an urge to develop it. It took me about month to conceptualise what I really wanted and prioritize what the strength of the piece would be. I think I spent about 35 quid buying music from itunes until I found something that really inspired me. Different people have different things that drive them. For me having the right music is so important, If I don't find it, I can't settle. Anyway I started researching my thoughts and i came across Thomas Hardy's - The Ghost of the Past. I knew I needed text in my piece, I somehow had decided my priority is structure, and the text would really help bring that out.
I started booking rehearsal space to try things out and every time I would come up something different.
Anyhow 26th Oct was my first meeting with John-Marc, our mentor. I had a clear idea of my concept, the structure of the piece, the music i intended to use and the text however what i still had to work on was the movement and choreography! Costume and lights were two things to be planned later. only a month was left and it was high time I start movement and choreography! However i feel if you have the structure planned and concept ready movement is something you can just fit in. Organising the piece and yourself, I felt, was far more important than struggling with the content.
The music required editing, and the text required to be read and recorded. Extra sessions with John-Marc for this reason, along with coordinating a narrator into our busy London schedules was required! Rehearsal space was also turning out to be an issue and i had to book space myself and not wait for akademi to sort that out for me. Oh what a tense week that was, but Amaara (narrator for the text) came to the rescue and things started flowing again. Music score was hence done and dusted. Sharing was on 16th nov and I didn't have a costume! The last week I went to five different High Streets and I just couldn't find what i really wanted. Maybe planning here would require me not to be so picky and make do of available resources, but then, a growing attachment for the live event makes me want to have nothing but the best for it. Oh dear, anyway I did find a costume (which wasn't my choice) and I had to finally settle with it!
The tech run day brought about different issues in planning. Firstly the budget for extra lights was nil, which was a let down for Will and the dancers (definitely for me, don't know about the rest). Will, the lighting designer and me had to make do with whatever was available.
As I was on stage I did a quick risk assessment of the space, lights and psych. As my piece really made me move a lot through space I had to be very aware of my boundaries. The Dress run the next day felt assuring. It does feel great if the events go according to plan!
Anyway an hour to the show, immediate concerns were make up, hair, costume, warm up and inner peace and satisfaction! Irony as it is a concern!
Bah my checklist is done - Concept, structure, music, text, choreography, rehearsals, lights, dress run, video run, risk hazards, well fed, warmed up, costume, make up, hair ..
However when on stage and the show starts, there is absolutely nothing on my mind to plan or think or care about. Its just me in my world, unconsciously satisfied, abstractedly connected.
That is the charm of performance, dancing without inhibition, Dancing Naked.
It was about three months to Daredevas (24/11/09 - 25/11/09) when a concept was lingering in my mind and I had an urge to develop it. It took me about month to conceptualise what I really wanted and prioritize what the strength of the piece would be. I think I spent about 35 quid buying music from itunes until I found something that really inspired me. Different people have different things that drive them. For me having the right music is so important, If I don't find it, I can't settle. Anyway I started researching my thoughts and i came across Thomas Hardy's - The Ghost of the Past. I knew I needed text in my piece, I somehow had decided my priority is structure, and the text would really help bring that out.
I started booking rehearsal space to try things out and every time I would come up something different.
Anyhow 26th Oct was my first meeting with John-Marc, our mentor. I had a clear idea of my concept, the structure of the piece, the music i intended to use and the text however what i still had to work on was the movement and choreography! Costume and lights were two things to be planned later. only a month was left and it was high time I start movement and choreography! However i feel if you have the structure planned and concept ready movement is something you can just fit in. Organising the piece and yourself, I felt, was far more important than struggling with the content.
The music required editing, and the text required to be read and recorded. Extra sessions with John-Marc for this reason, along with coordinating a narrator into our busy London schedules was required! Rehearsal space was also turning out to be an issue and i had to book space myself and not wait for akademi to sort that out for me. Oh what a tense week that was, but Amaara (narrator for the text) came to the rescue and things started flowing again. Music score was hence done and dusted. Sharing was on 16th nov and I didn't have a costume! The last week I went to five different High Streets and I just couldn't find what i really wanted. Maybe planning here would require me not to be so picky and make do of available resources, but then, a growing attachment for the live event makes me want to have nothing but the best for it. Oh dear, anyway I did find a costume (which wasn't my choice) and I had to finally settle with it!
The tech run day brought about different issues in planning. Firstly the budget for extra lights was nil, which was a let down for Will and the dancers (definitely for me, don't know about the rest). Will, the lighting designer and me had to make do with whatever was available.
As I was on stage I did a quick risk assessment of the space, lights and psych. As my piece really made me move a lot through space I had to be very aware of my boundaries. The Dress run the next day felt assuring. It does feel great if the events go according to plan!
Anyway an hour to the show, immediate concerns were make up, hair, costume, warm up and inner peace and satisfaction! Irony as it is a concern!
Bah my checklist is done - Concept, structure, music, text, choreography, rehearsals, lights, dress run, video run, risk hazards, well fed, warmed up, costume, make up, hair ..
However when on stage and the show starts, there is absolutely nothing on my mind to plan or think or care about. Its just me in my world, unconsciously satisfied, abstractedly connected.
That is the charm of performance, dancing without inhibition, Dancing Naked.
Friday, 20 November 2009
Watching Yesterday - Jasmin Vardimon
Its been quite a while since I watched Jasmin Vardimon's creation - 'Yesterday'(19/11/09 at The Place), to now me actually getting down to write about it. I did start writing it on the 20 of Nov, which is why the date published is 20th, but the truth is I wrote it on 14 Dec! oops, could have gotten away with it! This post is written as a part of the Extend project, that I'm involved in.
The beauty of this performance was the coherence of choreography, the juxtaposition of mixed media and the coordination of the live performance event. Each and every prop used in her piece was used to its full potential and not like fake brownie points earning gimmick. Everything in the piece was there for a reason, which is hard not to eventually agree with as we as humans always tend to associate relationships to any sort of body image or space. Wayne McGregor said the same thing last night on South bank show (ITV1) hence would like to quote him here!
Since for me the most fascinating thing about her work was the use of the extras (props) Id like to discuss those in brief and the impact they had on me and the choreography. Also calling props extras may not feel right, as it felt so much a part of dance. It’s like long nails, make your fingers seem longer but are not a part of your skin. Haha can't believe I just wrote that!
Anyway her piece provided me a sense that yesterday is a memory and we went through a whole sequence of memories, and developed each memory into a choreographic section. She literally captured images on the screen (one of the many props). I remember using this technology at Camera Obscura in Edinburgh to capture our shadows for fun! How on earth did she manage to bring that into a live performance? Its truely stupendous. She also reused the screen on wheels with a moving projection in a sense that we're moving along a time line. That’s what I made of it.
The set design included these vertical white beams (blinds in common language) as the back drop. At first it felt hazardous but the piece was so well rehearsed I didn't think twice on it. Weird enough, for me it had a metaphoric meaning of having a divide between yesterday and today as the dancers moved in and out of the main stage through those blinds often.
The use of the camera, hmm, where should I start? I have seen the use of live camera and simultaneous projection in a couple of pieces before but the way it blended into the essence of the piece looked as if it had been really well thought of. For me it felt the use of the camera brought live intimacy into the piece and confronted the audience with truth, no matter where the time line is. The camera so brilliantly used projected a handmade house on a dancer’s stomach with black ink onto the blinds backdrop. The other dancers enacted the memory of the house burning down by moving in and out through the blinds, while the projection of the house was on it. Pure genius! The pillows (another prop) that came out of the burning house were used previously in a duet towards the beginning and the tearing of it as a sign of frustration towards the latter half. That makes me feel that the use of a prop shouldn't be limited to its literal function and this is the faint structure I felt was present with the use of all props in the piece. I can say that about the gun, the blank ink, the screen, the blinds but not so much for the fishing rod and trampoline, which made one time appearances. I guess to either make a statement or to emphasize. The great thing is that even when each prop had such strong metaphors, for me of course, they never clashed and flew together quite consistently.
Anyhow, I would like to conclude this post by saying that this choreography other than being a brilliant example of a well coordinated live event, had completeness of choreography, developed repetition, amazing wit, humour, sense of timing, great use of technology and of course the hard working dancers were fantastic.
Do watch the Yesterday show reel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxMx9SsHB9U
The beauty of this performance was the coherence of choreography, the juxtaposition of mixed media and the coordination of the live performance event. Each and every prop used in her piece was used to its full potential and not like fake brownie points earning gimmick. Everything in the piece was there for a reason, which is hard not to eventually agree with as we as humans always tend to associate relationships to any sort of body image or space. Wayne McGregor said the same thing last night on South bank show (ITV1) hence would like to quote him here!
Since for me the most fascinating thing about her work was the use of the extras (props) Id like to discuss those in brief and the impact they had on me and the choreography. Also calling props extras may not feel right, as it felt so much a part of dance. It’s like long nails, make your fingers seem longer but are not a part of your skin. Haha can't believe I just wrote that!
Anyway her piece provided me a sense that yesterday is a memory and we went through a whole sequence of memories, and developed each memory into a choreographic section. She literally captured images on the screen (one of the many props). I remember using this technology at Camera Obscura in Edinburgh to capture our shadows for fun! How on earth did she manage to bring that into a live performance? Its truely stupendous. She also reused the screen on wheels with a moving projection in a sense that we're moving along a time line. That’s what I made of it.
The set design included these vertical white beams (blinds in common language) as the back drop. At first it felt hazardous but the piece was so well rehearsed I didn't think twice on it. Weird enough, for me it had a metaphoric meaning of having a divide between yesterday and today as the dancers moved in and out of the main stage through those blinds often.
The use of the camera, hmm, where should I start? I have seen the use of live camera and simultaneous projection in a couple of pieces before but the way it blended into the essence of the piece looked as if it had been really well thought of. For me it felt the use of the camera brought live intimacy into the piece and confronted the audience with truth, no matter where the time line is. The camera so brilliantly used projected a handmade house on a dancer’s stomach with black ink onto the blinds backdrop. The other dancers enacted the memory of the house burning down by moving in and out through the blinds, while the projection of the house was on it. Pure genius! The pillows (another prop) that came out of the burning house were used previously in a duet towards the beginning and the tearing of it as a sign of frustration towards the latter half. That makes me feel that the use of a prop shouldn't be limited to its literal function and this is the faint structure I felt was present with the use of all props in the piece. I can say that about the gun, the blank ink, the screen, the blinds but not so much for the fishing rod and trampoline, which made one time appearances. I guess to either make a statement or to emphasize. The great thing is that even when each prop had such strong metaphors, for me of course, they never clashed and flew together quite consistently.
Anyhow, I would like to conclude this post by saying that this choreography other than being a brilliant example of a well coordinated live event, had completeness of choreography, developed repetition, amazing wit, humour, sense of timing, great use of technology and of course the hard working dancers were fantastic.
Do watch the Yesterday show reel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxMx9SsHB9U
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Swimming Spree
Firstly I would like to thank Virgin Active, for being kind enough to keep the pool open all year round by having the ability to heat the pool. This further facilitates the emotions of us poor souls who find relief in the feeling of relatively cold gushing water over a warm over-worked body. Also what i really enjoy is the rhythm my breath makes, the sound of movement under water along with the act of breathing in oxygen every four or six arm movements. It makes me feel as if the whole process is as rhythmic as a song!
Well it could be a dance as well, as i feel quite flexible when I am stretching under water ;) but nah would get too monotonous for me..
However, what i really miss about swimming in this pool is that there is no deep end! All of it is 1.2m, which is a bit annoying for me. I remember when i was learning swimming with my friends, we use to challenge each other with "who can stay in the deep end the longest contest" or "who can dive in to fetch the coin" or even go pull each other down in the deep yeah quite silly i know! But I have to admit that I get a strange kick when i swim from the shallow end towards the deep and see the floor beneath slide down and disappear in the dark blue/green (well yeah I guess chlorine levels are exceptional in Indian pools!). I do miss that, but i also like the fact that swimming is treated like this serious exercise and everyone instead of finding coins, pulling legs and wasting time in deep contest are actually busy swimming. Its almost like "gosh I've got to keep up with this swimmer" whose swimming in the same path as yours.
But today the pool was empty, and i had two lanes to myself, and i was in a relaxing kind of mood, swimming leisurely the back stroke, trying somersaults, stretching more swimming less.
As a swimming class had finished just before i arrived in the pool, there were a few floats hanging around, along with inflated toys that kids use. I was tempted, but then i said no way Shreya, i last used one when i was 10! It would be a bit embarrassing being the only adult flapping around with a float, but then some how i managed to convince myself and tried the float. Man i was so slow! But i could really feel my core and hamstrings really work.. and that felt so good. I think once in a while I guess we shouldn't forget that going back to our basics can really strengthen what we have already and probably remind us the things that have changed over the years.. A weird swimming-philosophy day!
Well it could be a dance as well, as i feel quite flexible when I am stretching under water ;) but nah would get too monotonous for me..
However, what i really miss about swimming in this pool is that there is no deep end! All of it is 1.2m, which is a bit annoying for me. I remember when i was learning swimming with my friends, we use to challenge each other with "who can stay in the deep end the longest contest" or "who can dive in to fetch the coin" or even go pull each other down in the deep yeah quite silly i know! But I have to admit that I get a strange kick when i swim from the shallow end towards the deep and see the floor beneath slide down and disappear in the dark blue/green (well yeah I guess chlorine levels are exceptional in Indian pools!). I do miss that, but i also like the fact that swimming is treated like this serious exercise and everyone instead of finding coins, pulling legs and wasting time in deep contest are actually busy swimming. Its almost like "gosh I've got to keep up with this swimmer" whose swimming in the same path as yours.
But today the pool was empty, and i had two lanes to myself, and i was in a relaxing kind of mood, swimming leisurely the back stroke, trying somersaults, stretching more swimming less.
As a swimming class had finished just before i arrived in the pool, there were a few floats hanging around, along with inflated toys that kids use. I was tempted, but then i said no way Shreya, i last used one when i was 10! It would be a bit embarrassing being the only adult flapping around with a float, but then some how i managed to convince myself and tried the float. Man i was so slow! But i could really feel my core and hamstrings really work.. and that felt so good. I think once in a while I guess we shouldn't forget that going back to our basics can really strengthen what we have already and probably remind us the things that have changed over the years.. A weird swimming-philosophy day!
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Have today, gone tomorrow
Life has funny ways to remind you how things you own might not exist tomorrow! For instance you had seen your important piece of paper around at some corner of your flat, saying to yourself yeah yeah i know the paper is here and i will pick it up from there when i need it. The time comes, you do realise you need, you go back to that same spot and WHAM its gone! How can it disappear? why did the damn paper do this to me! it was meant to be there, i saw it once, twice or maybe thrice hanging around at the same spot! ugghh but true and the quest remains unanswered.
Well this maybe the case of a billion other things that we own or that exist around us and we never bother to pay attention to them, wallet , keys, files blah blah blah. In my case the goods seem to be quite intangible like my brain (bonkers!) my sense of smell, vision, and other rather embarrassing things that i don't wish to disclose. Recently due to my health setbacks, I’ve actually been hallucinating! not kidding and it does feel scary. It feels like the brain has the power to control all the major involuntary processes of your body and of course we have no idea what its up to, until a third person, possibly a doctor is required to tell you what the hell is going on inside your damn body. So basically what you're thinking is not what your mind is thinking, so don’t even think about taking even your mind for granted, coz you have it today you never know what it decides for tomorrow.
I remember when i was in class 7, things would suddenly go so blurry for my eyes and i was so stupid i would just wonder why? Suddenly I started failing algebra tests coz i would copy the questions wrongly and was forced to do an eye test. We discovered my myopic eyesight started at -2.5 where usually people start at -0.25 or -0.5. Why do we just assume that nothing can go wrong with us and that its always the "other people" getting injured or sick. I mean this isn’t that drastic and class 7 was a long time ago, but really.
These days my compatibility with electronic items has been really annoying me. I usually wouldn’t be bothered and I know these are only material things but in this electronic age you really cant live with out them, even though I would love to..! So, the hinges of my laptop are broken, and to use it I have to literally hold the screen with one hand and type with the other. My phone, is ripping apart slowly and I usually can’t hear the caller too well unless I give it a shake! It also likes to switch on and off when it wishes. My ipod, also seems to have a mind of its own and plays the songs that it wants me to hear rather than me being able to select what I’d like to hear. If it thinks it has had enough, it would switch off and wait for me to plug it on to my laptop. Tantrums I tell you! Even a damn wire doesn’t seem to be congenial with me as its chipping of and I can see the copper beneath! Oh there are so many more stories, but I shall spare you with those. It isn’t as bad as it looks, I am usually gracious with electronics but sometimes things just go beyond my control and they fall, or get sprinkled with water or get sat upon!
Anyway I know I have these goods today, but I do realise its not far when they live their life and will be gone tomorrow.
Everything, I mean everything, did I mention everything? in this world can be gone tomorrow. Even the world can be gone tomorrow and it feels more possible after watching so many American disaster films. They’ve covered everything from aliens to ice age to volcano irruptions! So I guess this is it., your heart, your mind, your health to tangible goods, all need to be acknowledged and taken care off before they’re gone. Trust me I still wont learn!
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Loveology
Human mind is so selfish, no matter what the situation is, it will always be able to calculate the most lucrative route that benefits it. Lets see, for instance "oh no its raining, i don't have an umbrella, damn i need to get indoors now" "wait a minute, i had to get some groceries, great i will do that while i am indoors" or "damn i left my wallet at home" "great i won't end up spending extra today!" or "oh no the bus is late" "great i wont have to mention i got up late, just blame it on the bus!". These days even break ups are advantageous to people. "Hey I'm *single* ready to mingle now!" "oh please pity me, this person left me, and I am going through a horrible phase". That is life.
I wish i could make a big deal about it, and talk about it so openly with people, I would feel so empowered! i guess that's why its done. Anyway, for me love is so personal that i cant think of discussing any aspect (good or bad) of it with anyone other than that special person. But today i am going to come out of my little cocoon and explain what it means to me.
Ye vorld hai na vorld, is main do prakar ke log hote hain, ek jo apne pyar ko pakad ke rakhte hain aur ek doosre ke bina jee nahi paate, or doosre jinke liye pyaar itni gehri chees hoti hai ki saath rehna sab kuch nahi hota. Hum (yaani main) un doosre prakar ke logon me se hain.
For my friends who don't know hindi too well, I've written in Amitabh Bachchan's Bunty Bubly accent, that there are two kinds of people in this world, one, who love so dearly that they hold on to their partners and cant live without each other and second who think love is so deep it doesn't require to hold on but to let go. and I believe in the latter.
For me, you cant make love work, it exists, its immortal and you have to discover it, and the more time and space you allow it, the longer it lives.
If you love someone, you have to let go, and i promise you if its true you will be together forever. But if you don't let go and allow that love to grow, the trust to build and space to nurture, it can get suffocating.
Okay this is sounding extremely didactic, and that's not my intention. Its just an emotional me trying to get across what most people will not relate to. Some people might think i have commitment issues, but its not true, you can still commit if you have mutual understanding of S.P.A.C.E. (that has annoyed some people)
Another fact that keeps the type one people going are expectations and their energy to meet those expectations. But whats the need? You're always expecting to be together, expecting to call / take calls, expected to think before any action, expected to report, expected to be loved back.. If you want to love then just love, just give, don't expect anything return! It's that same selfish human quality.
A person holds on to his loved one because he is selfish, he wants her for himself and expects the partner to reciprocate. This is not what I call love.
Love is fairness, trust, mutual space, respect (even after a break up, as no matter what goes wrong, you do not make a mockery of it in public), selflessness, oxygen, water, fire, dance and music.
Keep loving, never stop loving..
phew.. it's really a crime to be ideological in this world.
I wish i could make a big deal about it, and talk about it so openly with people, I would feel so empowered! i guess that's why its done. Anyway, for me love is so personal that i cant think of discussing any aspect (good or bad) of it with anyone other than that special person. But today i am going to come out of my little cocoon and explain what it means to me.
Ye vorld hai na vorld, is main do prakar ke log hote hain, ek jo apne pyar ko pakad ke rakhte hain aur ek doosre ke bina jee nahi paate, or doosre jinke liye pyaar itni gehri chees hoti hai ki saath rehna sab kuch nahi hota. Hum (yaani main) un doosre prakar ke logon me se hain.
For my friends who don't know hindi too well, I've written in Amitabh Bachchan's Bunty Bubly accent, that there are two kinds of people in this world, one, who love so dearly that they hold on to their partners and cant live without each other and second who think love is so deep it doesn't require to hold on but to let go. and I believe in the latter.
For me, you cant make love work, it exists, its immortal and you have to discover it, and the more time and space you allow it, the longer it lives.
If you love someone, you have to let go, and i promise you if its true you will be together forever. But if you don't let go and allow that love to grow, the trust to build and space to nurture, it can get suffocating.
Okay this is sounding extremely didactic, and that's not my intention. Its just an emotional me trying to get across what most people will not relate to. Some people might think i have commitment issues, but its not true, you can still commit if you have mutual understanding of S.P.A.C.E. (that has annoyed some people)
Another fact that keeps the type one people going are expectations and their energy to meet those expectations. But whats the need? You're always expecting to be together, expecting to call / take calls, expected to think before any action, expected to report, expected to be loved back.. If you want to love then just love, just give, don't expect anything return! It's that same selfish human quality.
A person holds on to his loved one because he is selfish, he wants her for himself and expects the partner to reciprocate. This is not what I call love.
Love is fairness, trust, mutual space, respect (even after a break up, as no matter what goes wrong, you do not make a mockery of it in public), selflessness, oxygen, water, fire, dance and music.
Keep loving, never stop loving..
phew.. it's really a crime to be ideological in this world.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Monday, 29 June 2009
Sufi's love
Recently I researched The Whirling Dervishes, which is the dance of the Sufis. This entry is about my experience and why I am so inspired!Sufism developed in early Islam using the rituals of the Quran and teaching of Prophet Mohammad. However the connection of its teachings to ancient philosophies on the basis of level of knowledge explains why the Sufis had followers from all religions.
Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, identified Sufi teachings in Hindu Vedas. (Shah, Way of the Sufi, 1968)
Just so that everyone who is reading this is on the same plane as me, an annoying bollywood reference may help. In Jodha Akbar, Akbar consults his Sufi mentors in matters of his heart, when hes trying to win Jodha over. Aaah! ;P
For me, the essence of Sufism is spirituality, i.e. the relationship of the human being with god, knowledge and love, which in Sufism is spread through mankind in the form of music and dance. Even though from the surface the dance of the dervishes may look like men dressed in white skirts and revolving, the deapth of its movement is astonishing.
The word Dervish comes from the persian word
‘Darwish’ which literally means the sill of the door and is used to describe the Sufi who is at the door to enlightenment. The metaphor is just so beautiful it makes you want to be there!
Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the master behind the whirling dervishes, first whirled in memory of his friend Shams, who died quite mysteriously. As he whirled, he felt connection with Shams who he missed dearly and was now united with God. Whirling or revolving is such a basic feature. Everything revolves, our planets, the moon, earth other heavenly bodies. In atoms, electrons protons and nuetrons revolve. The circulation of blood in the body, the orbit of life. Its all so natural and so integral to human life.
When i tried the whirling act, the revolving took me to a different world. However Friedlander writes in her book, The Whirling Dervishes, that the whirling doesnt lead to ecstacy but becomes ecstacy. For me it felt so meditative. I didnt want to stop. Its like you lose track of where your limbs are, where you are and who you are? It really reminded me that this world is just a particle in the universe. it is so minute compared to the cosmic energy that builds the universe. When you finish (or rather wish to stop) it leaves some serious questions in your head. Mine were, what am i here for? what am i suppose to fulfill? it leaves an impression and i thought about it for days. I felt happy, relaxed and calm. Its something so emotional perhaps that its hard not to have an urge to know more about it..
Rumi was a great inspirational poet. some of my favourite quotes of his teachings are:
"A lifetime without Love is of no account Love is the Water of Life Drink it down with heart and soul!"(Written in Divan-e-Shams)
"The human being resembles a tree; its root is like a covenant with God:
that root must be cherished with all one's might.
A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.
Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green,
greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.
If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,
a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end. "
(Jewels of Rememberance, Trans. Camille and Kabir Helminski)
(Friedlander, 1975)
"In movement shall be found
The key to every blessing."
"Come come whoever you are
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come."
The above quote is probably his most famous quote ever, and it really is a quote which is for everyone, any religion, any age maybe even an atheist; love and knowledge is for everyone.. and there is room for mistakes, no one is perfect, doesnt matter, start now, start loving..
Monday, 27 April 2009
First LC3 performance
LC3 is the performing company of the London Contemporary Dance School of which i do feel privileged to be a part of.
Today for me really was a learning experience, we went to a college in Hackney to perform for a kind of audience ive never performed for before. Well i don't really want to be derogatory to the college, but the kids in the audience wouldn't stop talking, the men were hooting at times when they weren't required to and the girls were passing comments as if they were sitting at Lunch.
I ofcourse got distracted, it felt hard to coordinate my mind and body and the soul went fishing. i really do like to feel what i do, and it was so hard to connect. It didnt take me long to judge the audience and spoil my performance.
Anyway the show ended and we had a question answer session, and i was really surprised to see how interested the students were to know more about us. Although the questions were silly! but atleast they took interest. One of them even read my name out of the programme sheet to ask me a question.
I felt so horrible after that. It made me realise no matter what, never loose your focus. It needs to be so strong it can get through anything! Coz at the end of the day in a 100% audience (wherever that might be) there will be a 20% who are genuinely interested in what you do, and you never know, you might be inspiring them..
Today for me really was a learning experience, we went to a college in Hackney to perform for a kind of audience ive never performed for before. Well i don't really want to be derogatory to the college, but the kids in the audience wouldn't stop talking, the men were hooting at times when they weren't required to and the girls were passing comments as if they were sitting at Lunch.
I ofcourse got distracted, it felt hard to coordinate my mind and body and the soul went fishing. i really do like to feel what i do, and it was so hard to connect. It didnt take me long to judge the audience and spoil my performance.
Anyway the show ended and we had a question answer session, and i was really surprised to see how interested the students were to know more about us. Although the questions were silly! but atleast they took interest. One of them even read my name out of the programme sheet to ask me a question.
I felt so horrible after that. It made me realise no matter what, never loose your focus. It needs to be so strong it can get through anything! Coz at the end of the day in a 100% audience (wherever that might be) there will be a 20% who are genuinely interested in what you do, and you never know, you might be inspiring them..
Thursday, 9 April 2009
You can't not like this city..
This entry has got probably nothing to do with dance, but coz my recent emotions have been so affected it deserves to be written..
People did say
Reached Gare du Nord, was greeted with Bon jour everywhere I went, was awesome! decided to take the metro, the ticket lines were crazy, I read the prices and other information, I stood casually, I felt oh I know how this works, you see I’ve travelled in so many metros before in Delhi, Kolkata, London, I was suppose to be on top of it, until I took probably an hour changing different trains, walking through endless lengths of narrow tunnels, figuring out what exit was in French, thinking 'oh Sortie sounds like sweet name of a stop' when Sortie did mean exit! It really did take me a while to realise that everything was written in French and I had to crack codes on my own.. Boohoo, but I loved it, felt like treasure hunt! hee
Anyway I started with Notre Dame Cathedral, oh so beautiful, I felt almost silly gaping. An added advantage is that it is on the banks of river
Then I decided to hang out a bit. Well yeah the lamp posts were gorgeous, but even the traffic light posts had carvings on it. I mean even the bridges are carved, a bridge I saw near Eiffel Tower had huge carvings, say like a story, every 5 meters! Plus the gap between from one carving to another would also have substantial carving.
Anyway I next saw the 
After that I walked down the famous
I was alone, so it made me realise I had lot more time than expected. My full attention and concentration was dedicated to sight seeing! So then I decided to go see Moulin Rouge, which reminds me more of Nicole Kidman than the theatre itself. But it looks exactly how it is in the movie and I couldn’t believe I was looking at it right in front of me in reality!
Aah that was a long day.. Finally sat in the underground and went back to my student hostel. Did you know some of the metro trains (RER) are double decked? I obviously went and sat on top no matter how tired I was! And I think their trains are much smoother than
DAY 2
This was the most fascinating day! It was a bit rainy and I stood in the Louvre courtyard at least 2 miles away from the entrance in a queue. It WAS crazy! Well what do you do then, you can’t keep taking pictures or listen to the conversation of the people standing in front of you in the queue, so you start a conversation of your own. Now this girl was standing behind me and was alone to, and so I asked her to take a picture for me and then didnt stop talking. Though she was a bit loud at first, I felt like saying calm down girl! She turned out to be very knowledgeable and interesting person. She’s doing her PhD in Economics and has been to
So we toured around Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa, of which I annoyingly didn’t get a single unshaken picture. It was so crowded. hmph. anyway we saw all four floors and got so exhausted by the end of it that we had the same urge to get out of it as we did standing in that queue to get into the musee (French for Museum). You must see the pictures, ill put the link at the end of the post i.e. if you survive till the end of the blog entry!
Actually there isn’t much left, I spent around 5 hours at the musee, and tried to see everything, although Iam so sure vie missed lots of corridors. What fascinated me the most was the way Napoleon lived! His apartments are unbelievable. I am sure he ate with a gold spoon, I mean silver would be tacky. Another really gorgeous look about the Lovre is the glass pyramids. They look so coherent together, the modern pyramids and the traditional Louvre building. The Pyramids also have that metallic Eiffel tower feel to it and looks very elegant. I also saw the upside down pyramid which literally glows because of all the light that comes through. And I also saw Dan Brown's Holy Grail! ha ha There is definitely something magical about that area though, doesn’t feel real.
Anyway after Louvre, it was a relief to get out and breathe some fresh air and drink Kira (Jam and wine apparently) at a cafe on a pebbled street. I was just getting excited sitting there and Julia just thought I was a freak.
Then we took a walking tour, as Julia didn’t believe in using any kind of transport. We saw Pompidou, a structure in which every element of utility was outside the building. Along with the staircase, elevator, phones, was also the ventilation and drain pipes. We also saw the City Hall, A flower market, the Opera house, Palais Royal, French balconies, a Chocolat shop, the Luxembourg park, the Parliament and phew, all walking! My feet were moaning! But it was all worth it! I think I saw much more of 
Finally came back to the hostel, picked up my luggage went back to Gare du Nord (this time quicker) caught the Eurostar. I was expecting to sleep through the journey but I was way too excited about how my holiday turned out to be so awesome and to be honest I still am excited! I am so glad I went to
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Audiences
Wow, i am writing almost after a year, but its just because life has been running so fast never got the time to log in and type.
Anyway i just want to write in some of the basic things I ve noticed about people who watch dance. Since my initial training has been in India my aesthetics of choreography were tuned to Indian audiences. That would make my piece include things like making it obvious, having a strong narrative, maybe even emotional, trying to put in whatever you've got to show off the best choreography you can do. But why? In Indian dance, Ive never seen too many experimental pieces, all pieces seem to have a hit formula. Like most of our Hindi films. Maybe films just corrupt the audiences mind so much about arts and aesthetics that everyone who is watching your piece is 'trying to understand it'; making sense of a story; or even thinking why didn't she/he use splits or leg raises to make her piece look even better not thinking maybe the piece didn't require it? maybe the piece isnt about that. Maybe its time you open your mind to other possibilities or abstract explorations of a theme or topic.
Well, iam not sure if classical dancers in India are truly opening their minds to contemporary choreography. I don't blame them. From day 1 mythological stories are explained. As you start learning abhinaya you learn how to enact them, and told how everything you do happens for a reason and then when you feel its now time to contemporise it all you do is bring contemporary issues like Aids, drugs, gender, feminine issues and work a story around it so it make sense and take it to the audiences, who if are the Indian audiences would love it. But is this really contemporary?
One of my very respectable teachers in school argues that classical dance in India hasn't changed since after Rukmini Devi Arundale's time. I agree and disagree. I disagree because i have seen some really fantastic work, with very important issues tackled, great choreography with good use of space and maybe even different costumes. But has the dance evolved? The dance remains the same, with the same concept of having a narrative at all, be dressed like temple goddesses, having the same sort of abhinaya-pure dance-abhinaya-pure dance exchange structure, having a range of emotions, having surprising quick intricate footwork to get a 'wow' from the audiences.
And i am annoyed, because when you are trying to bring new things to it people still ask ' so what are you trying to say in this piece?';'Iam still trying to understand it',and by people i mean Indian audiences. Damn this is not Ramleela you know. Try and open your mind and notice the details and not look for the main story. The details should be strong enough to tell you a lot about the piece, and that's what the audiences here do. Plus the art scene is developed here and audiences have watched a lot already to appreciate things that are different that a normal narrative piece would probably considered tacky!
You would probably be thinking by now that okay, she is a classical dancer from India and just because shes in London now shes acting all snobbish or something but trust me its like someones thrown a hot water balloon over your head and all the iced barriers in your brain have melted! ok no idea if that made sense to you but I'm not trying to say that i have become a supernova in aesthetics and know what is a great piece, maybe this post has come as a reaction to what some people have said to me earlier, but i really think if you need to develop something, you have got to get into the details, have an open mind and accept different things rather than sit there and say i cant understand it!
Sometimes i feel it is so pointless spending hours and hours explaining people what contemporary is, i mean if i have to explain everything i do and make sure that the audiences understand it then how is it contemporary? It then becomes the usual obvious and narrative piece.
I think a part of keeping a piece contemporary is to leave it open ended for the audiences. After all there should be some audience participation isn't it?
Anyway i just want to write in some of the basic things I ve noticed about people who watch dance. Since my initial training has been in India my aesthetics of choreography were tuned to Indian audiences. That would make my piece include things like making it obvious, having a strong narrative, maybe even emotional, trying to put in whatever you've got to show off the best choreography you can do. But why? In Indian dance, Ive never seen too many experimental pieces, all pieces seem to have a hit formula. Like most of our Hindi films. Maybe films just corrupt the audiences mind so much about arts and aesthetics that everyone who is watching your piece is 'trying to understand it'; making sense of a story; or even thinking why didn't she/he use splits or leg raises to make her piece look even better not thinking maybe the piece didn't require it? maybe the piece isnt about that. Maybe its time you open your mind to other possibilities or abstract explorations of a theme or topic.
Well, iam not sure if classical dancers in India are truly opening their minds to contemporary choreography. I don't blame them. From day 1 mythological stories are explained. As you start learning abhinaya you learn how to enact them, and told how everything you do happens for a reason and then when you feel its now time to contemporise it all you do is bring contemporary issues like Aids, drugs, gender, feminine issues and work a story around it so it make sense and take it to the audiences, who if are the Indian audiences would love it. But is this really contemporary?
One of my very respectable teachers in school argues that classical dance in India hasn't changed since after Rukmini Devi Arundale's time. I agree and disagree. I disagree because i have seen some really fantastic work, with very important issues tackled, great choreography with good use of space and maybe even different costumes. But has the dance evolved? The dance remains the same, with the same concept of having a narrative at all, be dressed like temple goddesses, having the same sort of abhinaya-pure dance-abhinaya-pure dance exchange structure, having a range of emotions, having surprising quick intricate footwork to get a 'wow' from the audiences.
And i am annoyed, because when you are trying to bring new things to it people still ask ' so what are you trying to say in this piece?';'Iam still trying to understand it',and by people i mean Indian audiences. Damn this is not Ramleela you know. Try and open your mind and notice the details and not look for the main story. The details should be strong enough to tell you a lot about the piece, and that's what the audiences here do. Plus the art scene is developed here and audiences have watched a lot already to appreciate things that are different that a normal narrative piece would probably considered tacky!
You would probably be thinking by now that okay, she is a classical dancer from India and just because shes in London now shes acting all snobbish or something but trust me its like someones thrown a hot water balloon over your head and all the iced barriers in your brain have melted! ok no idea if that made sense to you but I'm not trying to say that i have become a supernova in aesthetics and know what is a great piece, maybe this post has come as a reaction to what some people have said to me earlier, but i really think if you need to develop something, you have got to get into the details, have an open mind and accept different things rather than sit there and say i cant understand it!
Sometimes i feel it is so pointless spending hours and hours explaining people what contemporary is, i mean if i have to explain everything i do and make sure that the audiences understand it then how is it contemporary? It then becomes the usual obvious and narrative piece.
I think a part of keeping a piece contemporary is to leave it open ended for the audiences. After all there should be some audience participation isn't it?
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