33 posts in 45 days, all exploring areas, people, performances, quotes, books, bodies, writings, articles, magazines and institutions that celebrate Dance, Dancers and the Body in motion. The journey of these Dance Story blog posts began on the 18th of November 2014, with Rasa in the 21st Century and ends today with a recap of the Dance Stories, which have been collated for your reading pleasure … Continue reading 45 Days of Dance Stories – A Recap!
Ballet, fantasy, children’s tale, romance and hope – all this and more summarises what The Nutcracker has come to mean to audiences all over the globe, who see the viewing of this Ballet as a Christmas tradition. Written in 1810 by E.T.A. Hoffman, a German Romantic author, composer, artist, and writer of fantasy and fiction. Hoffman craved to disturb the trends of the … Continue reading The Nutcracker – Created for Christmas!
This is a post I have wanted to write for some time now. It has been lodged in my soul, squatting on a piece of real-estate. What is it about? It is as much about the potential for Psychoses embedded within Dancers, as it is about the casting of actor Natalie Portman in the Black Swan! It is a bit late to be venting, or … Continue reading Psychotic Dance : Black Swan
For the Dancer, the body is integral, the mind the controller and the soul is the fuel that drives her expression, and the eyes and face where the expression is manifested, guiding the body into motion. So in this journey of discovering the Dancer’s Body over the last few days from feet, to torso, to head, I find myself unable to end this exploration for … Continue reading The Eyes and Face : The final frontier for a Dancer
Martha Graham has been for many dancers a source of great strength, inspiration and guidance. Her work, writings, performances, choreographies, and dance style have been a beacon of light for me. So today rather than extoll the virtues of this extraordinary individual, let me present o you her 3 part narration titled “A Dancer’s Life” and allow you to go on that journey … Continue reading A Dancer’s Life – Martha Graham
Getting back to our upward trajectory of exploring the dancers body, we left off at Hands – the Power of Two, and now we are back with the Head as part of the 45 Days of Dance Stories blogging project. As a classical dancer, especially a Bharatnatyam Dancer, when I think of the head and its uses, I immediately think of Greeva Bheda or Sheero Bheda. … Continue reading Head : Greeva Bheda, the Science of head movements.
What is the history of the perlvic thrust? Sex. A natural movement made during coitus was co-opted by performers, rockers, musicians and Indian Film choreographers to titilate and shock audiences. Made iconic in the West by the likes of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, the pelvic thrust dance-move carries with it a wealth of sexual innuendo. Then, is it any wonder that … Continue reading Hips : The Quintessential Bollywood Pelvic Thrust
When we say dancer – the first body part that we immediately connect them to and visualise are the “Feet”. Grounding us, allowing us to leap and stretch, to pause and pirouette, the dancers feet are where our “Souls” rest! Battered and bruised, knocked and swollen, these feet are what aide us in our movement, trained to kick, flip, balance and flick they are in … Continue reading Feet – Move them like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Every time I watch stills or films capturing the late Pandit Uday Shankar dancing – I am transported, where dream and experience become one for the dancer within me. I am inspired, I am bereft that a great Guru and proponent of the art form is no longer with us, and I am grateful to the visionary who gave us his love letter to dance … Continue reading Pandit Uday Shankar : An Introduction
These black and white photographs done over the years for LIFE magazine, are a treasure of mood and heritage regarding the Indian Dancer. Like a portal into the past, we see perhaps an “exotification” of the Indian Dancer. But, at the very same time we see historical artefact, how true these are, is for our own subjective judgements, but here they are, in their time-bound … Continue reading Looking back, Looking at LIFE
D's Art Takes 