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
For most dancers honing their craft and body is an endeavour that stretches across a lifetime. It is a journey of the self through arduous hours of training, of bending and breaking the body into various positions, and drilling movement, sequences and steps within that same body. It is often about reaching a place within that is untapped, scared and unknown, and asking it … Continue reading Arms – Catch and Release
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
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
Today was a day filled with laughter joy and togetherness. Thre was a bringing together of families through the love fo two individuals as they celebrated their upcoming wedding. In preparation there was the joyous – song and dance centered Indian pre-marital event of the Mehendi. Fertility and protection, todays celebration brought to mind the coming together of the yin-and-yang, the masculine and the feminine, … Continue reading Shiva, Shakti and Laasya
The 1951 Film “The River” by Jean Renoir, was an adaptation of a work of the same name by Rumer Godden. The literary work was a slightly autobiographical coming of age story, where reality and fantasy merge to instil life lessons that go far beyond the mundane. In the film, this revelation of “life truths” is achieved in part through the dramatisation of the fantasy … Continue reading A Dance Story for 30th November 2014 : Radha’s Dance (1951)
The Oxford English Dictionary defines Kathak as : “A Type of Norther Indian Classical Dance, with alternating passages of mime and dancing.” For others, scholars and dancers alike, Kathak has been a symbol for many things, be it devotion, storytelling, symbiosis and synthesis or then emerging colonial and postcolonial identities. It’s intricate ties with Hindustani Music, the khayals, thumris, ghazals and bandishes, all weave the fabric … Continue reading Defining Kathak
Over the next few days I want to celebrate the work and talent that was Ruth St. Denis, as part of the 45 Days of Dance Stories. Ruth St. Denis was not only applauded for her progressive choreography and the legacy of work she has left dancers world over, but for me it was her unique talent and insight that enabled her to bridge classical … Continue reading Incense by Ruth St. Denis
Considered by many as one of the finest and most influential artists of the 20th century. This choreographer, writer, dancer and revolutionary contributed, in no small part, to the shaping of and trajectory of – modern dance. Through her work and ethos she carved and continues to influence the psyche of the dancer and the manifestation of his soul through chosen-precise-movement. For me, Martha Graham … Continue reading Words and Movements of Martha Graham
There has been a constant echo in my mind today of the choices we make with our body. What we put in, how we dress, how we choose to interact with the outside world and the bridges we create between our internal voices and the outside objects. In between all this plotting and planning, maneuvering and repression, it is true what Jean-Luc Godard once said, … Continue reading Dance like your soul is watching
D's Art Takes 