Nrityagram Dance Village

 

 Click here for the most recent post Nrityagram Dance Village 

Two weeks ago we were spell bound by their dance performance in Bangalore. This weekend we took a day trip to their village to watch them practice and see where they live. The Nrityagram village is two hours from Whitefield, less-so from west Bangalore.

Leave behind Bangalore and breathe in the fresh air. Whisper, don't break the silence. Follow the winding stone path under trellises and trees. Enjoy the sight of a small statue on a ledge or many scattered atop a grassy pitch.

The dancers practice almost everyday when they are not touring. They are a dedicated group, committing themselves to the ways of village life and dance education...for years. They have toured the world.

The three hour practice starts by taking the dancers through a series of seemingly effortless movements. After half an hour, sweat soaks their clothing and we begin to understand the difficulty and strength required to perform these unique movements.

This day, five women and two men practice. Some are stronger and more experienced than others. They instruct, and help each other. This type of Indian Classical dance is incomparable. I believe they train their brain to connect to every muscle in their body - to move independently of one another - that is how in touch with their body they are.

At one point the instuctor spoke to two of the dancers, asking them to only move their torso: "left side up and down, right side up and down. Only move your torso, it is not necessary to move your neck or lower body."

And then the opposite, "Move only your lower body without moving the upper. They do not have to be connected." And then she quickly stood up and demonstrated the movement with incredible ease, only moving her lower body - upper body still.

Much emphasis is on the eyes and facial expression as the dancers are always telling a story. Fingers and hand movements, and every muscle follows along to do their part and create perfection.

For much of the practice no music is played. The instructor sits on a low chair keeping time by hitting a smooth wooden stick on a stone block. She sounds out the rhythm with her voice, an unusual but captivating sound.

The dancers live in simple surroundings, growing most of their own food. There is a temple, an outdoor yoga center, and of course the dance studio. They live in small round huts. The buildings are architecturally appealing, made of stone and wood. Flowering bushes and trees abound and add to the natural, calming ambiance.

The public can watch the dancers practice Tues. - Sat. 10:30 - 1:30, and can watch the dancers teach children from nearby villages on Sundays. They are closed Mondays. Do phone ahead to make sure they are not touring.

Christmas Decorations

Click here for the most recent post Christmas Decorations

Went shopping for Christmas decorations today. Heard through the OWC grapevine that Safina Plaza, near Commercial Street, is the place to go. Apparently we were too early - "next month." We found one shop selling a few Kashmir baubles, bells and balls to hang from the tree.

Next we went one street down from Commercial Street where we came upon tiny stores that had transformed into Christmas stores. Most of which were piled high with garlands of every bright color, plastic Santa decorations and boxes of Christmas balls and stars. We perused and bought a few tree decorations.

Most of these little stores are Muslim owned and usually sell plastic flowers or party favours. The store in this photo: "Dealers in Ayurvedic Drugs, Chemicals Decorative Disposable Houskeeping Items." Well, not for the next month I guess.

A lady in a sari came into one asking for a Santa suit. She explained it was for the Children's Christmas party at her church. As we walked on we noticed more and more shops taking down their usual stock and putting up Christmas decorations. Nothing fancy here though.

Stopped at a store called Eka on the way home. Highly recommended. A lovely store with tasteful decorations, candles, and angels as well as a few quality pieces of furniture, art and jewellery.

Picked up a few things and between all three stops I'd have to say I have enough to decorate a small tree. Hmm, yes there's still the tree to think about isn't there? Well, it's a start.

Me to We

A good friend of mine posted these lyrics on Facebook:

"There are some things in this world that you just can't change. There are some things that you don't see until it's to late."

A couple minutes later Michael sent me a link "Mia Farrow inspires and moves 16,000 youth in Vancouver's GM Place."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDocOPzlTaY

When you move to a country like India you might think that you are going to show people "the right way" to do things. When you get here you realize there are things you just can't change.

When you live far away from human suffering - the holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, the slums of India - you may think you can't change it or you may not see it until it is too late.

Mia Farrow, the Dalai Lama and many others, spoke to 16,000 youth for WE day in Vancouver, Canada, organized by Free the Children. Free The Children "empowers children in North America to take action to improve the lives of fellow children overseas."

Can we make a change? Of course we can, we know we can. We just have to make an effort. To quote Mia: "The world is a dangerous place, not only because of those who would do evil things, but because of those who look on and do nothing. I think our own feelings of helplessness are our own worst enemy. We are not helpless."

I love her analogy of the "ripple within us...you (the audience)became a wave...keep shouting and this mighty wave will become the tide that can shape the course of history."

Craig Kielburger started Free the Children when he was 12 years old. I think at 12 one does not feel helpless, they feel like they can do anything. That is why his organization targets children - educating children to help other children - to change the world. At 12 he felt a ripple. Today children around the world benefit from the wave.

http://www.freethechildren.com/

Five Months in Bangalore

What do you call a Canadian who lives in Bangalore - a Canalore? a Bangadian? Crazy?

It's hard to believe we've been here five months. I think I am actually starting to feel settled. We had a good period lately. The electricity is working - we have to remember that 40% of the people in India do not even have electricity and those that do, experience major outages. We are lucky that our backup system kicks in almost immediately when there is an outage.

We switched from cable to satellite and now when I turn the tv on, it actually works and there is a clear picture. The internet works. The fridge and dishwasher have both been serviced since we've been here and they work now. In other words I have not had to sit around waiting for people to come and fix things or deliver things lately.

Someone said to me recently, "When people ask me what I'm doing in Bangalore, I say, 'I'm waiting!' "

How true! So much time in the first few months was spent waiting for the delivery of furniture or for people to fix things. The best thing I did was stop waiting. I would give them my cell number and say, "call me when you get to the house."


There are some things we've given up on. The bank, for instance is unbelievable. Michael opened up an account as soon as we got here. A guy came to his office and had him sign a bunch of forms. That night Michael got a text saying the manager rejected his signature because they didn't match - even though someone from the bank witnessed him signing.

A few weeks later I signed forms to make it a joint account and Michael signed forms to get a credit card. I was told a bank card would be couriered with in a week. Three months later still no bank card for me and Michael receives his credit card - with the wrong name on it! The guy tells him he should write a letter requesting a name change. He cannot seem to understand that this is not a name change - it is their mistake.

I write a cheque which is rejected...because the joint account was never put through. The guy comes to the house and has me sign a bunch of forms again as though I'd never signed them before.

Four months later, still no credit card and no bank card. Thank goodness the only thing they are efficient at is transferring money. We transfer money to our Canadian account and use our Canadian credit cards.

Are we used to the traffic? Not completely, but you learn to time things and learn what to expect. The biggest problem is that Bangalore has grown at such a fast rate that they are playing catch-up with the infrastructure. Everywhere you go the streets and sidewalks are being torn up and construction is going on. At the same time they are building a skytrain so that adds to traffic slowdowns and detours.

Grocery shopping is hit and miss. Don't get me wrong - you can get almost anything here in Bangalore. There are a couple of big supermarkets like Spar where I go once or twice a month and load up on cheese, nice breads, cleaning products, biscotti, etc.

Around the area we live I have four different small grocery stores - Namdhari's is best for fruit and veggies, Food Zone or Food World for canned goods and staples, 'Sorbet, the Gourmet' store for tortilla wraps and tortilla chips (finally found them but had to stop buying/eating them), salsa and much more. Once in a while there's always a little shock when you walk into a store and they are out of a staple like butter - for weeks. Once they were completely out of toilet paper and last week - no milk. So, off you go to another store.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the lack of seasons. But what do you know - a week later the rains came and it actually got chilly. Even though today I'm sitting outside in a sleeveless dress, we've had some long sleeve weather and I even wore socks once.

It's been overcast and although it is certainly not as cold as it is in Vancouver, the rains have put me into "fall going on winter" mode and I've been thinking about Christmas. I've heard there is a store near Commercial St. that sells decorations so I'll have to check it out next week. Not sure what to do about a tree. Michael says "bring in a palm tree" but I don't think that is going to work for me.

The kids are doing well at school. Craig is always in a good mood and is really enjoying field hockey and socializing with all his friends. Alanna is still determined not to like anything about India (except for the mall and the chocolate shop). However I know she has made friends at school and my spies tell me she is "friends" with all the teachers, chatting away to them.

Michael seems to be making some progress at work. He went on a team building weekend to one of the National Parks. He enjoyed getting back to nature (except for the mosquitos), camping and doing all sorts of survivor style "challenges" with his co-workers.

For me, the OWC has been a great way to meet people and get involved in different events whether it is charities, cooking classes, lunches, or wine dinners. I've been writing an article every month for the OWC Rangoli magazine and entered a photo contest. Keeping busy is the key.

The upside to all the socializing is getting to try lots of different restaurants, eating great food and meeting and learning from some of the cities top chefs. The downside is that it really is possible to gain weight in India. Now I have to fit the gym into my busy schedule!

Nrityagram

Precision. Strength. Passion. Grace. Control. Beauty. Magic.

I could go on and on, yet I cannot find the perfert word to describe the Nrityagram dancers who performed tonight. Three dancers took the stage at Chowdiah Memorial Hall to perform Odissi, a classical Indian dance.

Odissi is described as "a synthesis of the ancient and exotic and modern and intellectual. Odissi creates an illusion of sculpture coming to life."

These dancers captured that desciption perfectly. This dance troupe tours the world and they certainly are world class. I have never seen such precision; they are as one.

The dancers live together and practice daily two hours outside of Bangalore in Nrityagram village. The public can watch most days. We plan to visit soon.
http://www.nrityagram.org/