First group show- Odissi International 2011
We performed Navarasa and the Thali Nacho (or Arathi Srita Kamala) on Monday night. We were on the medium sized stage at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidhalaya (the local college of arts). We had live musicians for this performance, including three different singers, a drummer, cymbal player, violinist, flutist, and sitar player. We lit our candles backstage and were grateful that India typically doesn't have fire codes. I managed not to drop my plates, which are balanced on each hand without gripping. I was getting worried because my right wrist was feeling a little stiff and the underarm rotation wasn't easy while keeping the plate flat and candles lit. However, I did drop my foot when we had to stand in the position known in tai chi as "golden chicken" for quite a while and I had stage lights right in my face. But I did it gracefully. We also had to adjust our group acting dance because the entrances and exits from stage were in different places than we had hoped. I stayed remarkably calm and felt like we performed decently. It was so energizing to perform with live music, even when they added a measure or left out an entire verse of the song. The local press really enjoyed our plate and candle dance, especially the section where we dance on the rims of large brass plates as the end. We received some totally over-the-top praise from some of the local Oriya press saying that our performance was both perfect and the most traditional of the evening. So I guess our next performance of the thali dance in two days had better be good. We also had a couple of good photos in local papers, including a great one of Sibani as Kali beheading Moria and I as Chanda and Munda.
Tomorrow is my solo, early in the afternoon. Very few people will be at the theater at that time, so I'm feeling less anxious. Ganeshyam Panda, who has been teaching us singing and is directing the musicians, plans to sing for my solo. I think it's mostly for moral support, but I'm highly appreciative. He's kind of a superstar here, and well deserves his fame. On Friday and Saturday we have our final two group performances, and we're done by the evening of the 24th. We're performing an invocation dance to Kali and other goddesses at the 64 Yogini temple, then Navarasa and Vasant Pallavi at the main International Odissi Festival. For our final show, we're using taped music due to tight scheduling. We're also going to continue daily voice lessons for the next week. Hopefully I'll get to join some basic dance technique classes for the last few days I'm in town post-performances as well. Feeling good!
Our dance group hasn't been entirely devoid of drama while we've been here, but the lack of Evergreen undergraduates means that there are fewer people who need me to be their mom. Even our teacher has been in remarkably good spirits. When I was in India to dance in 2006, it was a really tough experience and I didn't want to go back to Odissi for months afterwards. But, at least as of now, I feel more energized and invested in my dance.
Tomorrow is my solo, early in the afternoon. Very few people will be at the theater at that time, so I'm feeling less anxious. Ganeshyam Panda, who has been teaching us singing and is directing the musicians, plans to sing for my solo. I think it's mostly for moral support, but I'm highly appreciative. He's kind of a superstar here, and well deserves his fame. On Friday and Saturday we have our final two group performances, and we're done by the evening of the 24th. We're performing an invocation dance to Kali and other goddesses at the 64 Yogini temple, then Navarasa and Vasant Pallavi at the main International Odissi Festival. For our final show, we're using taped music due to tight scheduling. We're also going to continue daily voice lessons for the next week. Hopefully I'll get to join some basic dance technique classes for the last few days I'm in town post-performances as well. Feeling good!
Our dance group hasn't been entirely devoid of drama while we've been here, but the lack of Evergreen undergraduates means that there are fewer people who need me to be their mom. Even our teacher has been in remarkably good spirits. When I was in India to dance in 2006, it was a really tough experience and I didn't want to go back to Odissi for months afterwards. But, at least as of now, I feel more energized and invested in my dance.