Perspective by student preparing for her arangetram.
”If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.” I believe this quote sums up a majority of my dance journey which started at the age of 6 when I went to my very first Bharatanatyam class. I don’t remember exactly how I felt that day, but one thought was definite - I wanted to continue learning. Every day since then whenever someone would ask me what I loved doing, my immediate answer was “dance”. For a while I enjoyed learning dance and participated in various performances until in 2011, when my family and I moved to India. I joined a dance school where we learned in large groups with each consisting of 20-30 students. This learning environment began to reduce my eagerness to continue dancing, and I stopped practicing at home or wanting to go to class. My mom immediately recognized my change in attitude, and talked to me about changing dance schools, which I was enthusiastic about. When I began learning with a new teacher, I instantly regained my passion for dance and learned many dances, participated in performances and gave three dance exams. In May of 2014 my family and I moved back to the US and I started learning dance with Shilpa Mawshi in 2015. But my dance journey with her had begun years before that. My first dance performance with her was a dance she choreographed for a Ganesha Festival. Since then, I have participated in two of her productions: Ayodhyecha Raja and her recent show La Bayadère. My whole life,I have known her as Shilpa Mawshi, the most creative and cheerful aunt. But when she began teaching me, I saw that she was, and is a teacher who constantly pushes us to do our very best and one who is an incredibly innovative choreographer. Learning dance has had its obstacles, but in December of 2016, I knew overcoming them had been worth it. That was when, Shilpa Mawshi, Kiran Kaka, and my parents decided that my friend and dance partner, Aarohi and I would do our Arangetram together in June 2018. An Arangetram is a “commencement” of sorts for Bharatanatyam students. It is a performance that every dancer looks forward to from the very instance they start learning. Aarohi and I knew the journey ahead would be filled with hardships, but knowing we were embarking on it together, made us all the more excited and determined to push through them. The first dance we learned was the Varnam, or the ‘marathon-like’ dance of the Arangetram as we like to call it. Learning this particular piece first was like diving headfirst into what the Arangetram experience would be, as it is the longest dance and has both the expressional and footwork aspects to it. If the Varnam is ‘marathon-like’ then the Pushpanjali is most definitely a sprint. The Pushpanjali is composed of complex and fast footwork, making it one of the dances that requires the most stamina. Out of the nine dances, my personal favorites are the Thillana, a pure dance piece and Jagadodharana, which is our joint Padam. Since the moment I heard the music for the Thillana, I loved its fast pace and how it immediately created an energetic environment. As for the Padam, the endearing relationship shown between Krishna and Yashoda make it an extremely enjoyable and adorable dance. When we began choreography, I remember Shilpa Mawshi telling us that during the next one and a half years we would encounter many obstacles such as difficulty with a certain step which sometimes might make us doubt our capabilities, but the fact that she decided to do our Arangetram, meant that with dedication and practice we would be ready. I have kept her words in mind along the way and always remember them when I am struggling. Besides Shilpa Mawshi, my family and Kiran Kaka have always had Aarohi’s and my back by providing constant encouragement and giving us confidence so that we never faltered. The days till the Arangetram seem to be speeding by and sometimes make me nervous, however, dancing with Aarohi and unimaginable support from Shilpa Mawshi, Kiran Kaka and my family makes it feel less intimidating. Overall, this Arangetram journey has been incredible and I can’t wait to perform and showcase my achievement as a dancer. AuthorShreya is a cheerful, fun, Sophomore. Besides dance she also enjoys books and music. Arangetram Journey - AarohiArangetram. The one thing that every Bharatanatyam dancer looks forward to. It is a sort of "coming of age" or a graduation. It is the thing that states that you, as a bharatanatyam dancer,are performing your first solo performance. I started my practice for the arangetram in December of 2016. My mom/teacher had been talking to my friend's mom for a little while and they had decided that since both my friend Shreya and I already learned together. So they decided,why not just do our arangetrams together? Both of us were obviously ecstatic, and so our journey began. We started by learning the Varnam, which admittedly is the most challenging dance in the arangetram. It is a total of about 35 minutes long. I know form a good friend and someone who has done her arangetram before, that with live musicians, the time can become longer. That does scare me a bit. This Varnam is about a girl, who is the human incarnation of Parvati, Shiva's consort who is trying to convince Lord Shiva, that she is his wife. The first line says, "Swami Naan Unthan Yindra Ulagamellam Adri Umai" Which translates to "Oh Lord, the entire world knows I am yours". Then, we started to learn the Pushpanjali or the opening dance. If the Varnam is the most tiring, then the Pushpanjali is the most stressful. Simply because it is the first dance of the show. That means it has to be the best one. In the Pushpanjali, we as the dancers are expressing our thanks to the Nataraja, tha audience, and the musicians who accompany us. Soon, we learned our solo Padams. A Padam is an expressional piece in which the dancer tells a story through the emotions and steps. I am doing a song in which during Holi, Radhika is pleading with Krishna not to color her. She tries multiple approaches, from pleading, to extolling her beauty, to finally getting upset and questioning his morality. All in all, it is a very fun piece to practice, and I know it will twice as fun on stage. Soon after, we began to learn the Thillana. I don't think that the Thillana has a story really, but it is one of the most fun pieces to do. The dance just seems to be the most modern to me. It has a sort of beauty that no other dance has and I love it. Still, as in all major experiences in your life, you always come out of them with something new you learned. And from this experience, I have learned that one, you're probably not as bad as you think you are. As long as you put in practice, time, and effort, you will succeed and people will know that you did the best that you could and will congratulate you. Two, "Fake It Till You Make It... Then Fake It Some More." That's what my Youth Symphony director always says. It comes in handy too! Especially when performing the Varnam. If I just fake a smile and pretend that I know what I'm doing, which I do, then nothing will go wrong. Anyways, by the end of the day, your hard work will be rewarded. Three, No matter what, SMILE, SMILE, SMILE! I have the bad habit of not smiling when I'm focusing on the dance. That's when both my mom and Shreya have to yell at me. It takes time but soon, I'm smiling through the pain. My mom always tells the other classes to "smile as much as it hurts. If it hurts, smile more!" and that ideology has really worked for me. If I mess up, I smile, if my legs hurt, I smile, but obviously, I'm not smiling enough. So I must smile some more. The entire process for the arangetram has been an amazing, and torturous thing at the same time. There are times when I wonder what would happen if I didn't do the arangetram, but the alternatives are always better. The pros outweigh the cons (if there even are any)and I enjoy what I do. When I can't sleep, I run over my dances and they lull me to sleep. When I do the mile in PE, I think of my dances and the tiredness goes away. (at least until I'm done with the mile)and honestly, dance is a beautiful thing. So I wouldn't stop for the world. SO that's my arangetram experience. The ups and downs of it will still come in the future, but for now, I'm just happy that I am doing it with my mom and Shreya. AuthorAarohi is a middle schooler, and a budding musician, waiting for her next adventure! Besides dance, she also learns Hindustani Classical singing, and is a member of the San Jose Youth Symphony.
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Dancers are artists, trying to tell stories through movement. But too often we find that our art is limited to our own little cliques, unable to reach out to those outside the cultural boundaries.
All I wanted to do was to step out of the cultural boundaries and tell a story. A story, that is unhindered by the limitations of language or mythology. A story that needed beyond words. In my search for such a story I came across La Bayadère, choreographed by Nureyev. I was absolutely mesmerized by the choreography and strong story telling. As captivating as the production was, I couldn't help thinking about how beautifully it would adapt into a Bharatnatyam based ballet, and how fitting it would be for us to do so. Once the idea took hold, there was no shaking it. So I embarked upon the quest of finding music, that could be used for this. This was by no means a small task. It was during this time, that my friend Maithilee and I had a chat about this. She introduced me to her musician brother Jeet Samant and then graciously sponsored the music for the show. We were all a bit tentative about the project, not sure how it would all work out. But once the music started trickling in, things started to take shape. I loved how Jeet worked, asking about the mood and emotions of the song and then composing. The music came out, each so different from the other, sometimes loud and in your face, and at others gentle, soothing, at times angry and at times pulling at your heart strings. Each telling a story. My daughter likened it to Goldilocks, just right. My personal favorite was the "The Dialogue". This was a very difficult number, it needed to be at once conversational and confrontational. It started out with a seemingly harmless conversation which would culminate in a murderous rage. This music walked that line so beautifully it was an absolute delight to choreograph. Another one of my favorites was "The Still moment". It echoed the darkness and depression of unrequited love. As one eight year old put it, "I knew when the slow music started, that something bad was going to happen." Children were completely taken in. It's hard to keep children engaged with classical arts, especially these days. So when the music came along, the kids were fascinated. What's more, I was the "cool aunty" who choreographed to western music. You could see them, dancing to the music in the wings, humming it in cars and what I think is the best review from children, they are now trying to recreate the tunes on their pianos, guitars and flutes. Thunder Unkown and Trip to Wierd Town were fan favs. This is what we hope for as teachers. To engage kids, motivate them to love the art. I am so glad we were able to do that. Often times, I wondered if the story would be understood, if the visions would be clear. Telling a story without words could become a daunting task. I was especially worried about Pas De Scarf and the dance of the shades. But these too were well received. Where to from hither? We will take all the experiences and feedbacks and work on them. We will continue to tell stories and share our experiences through music and movement. Where those stories will lead us, only time will tell. |
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