Written by Mathirakshana K
Edited by Jairaj Vij
Chest heaving intensely; foot placed artfully on the dusty white tiles; hands poised in the perfect pose - we concluded yet another gruelling practice for the day.
Salty streams of waste gushed across the pores of our skin, suffocating and caging in the heated intensity of the physical labour exerted into dancing.
What a calculated art dancing is.
It provokes the inner spirit residing in you, sparks a flame that you never knew existed in the abyss of your soul, giving it its wings to fly above the darkness to see light.
Dance knows no boundaries.
It revives something inside, and possesses the onlookers, in ravishing delight. Through dance we can find ourselves.
Our first baby steps on this rather tricky journey were not the easiest to make- we fell many times, because it required inner strength for us to lift ourselves up and walk. I mean, not in the literal sense of course we are sadly past the baby stage, but while learning what our professor, Ms. Shalini Parmesh, wanted, and trying to find choreography and relative music, we struggled a bit and tried concocting a brew of creativity together, failing quite tremendously in the process.
So, we had to let our professional teacher lead the path with her ideas and her vision, and we can safely say that it did not fall short. The first time we were introduced to the tactical steps, the hauntingly gripping music, the intricate stories… we were enamoured.
Thus, we commenced our real journey to this brand-new world of our roots, a revelation for most of us, and a safe space for the pros.
When we say obstacles filled our path, we can begin by talking about the restrictive boundaries of our campus, and by that I don’t mean the end-all be-all nature of it, but the constricting space. We had to fight for our spots and honour as Liberal Arts students (*disclaimer- claimed to only ward a dramatic hand over our experience*).
Months of practice and hard work led us to where we ended up a couple of days before production, in the heat of stage rehearsals and expectations.
And there it was suddenly. D-day.
On that fateful 27th of April of 2023, we had a mixed bag of feelings- we didn’t know which one we’d pick before each performance lined up.
However, ours was a part of the opening piece and it was certainly taking all we got to stand backstage, awaiting our first performance, the one where we set the bar for the next two hours. Jittery and trying not to make much noise and clang the bells on our gungrus by moving our feet, we stood, holding for our cue. And in moments, we were on stage, clenching our battery lamps and breathing. And waiting. With more waiting.
Then the band started to play, and our souls awoke, along with the enchanting Navarasam instrumentals accompanying our every move, gliding with us as we rode it. Lilting vocals filled the auditorium as our fellow classmate stepped into the limelight with their vocals that laced itself into the calming notes and our dance steps. This was our first piece, complete with a traditional getup and a flourishing end, a culmination of the nine rasas.
Post a quick costume change, we arrived backstage, quietly tiptoeing into the chaotic haze, and waited a beat for our next piece to be introduced (the interludes of which I wrote, heh!), a visual rendition of Arjuna and Krishna’s quest to regain their courage and reclaim their stake. The Veera rasa ended on a proud note, us looking off into the distance with steely eyes and portraying our courage in our set back shoulders.
And in a snap, we had to transform into a blur of red.
Embodying the burning embers of wrath, and harnessing the power of woman, we illustrated the story of Durga and Mahishasura, their savage combat and seething rage that was left wandering on the tongues of the audience (and we even hissed with our tongues out at one point, so full-circle, I guess). Raudra had its fair share of onstage hurdles though- the flashing red lights during the combat sequence slightly set a red haze on our vision, and we can surely state we did not come out unscathed.
However, right after, we had to prepare ourselves for another power-packed and physically draining performance- the Adbutha rasa. Mustering enough resolve and to fittingly end our dancing journey with the Performative Arts course, we summoned our inner child and tugged at the strings of the last bits of energy we had left, and showcased the cultural significance of our country, under the broad wing of Incredible India.
Once we successfully got through it, we ran.
Tired to the bone, and mighty proud, we packed up our props, whooping and euphoric at giving it our all onstage. It was truly heartening to bid adieu and bittersweet at the same time to sign off on our dance journey, guided by our awesome and patient teacher who etched this whole brocade of emotions from her years of experience.
And we knew we found it as we laughed, reminisced and celebrated- the gratifying solace in our dance.
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