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Posted by European on March 29, 2007 at 10:10:06:
In Reply to: Re: Non Indiandancers posted by marie on March 24, 2007 at 10:24:13:
Dear Marie,
I am from Eastern Europe, and have been living in South India for the past 8 years, seen thousands of dance performances, and want to tell you something. Do you want to listen? :-)
First of all, at least we both recognize that there is something in Bharatanatyam or Odissi that is beyond comparison with ballet, rock-n-roll, strip dance or boxing. It is good. :-)
What is this "something"? It is on the material level (one can even train a monkey to perform certain steps!)?
POINT 1.
If you take pains to analyze frame-by-frame a video of a dancer from
NY and a dancer from Chennai, you will see... that the NY dancer's movements
are simplified. You will see a HUGE deal of difference if you take the
close-up facial abhinaya.
How our subtle facial expressions and gestures are connected to our states of mind is infused in our SUBCONSCIOUSNESS before the age of 10.
Even after that we are influenced by the people around us. For example, I noticed that a few Americans who have been living in Tamil Nadu for 10 years HAVE STARTED MOVING THEIR HEADS LIKE TAMILS even while speaking to another American!!!!!! Wow! :-) And look at the fingers and gestures! So, if an Indian girl moves to London and lives there for 10 years, it will have a tremendous impact on her abhinaya and gestures.
This is the reason why, for example, the French, Spanish and Italians find it much easier to learn Bharatanatyam than the frozen-faced Norwegians. There is a special story about the Japanese, etc. :-)
To change the subconscious links between the body and mind requires one to do a great deal of introspection, control, and to become a GREAT YOGINI. (Please don't tell me about your Siddhi's right away :-)
POINT 2.
What is "Mythos" for a New Yorker is a "Reality" for a dancer from
Chennai, and vice versa. The Indians in Chennai and the NRI's in San Diego
live in different worlds. It is a question of subconscious belief.
POINT 3
On the "theory" level (there are 56 USA universities who are eager to sell you PhD's in classical Indian dance, yea?). The superficiality of the western mindset is amuzing: there are some Americans who won "championships" in Yoga! In McDonalds Yoga, perhaps. And in CNN Yoga.
POINT X
For you, "Using dance technique" is "to express other stories". For
an Indian, "dance technique" is not "dance technique" but a set of SACRED
(oh, the westerners forgot about what it is!) elements in their mystic
worship. "Stories" are not merely "stories" but something that lives deep
inside them and is part of their person.
NEXT POINT
Marie's life is much harder than any dancer's in Chennai: she has to
separate the essence of the classical Indian dance from its contemporary,
ethnically limited wrappings (e.g. Marie will not find much use of the
Vinayaka-specific postures and gestures for Song of Solomon!), and it is
such people as Marie who will create something new.
Marie's mission is hard but very interesting. :-) She has to meditate, go to the real Christian heaven (see what Nostradamus wrote!), take those LIVING symbols and bring it back to earth using the cadences that the western ear is more accustomed to.
Marie is one of those who can restore the sense of the Sacred in the West. She does not have to try to import the Indian wrappings to the West.
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