Diwali: Festival of Lights India Night Indian Dance - The Overseas ...

The dance of lifePhotos by Cindy BajemaSheila Mapes made a veryworthwhile trip to theNrityagram Dance Villageand found it was a rare treat.The field trip to Nrityagram DanceVillage in September turned outto be a triple treat, gifting the 50 OWCparticipants with a mesmerizing danceperformance, a tour of the tranquilvillage grounds, and a delicious Indianlunch.The village was the brainchild ofProtima Gauri, who came to dance late(in her 20’s) but enthusiastically. Shelived with her dance guru, spendingeach day eating, breathing and livingthe art. Her dream of offering the sameexperience to others resulted in theNrityagram Dance Village.Why would dancers live together ina village? The answer is beautifullyput on their website, “It is a crucibleof inspiration and ideas, a comingtogether of creative minds, which pushthemselves to the absolute limits oftheir abilities. A space where dancers,musicians and choreographers livetogether for years, developing theirideas, perfecting their technique andcomplementing their learning of dancewith a knowledge of mythology and theepics, Sanskrit, yoga, meditation and themartial arts.”The first part of our visit, theperformance, deepened myunderstanding of the Odissi dance style,one of the eight distinct classical Indianforms. (For an excellent overview of allthe forms, visit the Nrityagram DanceVillage website, www.nrityagram.org, and click on ”Expression”.) Theprincipal dancer, Bijayini Satpathy,taught us that although Odissi’s rootsdate to the second century BC, it wasrevived and reshaped only 60 years ago.A quick tutorial demonstrated why studyof this dance form requires years ofdevotion: as with ballet, a set number ofarm, hand, torso, and foot positions mustbecome so automatic that the dancer cancombine them in infinite ways.But it is the phenomenal facialexpressions that make Odissi dancescome alive. We were privileged to sit atclose range, where we could thoroughlywitness the dancers’ portrayal of thepower and tenderness of a goddess orthe pain and anger of the woman whowaited all night for her womanizinghusband. Emotions were so wellportrayed that, as one observer noted, “Igot teary-eyed!” One could understandthat it takes a village setting to traindancers to live their art so completelythat their whole body emotes the storyportrayed in each dance.Odissi perfectly reflects India, theland of contrasts. Fluid, round, lyricalmovements contrast with percussivelyjangling ankle bracelets and dancers’slapping feet. Arm positions stop justshort of absolutely straight lines, but thetimeless emotions portraying the jiltedwoman stretch straight back through themillennia and into the future.Awed by the performance, we embarkedon the second portion of our visit:a tour of Nrityagram. Its 10 acresinclude housing for the dancers, fieldsof vegetables to nourish the residents(and us as their guests!), and space forboth practice and performance. Lushplantings and tranquil spaces providemental respite for the dancers, whowork their bodies for 8–10 hours aday. Construction now in progress willaccommodate writers, painters andmusicians as the scope of the villageexpands to embrace other expressivearts.Our third treat came in the form ofa lovely traditional Indian buffet. Inthe open-air dining area, we chattedwith old and new OWC friends andappreciated the calming fountain andcomical geese that grazed among theoutdoor tables. An unexpected bonuscame in the discovery that the villageoffers accommodation, providing anescape 1.5 hours but a world away frombustling Bangalore.Many thanks to Kate de Montjoye forarranging this enlightening tour ofthe Nrityagram Dance Village. Katepromised us that the drive would be wellworth it, and she was correct!The Rangoli 11/2010 23