Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, January 10 2024
RAMYA & ARNA
At our last stop of the India trip in Varanasi, Arna and I each had the opportunity to perform a solo at the Triveni Art Gallery, located in the heart of Varanasi. The piece that was performed first was Jagannath Swami, an invocation piece written about Lord Jagannath. This dance is a lively 11-minute combination of pure dance and abhinaya, where the dancer aims to portray their bhakti, or devotion, towards the subject of the dance while describing several of their physical attributes. The main challenge of this piece was to remain energetic while making sure that the audience understood the message behind my(Ramya’s) movements and expressions.
The following piece that was performed was Marana Re. This piece is a sabhinaya, which is a type of expressive item paired with rhythmic interludes. The piece describes the romantic relationship between Radha and Krishna and how it connects with the natural world, and even death. Radha seeks this death as she believes it to be a relief from life and also a form of immortality. This piece was very emotionally demanding, and allowed me (Arna) to explore different types of expressions in dance. The intricacies of the verses each brought out a different emotion and feeling.
What was special about both Marana Re and Jagannath Swami was that they were choreographed by our guru, Smt. Sukanya Mukherji, so there was a mix of both her choreography and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s choreography throughout the performance.
Performing in such an intimate venue was a really valuable experience, as we felt connected to each individual audience member.
Santiniketan, January 7 2024
‘ISAYA: Life Force’ by Mayur Dance
A contemporary Odissi Dance by Mayur, depicting the resilient human spirit, with its power to overcome all types of adversity. The performance encapsulated human resilience amidst disease, war, and natural calamities.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C13niKlrdia/?img_index=4
Kolkata, January 5 2024
ADITHI & JIYON
At our first stop in Kolkata, Jiyon and I both had the opportunity to perform at a venue called CLT (Children’s Little Theatre). From the day after we arrived at Kolkata, we had rehearsals everyday at the CLT stage, rehearsing our show. This was so different from what we have normally experienced because we rarely have the opportunity to rehearse multiple times on the same stage we perform.
CLT holds a great significance in the history of our dance school. As students, our connection to CLT runs deep, especially considering that our teacher, Sukanya Mukherji, received her training there. Performing on the same stage where she once danced was a thrilling experience, and was a huge opportunity that we were lucky to have received.
Performing with an older group on our dance tour in India was super fun! At first, the rehearsals and practices with a more experienced group of dancers was challenging, as we weren’t used to the faster paces and the rigorous footwork that came along with the dances, but their countless help throughout the process made it fun and allowed us to connect deeper with them.
The opening segment of our CLT show was titled “Rhythms of the World”. This part of the show took parts of music from cultures all across the world and was set to Odissi dance. Adithi and I took part in a number of dances from this segment such as Native American, Australian, Chinese, and our personal favorite, African dance. This was a duet that we did which we had performed the previous summer, and were looking to perform again. The dance was a crowd favorite due to the energetic beats and the fast footwork. We loved performing in India, specifically, CLT, and getting the opportunity to perform for a different audience.
