Watching performances

One of the most helpful things that I have done in my Bharata Natyum training is watching performances. Back in September I saw a Sanskrit play that had Bharata Natyum dancers and last week, our school had a small performance of both a Bharata Natyum dancer and a Kathak dancer.

Watching a professional up close was really inspiring and helpful. She performed many of the pieces that I will be performing. I was able to watch her footwork, her hand gestures and her facial expressions. She also performed the shlokas that I will be performing.

I know the footwork, but the hand gestures and facial expressions can be hard for me. I have never had to make my eyes and neck move along with my feet and arms. Watching the dancer was very helpful for me. She had very precise gestures, both with her face and her arms. She connected all of her movements very fluidly in a way that I have not mastered.

After seeing her perform, I was able to practice my head, neck and eye movements with more clarity of what they should look like. I stood in front of a mirror for ten or fifteen minutes working on my neck and eye movements. I realized that my neck was moving too jerkily and my eyes were not precise. I was also blinking far too often.

Mala Ji said that my expressions have been getting better. My neck is no longer out of control and I am hitting the proper angles with my eyes. I still need to work on keeping my arms high and full of energy. My arms tend to get tired from being so still, but I am working on that too. Just today, I was doing pushups to strengthen my arms, and squats and lunges to strengthen my legs, not just for dance, but also for life.

I am very happy that my gestures and eye movements are becoming clearer because we are putting them together in the form of reciting shlokas. We just learned the shlokas for the gods, Ganesh and then a specific one for Shiva and Parvaty. I really like doing the movements; in the Ganesh I have to mimic rocking a baby or in the Shiva and Parvaty shloka I get to stand like the Nataraj.

I was told that I will be learning many more shlokas and gestures next semester. I hope that by then I have the basics down pat. It will be so skilled at my eye movements. I will be able to convey so much emotion while talking to my friends, it will be great