In the last production, Saptha Sthuthi, some of you were the younger dancers in the group. If I am not
wrong, that same group of you are now the senior dancers in krishNa bhAratam.
How has this different for you? When you now work with dancers younger than yourself, do you look at things differently?
Being the youngest in Saptha Stuthi, I literally had no
responsibility but to dance. But in Krishna Bharatham I find the need to conduct
myself better and lend moral support to the younger ones. It feels like a
natural cycle of needing to initiate the younger alumni members into the SIFAS
culture after having worked with many older alumni members
previously.
I thoroughly enjoy working with our younger dancers.
They keep the atmosphere very light hearted and have limitless energy which is
much needed for us older ones with acheing bones (:
About krishNa bhAratam and working with the
choreographer:
I believe the whole specialty of this production is
Sheejith Sir himself and the journey he has brought us on. His achievements
aside, his personality and view on life makes him a complete artiste in my
opinion. It took him just 4 months of
working with us and that too in short spurts to completely change the way many
of us view dance.
In between teaching us, he imparts such strong valuable
knowledge on dance and connects it to the philosophy of life itself. He often
stresses that apart from being a good dancer, good character is most important
for an artiste.
Also, the choreography and concept is beyond my
imagination. I have never done such a combination of steps ever. Many times we
question ourselves whether we are cut out for this due to the level of
difficulty and demands placed on us, but somehow Sir's "No-can't-do" attitude
forces you to just get the work done. And we're also SINGING!
Oh.My.God.
I have never seen this much discipline in a production
before. All ten of us are there for practically all the rehearsals on time.
Extra care has gone into looking presentable. And this discipline stays even
during music rehearsals.
Lastly, as much as we sweat it out we also laugh just as
hard. The teachers and Sheejith Sir have a remarkable sense of humour that
cannot be forgotten!
Working with friends and SIFAS:
Sifas is like home to many of us. We have been learning
at this institute since a young age and have seen many great teachers come and
go. However, life-long friendships are fostered in SIFAS and such productions
are a way for us to catch up and grow as artistes.
I'm so happy for all you dancers. Malavika Sarukkai at the end of her show said that dancing is not just a 'performance' but an 'experience'. All your blogs reaffirm the 'experiential' aspects of your rehearsals. To carry away intangibles that can make one a better human being through this beautiful art form is indeed a blessing. I'm sure all of you are relishing the spiritual dimension of the experience as well. Well done young ladies for riding on the challenges and for availing this opportunity to grow. Thank you Sheejith Sir for not focusing on 'just' the 'performance' aspect. Above alL, thank you for making all this possible.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all of you for tomorrow. I have been reading your very interesting blogs. I have been fascinated by some of the 'experiential' aspects you have mentioned. This reminded me of Malvika Sarukkai's recent comment that dance is not just a ‘performance’, but an ‘experience’, especially if you can take your audience with you on this experiential journey. What fascinates me in your blogs is that all of you seem to be 'growing' as you are learning. It is seldom that the technical, human and spiritual elements are interlaced in a performance. Each one of you seems to be learning by osmosis. Hope these elements will come through in your post-performance blogs. That would be even more fascinating and interesting to read. Thank you Sheejith Sir for making all these possible through this beautiful art form. The dancers are indeed blessed, as a dancer cannot learn these from textbooks or by just rehearsing for a performance. Good luck to all of you. Enjoy as you perform and let's all be part of this beautiful journey!
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