Mirror Mirror on the Wall !

ACTOR / DANCER FACTOR :

Sharing with you some thoughts on ACTORS expressed in a magazine ( Southscope) that we read recently written by
Mrs.Suhasini Maniratnam - a very fine actress /wife of the intelligent Director Maniratnam.

What she says here can also apply to dance practitioners as acting ( abhinaya) forms an integral part of classical dance.

When asked "What does it take to be an actor" she says :
A three year old that makes faces at the mirror while brushing his teeth is a potential actor.

The fact that everyone enjoys seeing one's face in the mirror is an indication that he /she will perform on stage or in front of the camera.

If you want to be an actor ,dont watch Shahrukh Khan or Ajith on screen & try to imitate them. Instead,buy a full sized mirror,
walk in front of it.Talk,laugh,cry and dance before it for ten days.
By the end of this, look at the mirror , decide if you still like what you see,if you find the mirror image hopeless & disgusting,drop your acting aspirations & go back to college or office.If the image on the mirror is still interesting, exciting ,enroll in an acting class,dance class or diction class and try to learn acting.

An actor should keep talking to himself to get over his inhibitions.If you can listen to yourself & continue,you will definitely be able to take directions from the filmmaker. Before all this, one has to groom oneself.
However much we say looks are NOT so important ,when it comes to the camera,the way one looks matters the most.
The actor may not be the most handsome man or Miss Universe, but has to have a special charm that makes him/her unique.
Take any successful actor- he does have that extra spark.

Taking on from what Suhasiniji says, we are so happy that we work on similar thoughts.
 
Since i was a kid i used to enjoy being in front of the mirror & this may sound silly but there was one time where i went so close to the mirror that my face was like in the tight close up & i thought i was in a movie while i moved my face sloooooowly  one end to the other trying various expressions & after that i felt soooo good i told myself i am going to be STAR ! No kidding ! I was 11 years old, I loved makeup,beautiful costumes. Since then Mirror was my best friend.
 Even today to feel good about a posture, movements or some very special moves i go close to the mirror & try it out.
It has given me great confidence & i have felt beautiful.
I am sure there are many other dancers who feel the same. It brings in a new sense of appreciation for the self.

When we train our dancers ( who perform with ADC ) we tell them to look into the mirror & fall in love with themselves, because it creates a certain PRESENCE !

It brings in a change in the way one carries oneself , the confidence, the Joy,the feel good factor of sharing good energies :)

We believe that good grooming leads to the door to every dancer/actor to reach out to THEIR BEST.
Then the world becomes theirs :)

In the next stage of presentation ,the way the dancers look ,their make up , costumes , jewellery are all Important factors that add to the visual effect. These outer facilities do help in carrying forward the inner emotions.

So may all aspiring actors/ dancers quickly rush to their mirrors & ask
"Mirror Mirror on the Wall ,
Show me the best artist of all ... "

And as Suhasiniji also points , one never knows the mirror may say"
ITS YOU  !

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company

ALERT ! Actors / Dancers

ACTOR / DANCER FACTOR :

Hi all !

Sharing with you some thoughts on ACTORS expressed in a magazine ( Southscope) that we read recently written by 

Mrs.Suhasini Maniratnam - a very fine actress /wife of the intelligent Director Maniratnam.

What she says here can also apply to dance practitioners as acting ( abhinaya) forms an integral part of classical dance.

When asked "What does it take to be an actor" she says :

A three year old that makes faces at the mirror while brushing his teeth is a potential actor.

The fact that everyone enjoys seeing one's face in the mirror is an indication that he /she will perform on stage or in front of the camera.

If you want to be an actor ,dont watch Shahrukh Khan or Ajith on screen & try to imitate them. Instead,buy a full sized mirror,

walk in front of it.Talk,laugh,cry and dance before it for ten days.

By the end of this, look at the mirror , decide if you still like what you see,if you find the mirror image hopeless & disgusting,drop your acting aspirations & go back to college or office.If the image on the mirror is still interesting, exciting ,enroll in an acting class,dance class or diction class and try to learn acting.

An actor should keep talking to himself to get over his inhibitions.If you can listen to yourself & continue,you will definitely be able to take directions from the filmmaker. Before all this, one has to groom oneself.

However much we say looks are NOT so important ,when it comes to the camera,the way one looks matters the most.

The actor may not be the most handsome man or Miss Universe, but has to have a special charm that makes him/her unique.

Take any successful actor- he does have that extra spark.

Taking on from what Suhasiniji says, we are so happy that we work on similar thoughts.

We train our dancers ( who perform with ADC ) with this foremost aspect of PRESENCE ! in terms of the way he /she carries oneself , the confidence, the Joy,the feel good factor of sharing good energies :) 

We believe that good grooming leads to the door to every dancer/actor to reach out to THEIR BEST.

Then the world becomes theirs :)

In the next stage of presentation ,the way the dancers look ,their make up , costumes , jewellery are all Important factors that add to the visual effect. These outer facilities do help in carrying forward the inner emotions.

So may all aspiring actors/ dancers quickly rush to their mirrors & ask 

"Mirror Mirror on the Wall show me the best artist of all ... "

And as Suhasiniji points , one never knows the mirror may say"

ITS YOU  ! 

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company

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But the human mind can be VERY EGOISTIC to handle this.

He gave one example from his own life :

When Ganesh sir was in his twenties he was very envious of the great poet Kalidasa because How could kalidasa write such excellent poetry & why not Ganesh sir ? 

It seems he used to not whole heartedly appreciate Kalidasa's works & would even argue with other supporters of this poet.

Over a period of time with deep study of Kalidasa many secrets revealed & Ganesh Sir's writings reflected the beauty & glory like that of the great poet , Ganesh sir became so close to this great poet's work is that he became a DASA to KALIDASA.

He wanted to offer his tribute to the great poet & hence wrote a poetry ( in sanskrit) that said something like :

When i was young my eyes were clouded by ignorance & had a poor sight but as i started moving closer to you the clouds transformed into rain which came down my cheeks as tears & has cleared the vision, my tears will be ever flowing as an offering of prayashchitha ( repentance ) to what i had thought about you before.

Even today when Ganesh Sir gives a lecture on Kalidasa's works starts the session with this poetry.

His face looked very gratified & fulfilled.

We were stunned by his greatness ! 

Few others things he mentioned that can be quoted are :

1. The Mango Tree can never be an apple tree or a Jasmine tree, Each individual ,Each artist is unique ,there can be none in this world that cane be YOU.So enjoy your Art , Enjoy your work, Feel GOOD about yourself :)

2. People who celebrate Awards are those who have NOT CELEBRATED THEIR OWN WORKS OF ART.

3. In the field of music/dance /Theatre one can take inspiration from Gurus /Artists from a time frame of may be 50 - 100 years but in the field of Literature he observes that there are great people ,outstanding works from CENTURIES.

So where does one actually stand ? 

4. There is co much to do but HOW MUCH CAN ONE DO ...

For this Ganesh sir quotes a beautiful example :

When the Sun God asked WHO could take his place all other Gods,Devas, Sages & superior beings dismissed saying it is TOO MUCH OF WORK... while one little lamp said " I.....could try ....! 

I can atleast shoo away the darkness & bring some light to one room...

Now THIS IS ONE POSITIVE LAMP ! 

So there is a hope for us that we can be like this little LAMP & feel gratified if not quantitatively, but qualitatively we can 

all contribute to our own areas & BE HAPPY :)

Drunk with the inspiring words of Ganesh Sir & our heads bombarding with ideas we parted ways.

IT WAS THE BEST CELEBRATION OF GANESHA CHATHURTHI.

well, actually before the dawn of Chathurthi , THIS GANESHA had enlightened us :)

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company

MEETING GANESHA LIVE !

A stroll with Ganesha in Mantri Square !

Today is an auspicious day " Ganesha Chathurthi" ( celebrating ganesha) but we celebrated one day before ! 

We had the most beautiful celebration when we strolled with the REAL LIVING GANESHA & guess where at ?

THE MANTRI SQUARE MALL :)

This Ganesha ( Shathavadhani.Dr.R.Ganesh) is the living example of Buddhi (Intelligence) & anybody who applies his perspectives of life can surely attain Siddhi (success) in life.

Our association with this personality has been for over twenty years but in the past few years he has created a huge expansion in our inner being.He has opened out many gates of enlightenment.

After the Natyasashtra class at our studio we were going to drop him off & go to Mantri Mall & he said he had not seen the place & hopped in with us. While we were passing through every stores ( window shopping) he got us into such interesting perspectives on Life & Art that we decided to sit down at the food court with Dosas & Idlis  & as he began talking 

everything started slowly disappearing .... the food ,the tables...chairs...the people , the huge space simply vanished....it was only his voice & our hearts ....we were deep into Ganesh sir's talks :

1. STREAMS OF RIVERS WHEN JOIN IN GANGA TAKE IN THE QUALITY OF GANGA.

SO SURRENDERING TO GREAT PERSONALITIES OF EXCELLENCE CAN TRANSFORM AN ASPIRANT ( IN ANY FIELD) 

it is so important to identify the GREATS no matter from whichever era they belong to or however old or young they are & take note of their ways of work,ways of life .It is bound to reveal many secrets that can act as contribution to the seeker.

Ganesh sir himself when he identifies the GREATNESS of people ,irrespective of their age or field 

the very first thing he does is  TO SIMPLY FALL AT THEIR FEET with loving appreciation of their work.

He had told us told us how when he visited Disney land in LA first thing he did was to prostrate to the statue of Walt Disney for he had offered the greatest entertainment of Animation.

Wonder if anybody had ever done this to Walt Disney....he would have been thrilled :)

When Ganesh sir saw the sculpture of Vishwarupa at the Ganapathi Sachchidananda Ashrama in Bangalore, he wanted to meet the sculptor for the simple reason that he admired the rare combination of  Great imagination & craftsmanship in this person 

& when he met him he did a complete prostration to him.

If an artist confines himself just to his own learning ,school of thought or his field alone how can be open to an expansion within, good energy can bring in good art only WHEN THERE IS APPRECIATION OF EXCELLENCE SPECIALLY IN OTHERS :)

But the human mind can be VERY EGOISTIC to handle this.

He gave one example from his own life :

When Ganesh sir was in his twenties he was very envious of the great poet Kalidasa because How could kalidasa write such excellent poetry & why not Ganesh sir ? 

It seems he used to not whole heartedly appreciate Kalidasa's works & would even argue with other supporters of this poet.

Over a period of time with deep study of Kalidasa many secrets revealed & Ganesh Sir's writings reflected the beauty & glory like that of the great poet , Ganesh sir became so close to this great poet's work is that he became a DASA to KALIDASA.

He wanted to offer his tribute to the great poet & hence wrote a poetry ( in sanskrit) that said something like :

When i was young my eyes were clouded by ignorance & had a poor sight but as i started moving closer to you the clouds transformed into rain which came down my cheeks as tears & has cleared the vision, my tears will be ever flowing as an offering of prayashchitha ( repentance ) to what i had thought about you before.

Even today when Ganesh Sir gives a lecture on Kalidasa's works starts the session with this poetry.

His face looked very gratified & fulfilled.

We were stunned by his greatness ! 

Few others things he mentioned that can be quoted are :

1. The Mango Tree can never be an apple tree or a Jasmine tree, Each individual ,Each artist is unique ,there can be none in this world that cane be YOU.So enjoy your Art , Enjoy your work, Feel GOOD about yourself :)

2. People who celebrate Awards are those who have NOT CELEBRATED THEIR OWN WORKS OF ART.

3. In the field of music/dance /Theatre one can take inspiration from Gurus /Artists from a time frame of may be 50 - 100 years but in the field of Literature he observes that there are great people ,outstanding works from CENTURIES.

So where does one actually stand ? 

4. There is co much to do but HOW MUCH CAN ONE DO ...

For this Ganesh sir quotes a beautiful example :

When the Sun God asked WHO could take his place all other Gods,Devas, Sages & superior beings dismissed saying it is TOO MUCH OF WORK... while one little lamp said " I.....could try ....! 

I can atleast shoo away the darkness & bring some light to one room...

Now THIS IS ONE POSITIVE LAMP ! 

So there is a hope for us that we can be like this little LAMP & feel gratified if not quantitatively, but qualitatively we can 

all contribute to our own areas & BE HAPPY :)

Drunk with the inspiring words of Ganesh Sir & our heads bombarding with ideas we parted ways.

IT WAS THE BEST CELEBRATION OF GANESHA CHATHURTHI.

well, actually before the dawn of Chathurthi , THIS GANESHA had enlightened us :)

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company

DANCE INDIA 2010 - UK

Great week with passionate dancers & more passionate organizers :

Last week we were in Manchester invited by MILAP FEST to be the tutors at Dance India.

It was one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL experiences in our lives.

MILAPFEST headed by Dr.Prashanth Nayak brings the finest in Arts to the UK through performances of world class artists, workshops,provides,fellowships for the aspirants & treats the art enthusiasts in the most beautiful way.

We are so fortunate to be associated with MILAP for 5 years now.

They have organized fantastic tours of us & our ADC.

Their vision is noble yet RICH. They are humble & yet spectacular.

Over the years they have built an EXCELLENT TEAM of high efficiency.

To top it all ,they are very kind,warm people who treat artists with love & respect.

A rare combination indeed !

Fortunate are the ones who associate with MILAP :)

Anyways ...

DANCE INDIA:

Was the dream of 105 students from 15 countries hungry to learn !

Students of various origin ,nationalities ,ages all totally enthusiastic & ready to explore rather explode with the passion for dance.

Oh What a time ! O god ,it was soooooooooo beautiful to be with all the enthusistic people filled with madness for Arts.

It was so wonderful to be amidst people of eminence like Kummiben,Leela Samson,Madhavi Mudgal.

Then our dear colleagues & friends Priya Govind , Sheejit Parvathy Vijayanthi & Pratheeksha,Samyuktha & Arushi Mudgal.

We were all eating breathing walking talking & living dance together.

What an honor!

The time table was filled with activities beginning with warm ups for 75 mins , then intensive dancing for 5 hours plus one hour of self practise time, lec dems on topics like lighting,make up, abhinaya, Hastas etc & the evenings featured 90 minute performance by the tutors.

VENUE: Manchester - UK

We were placed in a Hotel ( Holiday INN EXpress) which was at the bed of this beautiful water front & on the other side was the LOWRY studio. we used to walk by the side of this river that had White Swans & ducks swimming around. Connecting the two places was a beautiful pathway of gorgeous trees. With cool breeze & lil showers here & there we used to walk ...sing along to the dance venue :)

This was SOME venue with 3 professional theatres & 7 studios...best part of that one of the walls of the dance studio would be of glass & you lookout & it you see the soothing river flow :)

OPENING:

The event opened with a nice ceremony in the morning in one of the studios & all students got to see their mentors ,enjoyed the lighting of the lamp, the opening address by Vyjayanthi kashi began very well with pointers to the dance tradition , the Guru shishya Parampara.

Then came Nahid Siddiqui , a dancer of utmost grace ,someone who is always drunk on dance originally from Pakisthan but still searching for a home as her motherland threw her out just because of she was a dancer.

She shared with all ,her triumphs of being in a community that got her to sign a bond that she would never dance in her life anywhere & how while signing it she said to herself " NOW I WILL DANCE EVERY WHERE & ALL MY LIFE" ...everybody clapped & laughed. Sweetly & lightly she had brought to the attention of all WHAT PASSION REALLY MEANS TO TRUE ARTISTS.

On our keen request Nahidji danced,well she moved just a little & did a salaami & revealed her passion in action.

While the whole studio cheered & clapped i quietly wiped my tears.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

We had about 20 students in our group while Kummiben had 16 & the Bahrathanatyam had a big number like 25 - 27 etc.

The intensive sessions were going really well.

We had beautiful students from UK & even from South Africa.

There was a bit of

One boy who was a street dancer by profession seemed to have loved the abhinaya part which involved singing, using mudras & facial expressions. Everybody loved the energy ( thats what they said)

In one of the warm up sessions ,we had the great fortune to share the Natya Shastra Vocabularies incorporating the Vyayamas & Charis with the 105 students. It was soooooooo beautiful to see them all move,they were all highly excited as these movements gave them a completely different experience. Must say some of the students were brilliant in the moves.

One boy who has been dancing since the age of 4 or 5 , a versatile dancer who has explored odissi bharathanatyam & even Kathak dancer said that he felt the Natya Shastra movements gave him SUCH A GREAT FEEL that all his previous experiences seemed incomplete. I was taken aback !

Wah Bharatha ! Wah Dr.Padma ...Wah my Guru Sundari akka !

The performances of Leela ji & Madhaviji topped the charts.Sanjuktha & Akash rocked in Kummiben's latest Choreography.

Priya's abhinaya was awesome & our performance ofcourse felt very good for, we were sharing lots of love & we wanted to ROCK the students :) the response is that they loved the combi of Tradition & the Modern.

One of them said they thought we two - Rajendra & I looked hot ! (whatever that means ....)

Well....we enjoyed dancing for the students & felt good as we were able to infected them with some Josh !

FOOD :

Special mention to be made of the LUNCH ...sluuuuuuurp !!!

We had a special tutor's table ( ahem) & there were varieties of healthy veggie soups,5-6 diff types of Sandwiches & a GREAT salad....yummy cakes , yougurts & fruits were for desserts....we loved the rich & creamy ones :)

While we were enjoying that the thought of going back to Rice Sambhar & rasam for every afternoon kind of depressed.

Dinner was at 6 pm..( earliest we ve eaten in our lives) with good Indian Meal.That was good too.

Oh ..theres so much more to say ...in the next one ...

hey all, look out for some dancy gossips :)

Till then ...have fun...eat well...& have great energy :)

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company

Rama Katha Vismaya

Posted via email from Abhinava Dance Company