TOUR - MELBOURNE - SYDNEY - CANBERRA
MELBOURNE :
After having performed in the four continents ...we were pretty excited to share our works & feel the life in this fifth continent - Australia ! Thanks to Natyanjali Australia lead by our dear friend Gayathri Krishnamurthi - an accomplished Bharathanatyam dancer/student of the Dhananjayans.
In principle , we were supposed to be with the sponsors at Sydney but since the Melbourne show came first , we were on the flight to Melbourne.
I was so happy as we were going to the land of the Kangaroos :)
Outside of the airport as we stepped in to the country ,the very first thing that caught our attention was the trolly on which it was printed - "Depart Satisfied" .
Well...may be the Australians wanted their visitors to feel the words for their trolley services or for the experience of their country , but it came as a beautiful connection to us with deeper aspects of life.
We smiled & moved on !
From the time we arrived into Melbourne we were ON OUR TOES through out till we left the city.
We were with this most lovable family in Melbourne, Ramesh Chadaga,his wife Prathima & their beautiful daughter Apeksha. They showed great love ,admiration & took great care for us.
Our performance at Melbourne was on May 22nd 2011 organised by CMC.
The members of CMC or the audiences at Melbourne (other than couple of few friends),did not really know about us or about our programs.They it seems saw the You tube clips & said YES to organise our program.
Thanks to Technology! Thanks to Ram & Ramesh for the connection.
Even in the initial meetings people were very formal & were not talking as much.We felt a little strange.
But then, we knew our program would melt them & were eagerly waiting for the program.
The program featured some upcoming local young dancers in the first half & second half was us.
While Rajendra was busy with the technical arrangement & i was ironing the costumes in the green room i over heard this conversation between some young dancers & their friends :
" Are u stayin fo the secon half ? ...dunno...
Howsit gonna be ....dunno...
who are these people ....dunno..
then heard an elderly voice telling them...oh,you know it is good to watch others dance...specially if they are from India ....then some voice said ..ok ...but...how much are the tickets...& then organisers were giving them discounts ...etc etc ...& voices were still saying we will see ...dunno & i was thinking...
MY GOD ! WE ARE IN A PLACE WHERE WE ARE TOTAL STRANGERS ....
In our own land we are so well known, here we are a NOBODY !
While we are adored ,appreciated & celebrated in India ,USA & even Europe...this part of the world we were still "dunnos" ....
How does one cope with this ?
While all our lives we are passionately involved in arts , this was a test for dispassion ,
Can one really live it ?
Something deep inside said TRY IT ....immediately i gathered up my inner self & with a smile continued the work towards the performance.
The performance went on for 90 minutes...
In between our pieces we launched Apeksha Chadaga - a new hope for Kathak in that country who looked gorgeous & also managed to sail gracefully towards the vision of quality dance.
God bless her to continue as she has full potential to do proud to Indian Art & Culture.
Soon after the program ,we were requested to meet the people in the lobby of the theatre.
There were about over 100 people waiting to talk to us .
There were many dancers,some had tears, there were Kannadigas, Bangaloreans ...all of them were simply blessing us, wishing us long life, they told us how much they loved the program,the dancing , music, the introductions, the costumes, lighting.
They were all in Awe of Rajendra for his patient & professional handling of the Sound & lighting at the theatre.
They said we should be featured in the TOP venues of Melbourne...they were overwhelmed by the program.
& we were humbled by the genuine love & affection from the sahrudayas.
It did not stop at that ,the next one week, every evening we were invited for a great dinner by the Indians.
It was the most hectic yet beautiful time of our lives.
Our friends Ramesh & Prathima ,both took one week off from their work & took us around to the most beautiful scenic places around Melbourne.We were driving for hours visiting the Phillip Island, Ballarat, Great Ocean Drive - Twelve Apostles & the beautiful Dandenong Mountain Ranges.
We never ventured into Melbourne city sight seeing.
The Nature around the city & the love of the people of Melbourne brought us close to what the words on the trolley said.
We departed to Sydney the next day !
Satisfied !
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