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 :)
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 :)
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.
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 :)
DANCE-INDIA, The International Dance Summer School conceived and created by Milapfest - a UK based Art organisation is happening from
August 15th - August 22nd 2010 at The Lowry Studio -Manchester -UK.
The one week residential Summer Dance School offers an extraordinary experience of learning and interacting with legendary gurus and some of the finest teachers and performers of Indian classical dance. The training is offered in four Indian classical dance styles: Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi ,Kathak and Odissi.
Sharing the lines we loved the most about the review in " THE HINDU " Chennai.
" The band of young dancers had so much poise & grace,they were like young stars.
The group synchronized perfectly to close on a high and thats when the standing ovation happened! "
Bravo ! ADC dancers Mridula, Sowmya, Rohini, Neha,Ragini ,Priyanka , Srividya & Divya who performed marvelously at Chennai Sri Krishna gana sabha on 1st July 2010 & rocked the Chennai Art lovers & Connoisseurs.
To enjoy the bliss of Art ,a true artist is supposed to involve to an extent where he/she dissolves the individual identity. Same applies to a sahrudaya rasika ( audience).
I have always wondered if it was possible for connoisseurs,critics & geniuses specially when they are so filled with knowledge (which actually gives them that identity)
But it seems that if they truly understand the POWER of Art & have a magnanimous heart , they can feel it too.
This was proved by the great genius BMK sir ( Dr.Bala Murali Krishna) who was in the audience last night in our performance at Vivekananda Yoga Kendra Jigani.
He said “I forgot the names of these ( pointing at us) I forgot my name or where I was but all I saw was Krishna & the Gopis...This is the POWER OF ART ! "
We surrendered to him for two reasons ,one is that because of him ,our dream of sharing our love in front of great masters was realized & the other ,that we saw a A REAL LIVING LEGEND - GENUIS WITH A MAGNANIMOUS HEART !
