A Performance of a Lifetime...
September 20th 2008 - A pleasant Saturday evening
What does a dancer, most importantly need, in order to dance? A sense of rhythm? May be not, as I found out.
8 p.m in the evening. Me and my sister were really excited at the prospect of watching a classical dance show, at one of my favorite amphitheaters in Pune - Tilak Smarak Mandir. This was a personal invitation from my friend, one of the performers in the show, and I was real glad that I could actually manage to attend, considering the jam-packed schedule of my weekends.
We reached the auditorium in about an hour and by that time, the show had already started. The theme was "Jai Jai Maharashtra Mazha" and the dance was aimed at depicting the grandeur associated with all the major festivals which are celebrated in Maharashtra. We were in for an absolute treat. The dancers from Sadhana and Chinmayee Nrityalaya were just superb. Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Holi, RamNavami, Shivratri - all festivals were celebrated on stage in the space of mesmerizing three hours. The audience was truly captivated by the brilliant choreography and the indefatigable spirit of the dancers performing to the rhythms belted out by a live orchestra.
The best example of this spirit, was one performance, which stood out among them all, as I realized much later.
A girl aged around 18 years, walked on to the stage to perform a solo, after one of the dances was over. I wondered why the teacher, the lady who leads the Sadhana Nrityalaya, also accompanied her on the stage and sat at the corner of a stage facing her. The dance was a sight to behold and the girl's amazing talent was for everyone to see. She never missed a beat and never did she loose a single expression on her face. Constantly watching her teacher dictating each and every step to her, through hand gestures, she danced in all glory to her heart's content. I couldn't help but applaud the performance, once it was over. I made an assumption that this must have been her first performance on stage and that perhaps, the teacher was there on the stage to guide and motivate her. I considered it to be a good performance, considering that the other dances were really good too.
How wrong I was....It was surely the best among the lot!!!
I came to know two days later from the same friend of mine who invited me, that this girl was deaf, she couldn't hear. I went numb. It was truly unbelievable. Her teacher's hands gestures were her only guide on stage. I couldn't imagine the kind of guts she must have had, to pursue her love for this art, just ignoring all her handicap, coming on to the stage and giving the performance of her lifetime. I wonder what emotions she must have been going through at that time. Was it fear, was it a proud feeling, an insecure one or a joyful one? The only answer to this question which I could fathom was just this - May be she knew she had to dance for a reason; that she was an inspiration for all of us. All of us, who never care to do anything for the talents which we have.
That she truly was, what her parents had named her - Prerna.
What does a dancer, most importantly need, in order to dance? A sense of rhythm? May be not, as I found out.
8 p.m in the evening. Me and my sister were really excited at the prospect of watching a classical dance show, at one of my favorite amphitheaters in Pune - Tilak Smarak Mandir. This was a personal invitation from my friend, one of the performers in the show, and I was real glad that I could actually manage to attend, considering the jam-packed schedule of my weekends.
We reached the auditorium in about an hour and by that time, the show had already started. The theme was "Jai Jai Maharashtra Mazha" and the dance was aimed at depicting the grandeur associated with all the major festivals which are celebrated in Maharashtra. We were in for an absolute treat. The dancers from Sadhana and Chinmayee Nrityalaya were just superb. Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Holi, RamNavami, Shivratri - all festivals were celebrated on stage in the space of mesmerizing three hours. The audience was truly captivated by the brilliant choreography and the indefatigable spirit of the dancers performing to the rhythms belted out by a live orchestra.
The best example of this spirit, was one performance, which stood out among them all, as I realized much later.
A girl aged around 18 years, walked on to the stage to perform a solo, after one of the dances was over. I wondered why the teacher, the lady who leads the Sadhana Nrityalaya, also accompanied her on the stage and sat at the corner of a stage facing her. The dance was a sight to behold and the girl's amazing talent was for everyone to see. She never missed a beat and never did she loose a single expression on her face. Constantly watching her teacher dictating each and every step to her, through hand gestures, she danced in all glory to her heart's content. I couldn't help but applaud the performance, once it was over. I made an assumption that this must have been her first performance on stage and that perhaps, the teacher was there on the stage to guide and motivate her. I considered it to be a good performance, considering that the other dances were really good too.
How wrong I was....It was surely the best among the lot!!!
I came to know two days later from the same friend of mine who invited me, that this girl was deaf, she couldn't hear. I went numb. It was truly unbelievable. Her teacher's hands gestures were her only guide on stage. I couldn't imagine the kind of guts she must have had, to pursue her love for this art, just ignoring all her handicap, coming on to the stage and giving the performance of her lifetime. I wonder what emotions she must have been going through at that time. Was it fear, was it a proud feeling, an insecure one or a joyful one? The only answer to this question which I could fathom was just this - May be she knew she had to dance for a reason; that she was an inspiration for all of us. All of us, who never care to do anything for the talents which we have.
That she truly was, what her parents had named her - Prerna.
Comments
keep writing up
My bad luck..!!
Amazing feeling hoga bhaiya,, i know.. Keep inspiring!! :D