Baba Yaga Music home »Dance News » Dr Doraswamy 2011
July 30 2011: Ruric, Anna and I attended a THREE-HOUR performance by Ruric's Bharatanatyam guru, Dr. Doraswamy, on Sunday July 30. It was extraordinary. Dr Doraswamy danced the themes of tales I am not familiar with. BUT - her dance went straight to the heart. No matter how quick or slow or simple or elaborate the gestures or combinations - they were pure communication, as though she were simply talking.
Dr. Doraswamy's dancing was performed to the music of an orchestra of five professional singers and musicians. Dr. Doraswamy danced the whole three hours, less a 15-minute break for a costume change. After one hour, I had to get up and go pound my spine against a wall (dark corner) in order to get the sitting kinks out, but no way was I leaving.
The audience was maybe 200 people, many of them friends and relations of the Dr's students, plus some notables among the local Indian community... and a few pale skins, like us. In short, a recital audience. How did this concert NOT end up being SRO?
On the way to the concert in the car, Ruric and I had been discussing the standards for dance technique in the belly dance /MED community. We took it up again after the concert, after watching Dr. Doraswamy, who is over 60 and a yoga and martial arts proficient as well as a dancer, perform one of the most strenous classical dances in the world for three hours and never seem to miss a beat or falter. The conversation was very short, and amounted to: the belly dance /MED scene is not developed enough to have standards that professionals can rely on. Develop your own, keep moving, keep caring, and remember that personal practice!
KentuckyBellyDance.com
©2011-2012 by Maura Enright
© means the content is copyrighted. Do not steal it, words or pictures. However, your links to this content are much appreciated.
M a u r a Z e b r a @ g m a i l . c o m