On our trip home we managed to get DVDs of Bharatnatyam. It is a series called "When Gods Dance" produced by Lata and Gita. Lakshmi has watched several dances now. She likes VP Dhananjayan's Kathakali piece about a pregnant deer. He doesn't wear a mask in this one and it is a very interesting story about a deer that has been trapped from all four directions by a hunter, fire, stream and a tiger. Miraculously the deer gets saved a new deer is born. She loves the expression on the mother's face when she sees her new born. Lakshmi's face too turns tender when that happens and she comes and rubs her cheek with us. She loves teh steps where teh new born deer is trying to walk but falls and eventually learns to walk and runs away. "When I was small, could I walk?" is teh question and she loves to hear how she tried gettign up and kept falling. Since it is one dancer who is everything I was amazed that she could get it.
The few DVDs we have of this series has been a big hit. She loves watching students at Kalakshetra dance. She liked Chandralekha's troupe dancing -- It has kalaripattu like movements. We wanted to take her to Kalakshetra but it was closed for vacations.
During the whole trip she was asking various people to dance like a Shiva to her Parvati. The Signature opening and closing for each of the pieces in the DVD is a Shiva and Parvati dance.
But she is still walking on tip toes like a ballet dancer.
No comments:
Post a Comment