Zills, Finger Cymbals and Finger Percussion in Dance: A Personal Journey

Through my somewhat winding journeys through the movement practices of the Near East, I have found that something I keep coming back to is the zills/finger cymbals. ("Zills" in Turkey, "Sagat" in Egypt). I am fascinated by this instrument, and the beauty it lends to a dance performance. This interest partially also comes from my core background in classical Indian Odissi dance, in which we keep rhythm with our feet, which have ghungroos or anklebells tied to them. I enjoy the added dimension of sound they add to the performance.

My first exposure to the zills was actually in 2004, when I first started visual online explorations of Middle Eastern dance. This exposure itself had come through complete coincidence (more on this story later, and the worlds it unfolded). At that time, I had found online, a small video trailer of Ansuya's "Finger Cymbals with Ansuya" dvd in which she broke down the rhythms on the finger cymbals. I was truly fascinated by this concept for a few reasons:

1) Hand cymbals were themselves not a new concept for me. I had grown up in India watching them being used in both Hindu ritualistic ceremonies, also often placed adjacent to the altar sometimes near shrines, as well as used during musical performances, both in a religious and secular context. I had also seen them placed near altars at Buddhist shrines during my family visit to Nepal in 1998, during which my grandmother and I visited several ancient Hindu and Buddhist shrines (Interesting coincidence, completely unrelated: my mother and I both have four-syllable Buddhist names.)

The hand cymbals I have seen in India are called "manjira". The cymbal-player takes one cymbal in each hand, and strikes them together to create the ringing sound. The two cymbals are usually attached by a cord.

Manjiras appear frequently in the iconography of classical Indian dance and the temple sculptures from which much of the dance draws its inspiration. They are almost always represented in the set of instruments that the celestial musicians and dancers are shown as playing, from ancient Jain cave frescoes to stone temple sculptures.

2) One of my fondest memories with my dad is actually singing a Bengali song with him called Dui haate kaale mondira je shodai baje (Translation: "In the two hands of Time, there are the eternal ringing cymbals"). The complex Hindu pantheon has several gods, one of the most fascinating of which is Siva, the dancing god, who is also the keeper of Time and the Destroyer of Worlds, and the bringer of Change. The abovementioned song lyrics are centered around Siva's dance with the manjiras (hand cymbals)-  and the song describes Shiva as playing them in a frenzy, during moments of creation, during the liminal moments of dusk and dawn, and throughout all time.

3) In classical Indian dance, often the Guru, or teacher, the holder of all dancing knowledge, will play the cymbals to guide the rhythmic performance of the student onstage.

4) In other local and regional dance forms from India, such as Rajasthani dance or musical performances, cymbals are also often used. Also, some of the repertoire from the Manipuri Classical Dance of India also uses the double-handed finger cymbals.

The Middle Eastern finger cymbals were fascinating to me for these reasons- seeing such a familiar instrument being played in such a unique and different way (the idea that cymbals could be worn on fingers was such a revelation!).

Several years later, last year, I was introduced to zills as a discipline in the studio, by Chelydra of Dancing Turtle Folk Arts, Hampton Roads. I was visiting my family for a brief holiday after the end of my solo show "Corpus Matris" (2013) at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and during this time, and in the time afforded to me between a photoshoot and some workshops I taught at the studio, I was introduced to my first zills class. It was during this time that I also made my first purchase of a proper student pair of zills. Chelydra taught me two zills pieces from her repertoire- the first was a choreography by the late  Ibrahim "Bobby" Farrah, and another from her own choreographic repertoire. During this time, my grandmother (the same grandmother I had visited Nepal with)- was also visiting the United States, and I practiced them in front of her. I performed a short section of the Ibrahim Farrah piece at a house concert later in the week.

Zilling is beautiful and challenging, and the coordination between zilling and dancing presents a fascinating challenge. I continue to be a student of this beautiful instrument (I am reluctant to call this a "prop"). Some of the wonderful learning experiences I've had have been the Dragonfly Props Intensive 2013, one of the sessions in Anuka's Props Class, and also, Zahira's wonderful workshops, all at the Dragonfly Studio in Toronto. I currently find myself practicing to the beautiful "Benti Shelabbiya" choreographed by Zahira for a recent zills-focused workshop at Dragonfly. I have also found these workshops to be great exposure to new song possibilities for zillographies.

A few pictures from a recent performance. Photo Credit: Robert M. Saxe

I found a different but somewhat kinaesthetically allied skillset- the traditional Turkish Spoon dance, from Silifke region of Turkey (danced with wooden spoons). This is a picture from a piece choreographed by Fethi Karakecili which I was fortunate to learn and perform earlier this year at one of his Dilan Dance Company events:

Journeys into percussion while dancing continues to be a joyful source of inspiration for me. I love Toronto's vibrant cosmopolitan dance landscape, and I am deeply grateful for the wonderful teachers that this city offers. I hope to further and deepen my study with more of them in the upcoming year. 

Reflections on Roma Dance Celebration 2014

This year marked the second Roma Dance Celebration for Culture Days. Curating and organizing this event was an adventure that Iana Komarnytska and I embarked on last year, when we were both living on the York University campus and enrolled in different programmes within York University's Department of Dance. We were joined in our 2013 celebration by a number of dancers, musicians and speakers sharing their knowledge and art. As with all Culture Days activities, the event was free and open to public. The Flemingdon Park Library hosted us in 2013, and our presenters and performers included myself and Iana Komarnytska, Ronald Lee from Hamilton, the band Ventanas, and Vira Burmenko and Paul Matthews.

This year, we were delighted and honoured to be hosted by the Palmerston branch of the Toronto Public Library this year, and they allotted their beautiful theatre space for this event. The event was held on Saturday, September 27, from 1:30-3:30 pm at the Palmerston Library Theatre. 

Our performers included myself, Iana, Ariane Terveld, Fethi Karakecili, the band Nomadica, featuring the beautiful singing of Roula Said and music by Juno Awardee David Buchbinder and several incredible musicians, Simona Jovic, who joined us all the way from France. Finally, we also had with us the band Ventanas, who were recently nominated for the Canadian Folk  Music Awards Best Ensemble of the Year (the band's vocalist  Tamar Ilana was additionally nominated for Best Traditional Singer of the Year). This year, we were also happy to host a small exhibition of photos by Ken Dobb, who had photographed the Khalbeliya and Rajasthani dancers and musicians during his trip to India. 

These are some photographs from the event, taken by Ken Dobb:

Ariane Terveld and Iana Komarnytska, performing Khalbeliya Dance from Rajasthan, India:

Paromita Kar performing folkloric dance from  northwestern India (Rajasthan/Gujrat region) with kartals (wooden castanets)

                                          Fethi Karakecili performing Turkish Roma Dance

Iana perforning Turkish Roma Dance to live music by the band Nomadica 

The band Nomadica! Seen in the photo are Roula Said (vocals), David Buchbinder (trumpet) and Peter Lutek (Clarinet):

Simona Jovic (France/Serbia) performing folkloric and Roma dances from the Balkan regions

 The band Ventanas, bringing us both music and dance! Seen in the photos:  are Tamar Ilana (vocals/dance), Dennis Duffin (guitar)

The finale of the event featured Ventanas singing the Balkan roma song "Tutti Frutti", to which Iana, Ariane, Simona and I improvised in Khalbeliya/Rajasthani dance style! It was great fun and here is a video of the improvised section!

The adventure continued into Sunday, September 28, when Simona taught workshops on Khalbeliya Dance and Ghawazee dance. The workshop series was organized by Troupe Obskurah and Iana Komarnytska. This is a photograph of all of us workshop participants after the event.

 I greatly enjoyed Simona's details on how the dance connected with the worldview or lifestyle of the community it was rooted in, and also her attention to the details of the form itself. It was a fabulous ending to the weekend! 

Reflections on "Arabian Nights" by Sisters of Salome

A year ago, I co-produced and performed my own dance-based solo show at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and this afternoon, I was happy to watch another dance-based production at the first of what I'm hoping will be a mini Fringe crawl this year. I watched "Arabian Nights" by Sisters of Salome, choreographed by Sarah Skinner and a few guest choreographers. One of the best things about my current housing is its location-  the Terragon Theatre, where the production was staged, is only a short walk away.

I was also drawn towards this production (which had been on my Fringe list for this year) for another reason.  As a dancer of world dance forms, I am always interested to see the scope of conceptualization in productions based on other world dance forms (I will unpack the term "world dance forms" later- I recognize this is a broad and loaded label, and yes, every dance form is a "world dance form". In this immediate context, I'm referring to primarily a dance vocabulary birthed geographically outside of Euro-North American lands). I recognize that much like my own practice, these productions perhaps similarly straddle two worlds and multiple cultural contexts, and I'm always curious to see how these dialogues play out in the production.

I think "Arabian Nights" delivers this dialogue in a fun, accessible, and entertaining way. The production features a fairly large ensemble cast (14 cast members), and is visually engaging and fun to watch. At no point did I find myself visually exhausted or bored. What excited me the most was the number of different dance vocabularies and concepts it dealt with. I saw movement influences and repertoire from bellydance, folklore, ballroom dance vocabularies, martial arts, and a very arresting ending. I enjoyed watching athletic and skilled performers in the different scenes, the humour in some of the scenes, the sensuality of other scenes (and some scenes do combine both!),  the colourful ensemble numbers, and the production values.

 What I remain the most appreciative of is the sheer novelty and the breadth of Sarah Skinner's vision for this production.  I would consider watching it a second time just to absorb its visuals and colours again.

For more information about the showtimes: http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/shows/arabian-nights-a-belly-dance-spectacular/

Reflections on Arabesque's production "Sawah" (2014), Toronto

This past Sunday afternoon, I watched the matinee performance of "Sawah" by Arabesque Dance Company, Toronto.  I had actually been looking forward to this performance for the past few weeks. It was a beautiful, full-length production, and a feast for my senses- I wish I could reflect upon the entirety of it. I would liken this blogpost to snapshots taken by a camera, capable of capturing only moments of a continuous journey.

 The journey in "Sawah" for me began with the music. The music was breathtakingly beautiful, from Bassam Bishara and the orchestra's soulful oud and vocals to the highly skilled and agile percussionwork led by Suleyman Warwar.

A hauntingly captivating moment for me was Melissa Gamal's dance to the taxim played by Bassam Bishara. This opened the dancing part of the show, and I must also mention here how well the lighting worked for this section. Through the lilting melody of Bassam Bishara's taxim and through the darkness upstage, a pair of sinuously waving arms suddenly emerged. The lighting then slowly revealed more of this expressive dancer. I found that the dramatic brevity of this piece added to its mysterious allure. The title piece, "Sawah" was then performed by the entire dancing cast, dressed in white, providing striking imagery against the projected backdrop of the clouds and the sky. At times, the white costumes against the imagery of the sky reminded me of the stories of the ferishtes (fairies).

The next piece was "Jeanie," themed after the t.v show "I Dream of Jeanie." This was much fun to watch- it was a short solo piece, performed by Angelica Jordan, guest dancer from Montreal. It featured recognizable movement motifs from the tv show, and costuming was a nod in the direction of Jeanie's outfit in the show. A second "Jeanie" piece was performed shortly afterwards, with more dancers from the ensemble- also fun to watch, and in between these was another small ensemble piece, titled "Kahramana," which the programme notes tell me was inspired by the genie  character played by Samia Gamal from the 1940s Egyptian film "Afrita Hanem".

I was deeply delighted to watch Artistic Director Yasmina Ramzy's solo, which followed. I found her  movements, deeply connected to the earth, so beautiful and so satisfying to watch. Here too, the lighting framed the dancer beautifully, creating a haunting and mysterious effect. As with Melissa Gamal's opening solo, both my eyes and ears relished this piece.

In the Khaleegy piece that followed, the cheerful, interactive feel of the piece was engaging, and the visible enjoyment of the dancers was  infectious. In the final piece of the first act, I enjoyed the interaction between the percussionists and the dancers, and also greatly enjoyed the individuality expressed by each dancer and percussionist.

Act II opened with "Banadi Aleik," an ensemble piece with dancers dressed in very striking silver, blue and red costumes, with red roses along the sleeves. The Sword Dabki, led by Kranti, followed. His athleticism and energy are so enjoyable to watch! He was joined by four other male performers. This was followed by another ensemble performance by the ladies, now dressed in blue outfits. Yasmina Ramzy appeared again in a brief but engaging solo. And then, three beautiful dancers dressed in deep fusia costumes entered from stage right. Soon afterwards, they were joined by the other dancers wearing costumes in other colours. It was the perfect opening for the energy and joy of the final dance of the performance.

Yasmina Ramzy's Choreographer's Notes on the programme mention that "Sawah" is Arabic for traveler or wanderer. Her notes (also enjoyable to read) also briefly capture certain moments of her own journey as a traveler through the Middle Eastern performing arts. I did indeed find myself in a journey through the experience of "Sawah."  What is interesting is, I find that the journey did not end by the end of the performance. The music, beautiful, joyous and soulful moments of the dance continue to stay with me two days after the performance itself. 

Performing at the Horizon Series at Sampradaya Theatre

Last Sunday afternoon, I had the wonderful opportunity of performing as part of the Horizon Series at Sampradaya Theatre in Mississauga. I performed classical Odissi dance repertoire choreographed by Guru Durgacharan Ranbir. Also performing at the same event was Kuchipudi dancer Harikrishnan Nair, whose performance I'm happy to have had the opportunity to watch, after I finished my own. It was engaging and enjoyable!

I find Sampradaya (the rehearsal/class studios as well as the studio theatre)  to be a beautiful, nurturing space for dance.  I also greatly appreciated that the young students studying classical Indian dance at the academy are so wonderfully dedicated and devoted to the art. It was truly a delight to see them again- I met many of them for the first time last year, when I taught a workshop on Odissi dance there during their Summer Intensive. It is a joy to see their enthusiasm for the South Asian dance traditions.

The Horizon Series was started by Sampradaya in 2012 as a platform for emerging dance artists practicing South Asian classical dance forms, and featured dancers Atri Nundy and Nivedha Ramalingam in its innaugural showcase.

 I find that a young emerging professional dancer's experiences constitute a wide range, and that the label "Emerging Artist" itself truly covers a wide spectrum, which this series greatly takes into account. In addition to the support which Sampradaya extends to their performers at the Horizon series, I remain deeply appreciative of the inclusion of the artist talk-back as a feature in the series. For a diverse audience, I feel that such initiatives help spread awareness and understanding of South Asian dances, and may perhaps also serve to expand the understandings of classical Indian dance. Since a number of attendees at this events were also the dedicated students of the academy, they had some fascinating questions regarding aspects of the individual artistic practice itself- which I truly found stimulating.

These are a few pictures from my performance, taken by Ken Dobb, who attended this performance:

                                                           

                                                        Photo Credit: Ken Dobb

                                                         Photo Credit: Ken Dobb

                                                                 Photo Credit: Ken Dobb 

Upcoming Public Dance Performances and Events: March/April 2014

Toronto holds a strong attraction for me as a space which fosters multiple dance genres for a professional dance artist. These are the upcoming events I have in the next two weeks: 

March 29, 2014:

Dancing Bollywood this evening with Ekakshara Dance Creations

March 30, 2014: 4:00-6:00 pm

Performance at Horizons Performance Series:

Paromita Kar and Hari Kishan Nair perform at Horizons Performance Series at Sampradaya Theatre (4-3250 Ridgeway Drive, Mississauga). Paromita will be performing selections from "Corpus Matris", pieces from the classical Indian Odissi repertoire of the late Guru Debaprasad Das. Please join us! For more information:

http://www.sampradaya.ca/horizon-series-march-30-2014/

April 5, 2014:  6:00-10:00 pm

Indian Dance Workshop at Ontario Folk Dance Association: http://www.ofda.ca/events.html

April 9, 2014: 5:00-8:00 pm

Paromita Kar and Iana Komarnytska perform at The Scoop: Creative Networking: Connecting Artists with Space and Funds

Toronto Public Library, Lillian Smith Branch 

http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEVT152528&R=EVT152528

Kalanidhi International Dance Festival Day 3: Reflections on the Livecast Evening Performances

Last night, I tried out a new experience. I watched the live webcast of the Kalanidhi Festival's evening performances, featuring Nova Dance (Toronto) and Sadhya Dance Company (India).  The Kalanidhi Festival is exploring a wonderful direction this year- that of livestreaming some of its performances so that viewers can watch them remotely. I decided to give this option a try last night.

I write about this in the context of two recent experiences that have shaped the way I perceived the livestreamed performances. Firstly, two weeks ago, I attended the Dance Film workshop offered by Kaeja d' Dance. The workshop drew my attention to camera angles and framing of the body, especially the dancing body.  Allen Kaeja pointed out during the workshop that the camera cannot replicate the experiences of the human eye. His words came back to me as I watched these two unique dance pieces on my laptop. Secondly, as recently as two days ago (Thursday evening) I watched the opening night of the festival in the same space, the Fleck Dance Theatre at Harbourfront live, so I have a sense of scale and size of the actual performance space, and a fairly recent visual memory of watching dancing in the space. These personal reflections on the third evening's performances are thus not a reflection of my experience of the live performance but of the performance as filtered through the lens of the camera, and accessed by me remotely via my laptop. To be fair though, I did turn my lights out, to simulate the experience of the theatre to a certain extent!  

The live webcast captured not only the performances themselves, but also the entire event, including the introductions, audiences during the intermission, and the interactive question-answer session after the performance, and I felt that watching the livecast gave a sense of what it may have been like to be present in the theatre throughout the evening.

The first piece was Akshongay, a duet danced by Nova Bhattacharya and Louis Laberge-Côté. The piece began with the two dancers sitting facing each other, wrapped by a long piece of red fabric. Throughout the piece, I was mesmerized with the relationship established between the two dancers and this fabric. To me, it almost felt like the red fabric was its own character, and played quite a significant role in the piece. At times I saw motifs inspired by images from Hindu mythology. I also enjoyed the lighting design in this piece, and how the dancers and the lighting interacted with each other.

Bhattacharya performed a part of this piece in a black dress, and another part in a sari. She had a charming, inviting smile on her face through much of the piece. She flicked and adjusted the ends of her sari playfully. I could feel the sensuality of the piece building as she and Laberge-Côté clutched each others' arms. Here, the camera took me right into the intimacy of the moment. I'm sure those moments in the theatre were sublime, but I was captured by the beauty of what I saw through the camera's eye (via the webcast!). I think the camera worked beautifully in collaboration with these artists for that moment.

Perhaps the most touching part of the choreography for me was a section in which they seem to depict a couple in harmony. Bhattacharya fixes Laberge-Côté's tie, and he, in turn, bends down and adjusts the lines of her sari's pleats near the bottom. This reminded me of something that I've seen my own parents help each other with- and it made me think of my parents' almost thirty years of marriage and more years of togetherness. I think this is a moment that South Asian spectators of my generation who may have grown up watching a sari-wearing mother can relate to. This interdependence was highlighted throughout the piece - in both its title, Akshongay, which means "together" in Bengali, and in the contact-based nature of most of the piece. However, for me, the "Akshongay"ness was crystallized in that moment of the two dancers grooming each other/adjusting each other's tie/sari.

The second piece of the evening was The Mystical Forest, by Sadhya Dance Company from India. This performance marked the world premiere of the piece. What I remember of this visually arresting work: manipulated fabric, ropes and the extremely athletic dancers!  The piece began with a group of dancers entering through the aisles of the theatre, moving through the audience, sometimes making eye-contact with specific audience members. Here again, the camera showed me not only the dancers but also the reactions of the audience to these dancers. The dancers eventually climbed onto the stage, where they proceeded to perform the rest of the piece.

 I enjoyed a section they performed with ropes- it reminded me of games I played in school in my first school in India. Another visually spectacular moment in the piece was a section in which long pieces of cloth trailed behind each dancer as they entered the stage from the wings. These dancers carried masks as they entered, giving the section an almost ceremonial feel.  The dancers moved with incredible agility throughout the physically challenging parts of the piece, and there were a number of very athletic and acrobatic moments (such as the killing of an animal (portrayed by a female dancer) by a hunter (portrayed by one of the male dancers) which were beautifully timed.

My  heartfelt appreciation to Kalanidhi Fine Arts of Canada, for firstly, their wonderful programming  bringing both traditional and new creative directions in Indian dance to Canadian audiences over the past two decades, and secondly, for exploring new media in furthering the reach of these performances. 

Kalanidhi International Dance Festival 2014- Reflections on Opening Night

Yesterday I attended the opening night of the Kalanidhi International Dance Festival on New Directions in Indian Dance.  I'm always interested in the dialogues between "tradition" and "contemporary" in any genre of dance, and thought I'd share a few reflections on the pieces I watched yesterday. I had reached the Harbourfront Centre a little early after teaching a class downtown, and so I took the opportunity to pick up our pre-ordered tickets (Amber and I were attending together, and had purchased our tickets online) at the box office. Since the evening's performance was scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm and it was only 6:30 pm, I decided to go to the Pearl and have a glass of Merlot. I was able to get a seat near the window, and the view of the lake covered in ice was spectacular.

The festival's opening evening began with a performance of a traditional Bharatanatyam varnam by Nivedha Ramalingham, who put on a lovely performance despite a few glitches in the music recording. I enjoyed her expressivity and her good form, and remain deeply appreciative of her transition back into the choreography after the technical glitches with the music recording.  

This was followed by the second performance - SAVITRI-dancing in the forest of death by Preeti Vasudevan's Thresh from New York City. SAVITRI began with a very striking visual of Vasudevan's legs in the air. The lighting highlighted this beautifully by leaving the rest of her body (which was on the floor) in darkness. My attention was caught by the articulations of her feet in the air, and I got goosebumps when she used vocalizations as she lowered her feet to the ground. There is something powerful about the use of human voice without words, and Vasudevan captured that powerful, indescribable feeling perfectly.  The set consisted of ropes suspended from the ceiling at upstage right- was this reflective of the forest? From my seat in the balcony, they almost looked like suspended human bones, adding to the somewhat eerie quality of parts of the piece.  At times, Vasudevan went behind these ropes, sometimes she emerged from between them.  I was definitely drawn into the piece. At moments, it appeared as though the sections were a little disjoint, especially when the sections involving voice were interspersed with sections which seemed to evoke movements from the Bharatanatyam lexicon −  but this made sense upon reading the programme later- the sections presented yesterday were excerpts from a longer work.

SAVITRI and its performer-mise-en-scene conversation was perhaps a perfect transition into the third part of the evening − three short dance pieces presented by Hari Krishnan's InDance.  The first, titled Box, featured two dancers dancing phrases of movements from the  Bharatanatyam vocabulary  in two separate squares of light. As I read the programme notes now, it appears that the choreographic vision was inspired by the concept of binaries, such as "White/Other", "Marginal/Mainstream," and how they are boxed into clean  categorizes . While watching it, I actually didn't find myself thinking of binaries; I was instead drawn in by the visual of the boxed pools of light on the floor, and how the dancers danced within the walls of these. I also enjoyed the unison of the dancers,  and the textures of percussion created by the different instruments played by Morgan Doctor. The most exciting moment for me was the ending, which featured the two dancers leaping into each other's boxes.

The next was a solo piece, an excerpt from Mea Culpa, which, as the programme notes state, was inspired by a vintage magazine cover featuring Ted Shawn's 1926 dance The Cosmic Dance of Siva. Featuring Matt Owen as the delightful interpreter, it was easily the most entertaining piece of the evening. The piece began with Owen stripping slowly and sensually into fishnets, and then proceeding to perform exaggerated movements reminiscent of the early 20th century "oriental dances".  Owen danced in front of a large projected image reminiscent of the Nataraja (not quite Nataraja, but an Orientalist approximation of it!) Hari Krishnan's programme notes, crediting Rossini and Gowri Shankar for the music and offering apologies to both, were also deliciously amusing. I relished this piece, in both its  humorous dialogue with the historical Ted Shawn work and its own package of fun.

The final piece of the evening was Uma, danced by Mesma Belsare. I particularly enjoyed watching her enter in character onto the stage, with her diva-like pause in the centre while waiting for the curtain to go up, and her varied gaits throughout the piece.  

This is the second Kalanidhi Festival that I've actually been able to watch since moving to Toronto in 2006. I've always been either away from Toronto or occupied during the festival days during the other years. I did, however, get a chance to attend the festival and symposium in 2009, where I saw the choreographic works which eventually inspired the writing of the article which  turned into my chapter contribution in the book Geographies of Dance, ed: Adam Pine, Olaf Kuhlke, Lexington Publishers (2013) (http://www.amazon.ca/Geographies-Dance-Movement-Corporeal-Negotiations/dp/0739171844)

Reflections on the Dance Film Intensive with Kaeja d'Dance

Today I attended the one-day dance film-making intensive offered by Allen and Karen Kaeja. I had first seen Allen's dance film works at York University in 2008, during one of the courses which I had TA'd for during my M.A  in Dance. I'd always been interested in film as a visual medium, and the use of the body in film in particular, and I was fascinated by this genre of film (or dance? or meeting point for the two disciplines). During that class, we had watched sections of Kaeja's Asylum of Spoons (2005), and Old Country (2004).  I was interested in further investigating and exploring this medium. In the years in between, I did try making a dance film, shot on the rocks along the Atlantic Ocean at Port Medway Village in Nova Scotia. While the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, I wasn't quite happy with how the dancing interacted with the camera, and decided I wanted to further engage with this concept and learn more before I attempted my next one.

One of my goals in going in for this workshop was to garner ideas and knowhow on how to direct a shot, and how to envision a shot, and also to see examples of shots specific to this genre to get a sense of the possibilities in which they may be directed. I also deal with the limitations of not having expensive editing software- I use a very basic Windows Movie Maker for most of my video/dance projects, and hence much of my "eye" through which I hope to reveal my vision lies in the camera itself. In this aspect, I found the workshop very satisfying. Allen and Karen led us through a fascinating initial exercise of walking around a shared space with dancers, and getting used to "seeing" movement and its possibilities through the eye of the camera.

I particularly enjoyed the group exercises we did in making short dance films, and through these group exercises, also meeting the fellow participants of the workshop. One of my greatest joys at dance events is meeting new dance artists and new creative people. I was delighted to be attending with Amrapali 'Amber' Ray from Ekakshara Dance Creations. In addition to being an engineer and a dance artist, Amber is a talented visual artist, who works primarily with canvas. For the group project, Amber and I partnered up with two talented dancers, and made a one-minute continuous shot. We did several takes of this. One of my favourite parts of this project was also the collaborative aspect of it- the collaborative vision and work towards it. Watching and discussing the shots taken by the different groups afterwards was also fun and I found the feedback very informative and useful.

In the light of the workshop I took today, I think I am in a more informed position with regards to how to envision and direct a shot. The workshop did indeed address some of the significant aspects which I was curious about, and also opened up a world of possibilities in terms of what the camera-eye can do in interacting with dance. What I perhaps found the most valuable was Allen's emphasis on the camera as a living, active entity.

In retrospect, I'm also glad that I  attempted  my little project on the Atlantic. While there are many aspects I would change today in terms of framing and angles, the exercise was greatly useful in identifying the nature of my questions and entrypoints. I will probably load an edited version of the footage we took today soon. I'm happy to have taken the workshop.

Life since the PhD

So I'm settling in to a new routine during my first month after the submission of the PhD dissertation. So much has been happening! 

Firstly, a huge congratulations to wonderful friend Iana Komarnytska for winning the Star Bellydancer Canada soloist award. Knowing Iana for over a year now, I know that she is wonderfully versatile and an extremely dedicated dancer, and truly deserving. I was not personally able to attend this competition, which was held at Toronto's Mod Club, but from what I gather from the beautiful photographs of the whole event, I find that all the performances that evening were wonderful, and I'm proud and honoured to share such a wonderful dancing space in this city with so many talented and passionate artists.

It has been a generally busy time for me, and a time full of transitions, both exciting and filled with anxiety about what the future holds. In general, I've been engaged in a housing search, for a new apartment, since I'll be moving out of the York campus soon. I have also been pursuing a Dance Education Internship at George Brown College Dance Department/Ballet Jörgen, while continuing my usual work as a dance teacher, soloist and performer with a few different troupes. 

March will be a busy month for dancing and dance-related activities! Here's what I have going on in March:

March 1: Dance Film workshop with Alan Kaeja: Amber from Ekakshara Dance Creations and I are taking this workshop together. This is probably the first time in the last few years that I've actually been free on the date of the workshop, and look forward to this one! I find Dance Film/Dance on Camera an exciting medium which combines both of my interests.

March 9: Performance with Dilan Dance Company: One of the exciting new dance languages that I've been introduced to since the PhD has been Turkish and Kurdish traditional dances, and choreographies by Fethi Karakecili. I had first met Fethi on the first day of attending York for the Master's degree in the Dance Department. Since then, we've remained good friends, classmates, and now also creative collaborators. I'm honoured to be part of his company and learn these beautiful and rich dance traditions from him. I had first danced as part of Dilan Dance Company in October 2011, at the world premiere of Kurdish epic love story "Mem u Zin." The performance was staged at Toronto's Isabel Bader Theatre. I had returned to Toronto from a summer of being away from the city and one day got a phone call from Fethi asking if I could join the performance. Ofcourse I said yes! It was an enriching experience, and I was deeply honoured to be part of this historic and memorable event. Joe Fiorito from the Toronto Star wrote about this performance and its significance in his article:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/09/28/fiorito_kurdish_love_story_set_for_toronto_stage.html

In May 2014, Dilan Dance Company returns to Toronto's Isabel Bader Theatre with another large-cast production titled "Dance of Colours." It has been great fun to work with the company again, and to work with the fabulous and fun set of dancers in the production. Through the work with Dilan and Fethi, I also learned a very fun and festive Turkish dance from the Silifke region in which the dancers play wooden spoons as they dance. The summer workshops I had with Chelydra in Newport News in Zilling have come in handy here! I had first seen Fethi perform this dance at the York Dance Department's grad showcase in 2007, and at a performance in February, I joined him in a duet performance of this dance. It has been truly enjoyable to work with him and his dancers. On March 9, we perform again at an event, as an ensemble. 

March 16: This is the second workshop that the Ekakshara dancers and I are taking together in March- and greatly looking forward to it! We're taking it at Bellyup Studios in Oakville, and this will be my first time visiting this wonderful studio which I have heard wonderful things about. Needless to say, we're excited!

March 18: Guest Lecture in Music Department's world music class. Last year, I had done one of these in the world music traditions class. I lectured on the traditions of classical Indian Odissi dance, and on the traditions of the gotipua and mahari and the sabdaswarapata traditions which inform modern day Odissi dance and its aesthetics. In addition, I also spoke a little about Khalbeliya dance performed by the women of the khalbeliya tribe in Rajasthan in western India. Finally, I speak about Bollywood and its history of dance involvement, and the influences of world dance and music traditions today on the music/dance in Bollywood cinema. I am doing this lecture again on this date.

March 29: The girls at Ekakshara and I are performing together at another private event.

2014 Beginnings: Dance, Writing, and Conferences

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday break. It's already over two weeks into 2014, so I figured it was time for an update! Here's what I have coming up:

1) "Body Brake" at Theatre Passe-Muraille! (January 24th, 10:30 pm, Theatre Passe-Muraille)

 This is an exciting and fun new dance series in an intimate and informal setting, for Theatre Passe-Muraille After Hours programming, and is curated by the wonderful Brandy Leary of Anandam Dance Theatre. January 24th is the innaugural evening of this, and I am excited to be performing there. The lineup features many incredible Toronto-based dancers from diverse dance genres, and I'm dancing a duet with Amber of Ekakshara Dance Creations. I look forward! More information about this event can be found here, and we would love if you could join us in this celebration of diverse dance forms:
https://www.facebook.com/events/522318684533675

2) Between the end of December and middle of January, I have two dance-related publications:

Firstly, the book "Geographies of Dance Vol. I: Corporeal Negotiations" featuring my article "Modernity, Post-Modernity and the Paradigmatic Mudra: Corporeal Negotiations in the Works of Toronto's Bharatanatyam Choreographers" as the first chapter was released in late December 2013. Here is more information about the book:

http://www.amazon.ca/Geographies-Dance-Movement-Corporeal-Negotiations/dp/0739171844

Also, I've been working on my first bellydance-related article (based on Egyptian Golden Age cinema bellydancers and the courtesans of Bollywood films), for the Zaghareet Magazine, and its scheduled to appear in the upcoming issue of the magazine.

3)  The new year also brings a flurry of dance activity. Amber and I are performing our first 2014 Ekakshara Dance Creations gig on this Sunday, January 19th, and then "Body Brake" on January 24th, followed by a performance with The Saucy Tarts on January 25th in Kitchener. Ekakshara then performs again on February 1st and the 15th.

4) Conferences: I've been working on a new dance ethnography and research project recently, and will be presenting this in an upcoming Toronto conference. I continue to work on the research towards this project, and will post more information on this conference soon!

5) Finally, I am excited to return to teaching this year. I've been on a brief hiatus from teaching dance, in order to work on the PhD dissertation and the Fringe production last year. I will be teaching my regular students as well as some new ones this year, and I look forward!

Alongside all this, I am still completing a few revisions to my dissertation post-defense, and look towards turning it in for the final submission soon. I guess those are all my updates for now!