Bharatanaytam and sculptures at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood On May 4, 2025, I will invite Aravind Mallapudi of Hrudayam Arts and we will share about sculptures and their role in Bharatanatyam. We will discuss South Indian temple architecture, the role of temples in life (historically and currently), objects found in the temples and their significance. We will then explore the sculptures of three deities - Ganesha, Shiva, and Parvati - and bring alive their sculptures through dance. PC: Aravind Mallapudi (images below) PC: Tom Frambach (images below) PC: Padma Narayanaswamy (images below)
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Moving Poetry at Kips Bay NYPL (6)For the sixth and last session of "Moving Poetry: Indian Dance and Poetry" at the Kips Bay New York Public Library, we explored the theme of song and its place in dance and mankind through the poem "My Song" by Rabindranath Tagore. My Song Rabindranath Tagore This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, like the fond arms of love. This song of mine will touch your forehead like a kiss of blessing. When you are alone it will sit by your side and whisper in your ear, when you are in the crowd it will fence you about with aloofness. My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams, it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown. It will be like the faithful star overhead when dark night is over your road. My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes, and will carry your sight into the heart of things. And when my voice is silent in death, my song will speak in your living heart..  Group poem
This song of mine will.. Enchant Be sung for three generations Be an eternal melody Be forever on your tastebuds Be on your wrist and be fragrant the room Be soft Moving Poetry at Kips Bay NYPL (5) For the fifth session of "Moving Poetry: Indian Dance and Poetry" at the Kips Bay New York Public Library, we explored the theme of emotions and its depiction in dance, through the poem "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore. Unending Love Rabindranath Tagore I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times… In life after life, in age after age, forever. My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs, That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms, In life after life, in age after age, forever. Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain, Its ancient tale of being apart or together. As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge, Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time: You become an image of what is remembered forever. You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount. At the heart of time, love of one for another. We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the same Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell- Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever. Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you The love of all man’s days both past and forever: Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life. The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.
Moving Poetry at Kips Bay NYPL (4) For the fourth session of "Moving Poetry: Indian Dance and Poetry" at the Kips Bay New York Public Library, we explored the theme of nature and its depiction in dance, through the poem "Over the green and yellow rice fields" by Rabindranath Tagore. Over the Green and Yellow Rice Fields Rabindranath Tagore Over the green and yellow rice-fields sweep the shadows of the autumn clouds followed by the swift- chasing sun. The bees forget to sip their honey; drunken with light they foolishly hover and hum. The ducks in the islands of the river clamour in joy for mere nothing. Let none go back home, brothers, this morning, let none go to work. Let us take the blue sky by storm and plunder space as we run. Laughter floats in the air like foam on the flood. Brothers, let us squander our morning in futile songs.  Flying High Together (Group poem)
Brothers and sisters, we shall... Eat the rice for dinner, Sing with joy, Dance in the rice fields with the stalks, Catch the fish, prawns, and crabs, Go to work and go back home, Fly high with bees and ducks, Meditate. Moving Poetry at Kips Bay NYPL (3)For the third session of "Moving Poetry: Indian Dance and Poetry" at the Kips Bay New York Public Library, we explored the theme of rhythm through the poem "The Same Stream of Life" by Rabindranath Tagore. The Same Stream of Life Rabindranath Tagore The same stream of life that runsthrough my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.  Rhythms of Life (Group poem)
Sirens, traffic, traffic lights, taxis honking Day and night, the subway Pedestrians walking, bicycles The rhythm of nature, leaves, flowers, birds Construction, doors opening and closing, beeping Cellphones, conversations, and music. Bharatanatyam gives learners an opportunity to build on complexityOne of the reasons Bharatanatyam is so suited for older adults is that it gives a way to build on complexity of movement in a modular way. Simpler movements can be combined together to create something longer, giving participants a sense of accomplishment. The video below comprises a pattern that we learned in this sequence: we first learned the rhythm (3 steps + 1 gap), the sollu (the way the rhythm is articulated and spoken), feet movements, hand movements, and then hands in four different directions. At any time, participants can choose to pick all, some, or none of the modalities, as watching is also considered a part of dance in Bharatanatyam. We also did these movements in different speeds, adding an additional layer of complexity. Dancers: Sloka, Marshall Douglas, Deanna vanSecondorf, CS Rani
Video credit: Michael Setter Venue: YM&YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood. Celebrating springtime with learners at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and InwoodParticipants of the sessions at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood were inspired by the sights of spring today (some pictures below): |
