Cross-teaching in Bharatanaytam for creative aging classes One of the inspiring and awesome things about having long-term relationships with students in NYC is the sheer breadth and diversity of experiences that learners bring with them. At the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood, I have been teaching every week for more than 3 years, and the individuals in the class are educators, nurses, psychologists, mathematicians etc. Together, they speak Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Portuguese, Telugu and many more languages. This not only enriches our sessions, but also means that learners help one another to learn concepts and steps and creating an egalitarian environment. We had a few new learners, and a few long-time students took it upon themselves to show the others the words and meanings of the words in Mangalam through words and symbols. One Hebrew speaker is teaching us Hebrew, and as I was sharing a song celebrating the sun (Kadalin Meethu in Tamil), he offered words for sun and moon in Hebrew ("Shamesh" and "Yareach"). 
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The Body Poetic for Arts for the Aging (Fall 2025) On September 8, 2025, as a teaching artist for Arts for the Aging, certified poetry therapist Lauren Mazow Boyle and I presented a series of workshops entitled "The Body Poetic: Exploration through Indian Dance and Poetry".
We explored Rabindranath Tagore's poem "And in wonder and amazement I sing'. Below is a small excerpt of the poetry that participants made: "Same as before, it invites my thoughts. My father coming home- Pick me up! I’m home! What about the things that are missing? Don’t forget them. The trees above, the blue sky, fluffy white clouds,As I lie on the grass. Don’t forget me. Come home." |
