My Pick, Bharatanatyam

The amount of craft that goes into a Bharatanatyam dance is as beautiful as it is fascinating. It may even be said that any individual whom is deeply drawn by the transcendental, may intuitively see a profundity here. Every movement is so very much calculated. Even the facial expressions have a precision to them. Fingers change and have very specific positions. But this type of precision makes sense as this is as a type of yoga, utilizing mudras (specific finger positions used in yoga).

Though I say that somebody into the transcendental arts may intuitively be lured to this dance form, I am particularly lured because I can relate to such a grounded, extensively energetic, and precision in body articulation as I have found myself in a similar “feeling”. I imagine that as a master Bharatanatyam dancer, one may feel as if one has transcended into a realm that may be best explained as doing “the Great Work”—that is, coming to the realization of an immense amount of control of your surrounding by paradoxically throwing into the equation a complete acceptance of that very surrounding (Note: this acceptance may be quite parallel to what the Buddhists truly mean when they say “compassion”.) My use of “may” is purposeful, as all is “may” and not much all is “is” but “is” itself, which somebody may even argue against, deeming even “is” also “is not”. Haha.

As the reader may see, it is quite simple for me to go into what others may see as abstract monologue, but the reason for this is that residing at the bases is where I enjoy residing—speaking of that base may tend to appear quite abstract, metaphysical, transcendental, chaotic, or whatever you want to deem that sort of place. So, in approaching a more familiar place, I will relate this dance to the teachings so far grasped in the dance classes. I turn to Richard's stress on the contraction of the abdomen. There is more than just contraction, however. There is, as Richard would also say, a presentness or liveliness in the stillness. Stillness is not as a zombie, but is full of energy (this is even abstract, I know, but a certain level of abstractness can never seem to really be avoided; besides, it keeps things interesting).

Like all dance, in Bharatanatyam, there is an advanced feel for the center of gravity and opposition. The posture is as refined as it is often seen in ballet to where the tailbone is tucked. There is an extensive use of the second position. There is great use of turnout. The shift of weight is also quite graceful. Breathwork is assumed to be steady for movements look their most natural and graceful when there is steady breathwork, for breath feeds and/or creates the energy that flows through the body.

This style of dance will always captivate. (Warning: super abstract territory to follow!) The Bharatanatyam dancer is as a microcosm of a deity’s dance (Shiva) responsible for existence as we know it. It is as if the higher us which is just one being perceived at the very moment just as one individual “I” is dancing articulate dance moves, each movement spawning everything from the dawning of a universe to the hardships we live through in this matrix-like world. The Bharatanatyam dancer is doing something profound, something old, and something captivating, that is for sure.

Body Check In

As my past blogs show, I am quite serious when it comes to health. Though I have always kept a healthy mind, body and spirit, the dance program has had its influence. This, unfortunately, may not be true for everyone in dance, whom, when feeling the demands of the body, seem to oftentimes fill those demands with inadequate foods (e.g.--soft drinks, fast food, as is often noticed). Making nutrition and health seminars mandatory really is a great idea, for it seems many do need work in this area.

I feel great. Without health, all else comes tumbling down. After years of tweaking, I have developed a very pleasant balance of mind, body, and spirit. I have gotten to this point after keeping strict diets (currently: Ayurveda), exercising (via yoga and a weight resistance training called Slow Burn), surrounding myself with positive/forward-thinking company (currently: Lisa, very much so!), not drinking alcohol or smoking, and undergoing various meditative/shamanic experimentations. Lately, even, the hot tub has been of great use. In result of all this maintenance, I feel that the preliminaries for advancing in dance are taken care of.

Having several aspects of health down, I can further strengthen my body. Richard often mentions the muscles that need to be contracted in order to execute various ballet movements. I am always interested in ways of finding out how to build them. With health down, I can also put more focus on figuring out more learning techniques outside of independent learning. Being that battling something independently oftentimes works very well for me, I could always use techniques in the ability to learn from live instruction. Statistics class, for instance, was nearly impossible to pay attention to in class, though I was able to make an A in the course by studying the material at home (this same case happened all throughout x-ray school). At the very least, dance feels different, where dozing off to another’s instruction seems a bit more difficult. My mind appears to require faster blood circulation in order to really click with the material that is being shown. Coffee in the past has worked wonders for my ability to focus, though it came at the cost of feeling mentally imbalanced, getting stomach irritation, and occasionally getting allergy-like itching.