I have just recently recovered from my Los Angeles experience. I never realized how much I miss the simplicities of the heat, the ocean, the 405 and my extended Rangoli family. It started with attending a performance at the Temple in Calabasas, where I was overwhelmed with faces known and unfamiliar (well everyone was in full makeup and costume) but nonetheless I felt spirited in the surroundings. Our rehearsal schedule intense as the triple digit temperatures while the camaraderie and support for the task at hand was as abundant as the delicious food provisions. Old friends surfaced as I visited old stomping grounds Club Zanzibar, Electric Lodge, Robeks and Johnny’s Pastrami while new edifices glisten The Santa Monica Place Mall and Library where I was greeted with enthusiasm by a former Connecticut student thanking me for her dance instruction. Eternal gratitude to the friends who welcomed me into their homes and comforted me with more simple pleasures of love, food, conversation and laughter.
Last month Hulu premieredthe online miniseries “LXD: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers” created by Jon M. Chu also director of movies “Step Up 2 & 3D”. Volume 1 of this 10 chapter miniseries showcases many elements of dance/sport movement on never-before-seen small screen, 360° slow motion cinematography. If you ever thought those accomplished aerial/gravity defying stunts in dance movement were impossible, this series gives you a birds-eye view of this ability. The “dancer” as “superhero” performs Ninja-type choreography, eloquently filmed and slowed so the viewer may marvel at the dancing abilities of these artists in their respective techniques. From B-boying, Popping and Locking, Krumping, contemporary Modern, Tap and Ballet, 10 chapters in total convey 10-13 minute storylines creatively displaying technical feats of various movement vocabulary, through stories of passion, desire, intrigue and revenge. Chu has created dance themes in everyday settings like the high school prom, the hospital, the office, the street, all as backdrops and reasons to display contagious dance episodes. Chu has definitely created a new genre in cinematic dance, making the dancing element the primary focus of entertainment.
It is with great honor that I will be joining the Rangoli Dance Company in the 25th anniversary production “Shivaya.” I cannot wait to reunite with the exceptional talent and gentle spirits that make this foundation an integral component in the study of Bharata Natyam, Indian classical theater, Yoga and sustainability in folkloric dance. I first met artistic director/choreographer Malathi Iyengar during my undergraduate years at UCLA. We were both challenged by the adaption of an avant/post modern approach to dance movement concepts, coming from a background of organic movement vocabulary. We discussed and collaborated then our ideas of this “new” dance movement culture, and I am pleased to say, 15 years later we still share, as UCLA alum, great friends and extended family. This anniversary year, I will incorporate a classically choreographed intro in the theme of earth, air, water and fire.
Kudos Rangoli ……… from the Elder Storytellers to the New Disciples, you all rock!
I had to refrain from blogging about SYTYCD season 7, which turned out to be quite a bore with a few exceptions. Let’s begin with the audition elimination. When judges failed to choose two superb male dancers that auditioned in NY, the injured Anthony Burrell and D.J. Smart (who later featured his amazing audition choreography in episode 21), I asked myself “o.k. now where is this program going?” Anthony, D.J and slated season 7 winner Alex Wong, would have offered a highly polished performance quality, perhaps as an unfair advantage to the other contestants. But why was the later injured and eliminated Alex chosen over the other two? Was this a deliberate casting angle?
August will see a roster of Arangetrams* presented by Artistic Director Malathi Iyengar from the Rangoli Dance Company (*the debut performance of a Classical Dancer, the time when a disciple proves talents and knowledge taken from their Guru) article by Prem Kishore of IndiaPost – California
These live performances of Bharata Natyam with mesmerizing , intricate rhythms, unique narrative, and powerful movements, always engage, enrich and showcase the best traditions of Indian classical dance Iyengar is a cherished and innovative choreographer, dancer/artist of our times and it is with an exhilarating anticipation that one looks forward to the debut of her amazingly versatile, gifted young dancers.
Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD), started a grassroots initiative declaring July 31st as National Dance Day. Encouraging individuals, communities and organizations to dance! This initiative has reached the interests of the politician Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes introducing a resolution to promote dance education as well as physical fitness.
The idea is to get individuals off the sofa and into a lifestyle of physical activity. SYTYCD is encouraging national dance parties to be filmed and submitted to the network (Click here to upload your video)
The Company
In 1977 DanceBrazil was founded by Jelon Vieira after evolving from grass-roots workshops at the Clark Center for the Arts in NYC. Alvin Ailey joined the board of directors in 1980 and helped focus the objectives of DanceBrazil, emphasizing the company’s ability to speak to a broad North American community. Within a few years, DanceBrazil premiered at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. In 1985, DanceBrazil premiered Orfeo Negro at the Riverside Dance Festival to critical and popular acclaim.
In my last blog I made a comparison of the South African Pantsula dancing and Irish Clog dancing from a reference of my Art in Education performances. Historically, Africans when transported by Irish sailors during the Middle Passage, were forced to exercise and entertain by dancing. This created an interchange of culture resulting in the African slaves adopting dance movements from the cultures they witnessed ie. Spanish/Latin America, French/Haiti, Portuguese/Brazil. The new African-American slaves often performed/created dances of Juba and The Jig with the influences they learned from the Irish. Well now the tables have turned…
In my search for Irish Clogging I came across this video of a 2009 Clogging competition where many of the youth team competitors have included Hip-hop influences in their choreography. If I am not mistaken, usually Irish dance when performed, the upper carriage or torso remains erect while the feet/legs make intricate rhythmic patterns. In observing this video, the dancers are performing with a curvature of the spine and flexion of the pelvis, specific to the African style of dancing.
Will there exist a need for Cultural Sustainability as we have a melding of DNA heredity and cultural norms? This may very well be a topic for purists in sustaining an art form, or a revolution for segregationists, who oppose the blending of culture.
Pantsula is a South African social dance derived from the introduction of International popular radio music played on transistor radios in the 1960’s. It is a syncopated form of freestyle dancing using swift heel-toe movements and gumboot stomps, reminiscent of rhythmic tap and Irish clogging. The element of theatrics not only allows for self expression, but oftentimes a satirical skit of commonplace experiences. Unfortunately, this theatrical element mildly imitates Minstrel traditions of slapstick comedy used by Amos-n-Andy, who heralded radio from 1920’s to 1950’s, and television for three years after.
