letters from england...
hi! what's up. i just got done with a dance rehearsal for this preformance next week- next thursday- these little kids, 3rd graders are dancing! so cute. yesterday, vibha and i taught dance at this little school in this village faaaar from where we live in bradford. we taught for 5 one hour sections, 35 students in each section. it was such an experience, i've never done anything quite like that before. :)
i wish all of you were here with me. there so much to see. this dance performance next week- on the 10th, the little kids one- is in this museum! it's lovely. called cartwright hall. wooden floors, deep plum and palegree walls, gold framed paintings...one side of the hall is a balcony (the hall is on the second floor of the museum) over looking the first. the ceilings here are so beautiful. very intricate, even in homes, just as decorated as the walls (textured, that is) with mouldings and accents. the museums' ones are very high and a pale yellow, accented with a cream. add to that a cerub motif accenting the walls union with the ceiling and original stone pillars. the whole scene, very dramatic. ha! and THIS, this incredibly grownup setting is the stage for these children's dance. i LOVE working with these kids. they're so refreshing. getting to know them, teaching them...after each class vibha and i get showered with hugs and little kisses. today the children got their costumes. little saris for the girls (red for the ones from one school, green for the ones from the other) and salwar kutras for all the boys. totally adorable. i'm a bit gushy about them :)
OOOOOHHH....so this past week, vibha and i had the opportunity to meet one of the worlds most wonderful tabla artists. There are three primary ''houses'' of tabla playing. famous ones. Kishan Maharaj's. Then the Sahai house, then i think the last is the one of Govind, or gobind, Maharaj. Vibha and i met Kishan Maharaj's son, Puran Maharaj, and his family. They're here on holiday and my aunt and uncle have been entertaining them. They are soooo nice, esp Puranji. he's this chubby, jovial type of man. He and his family (his wife dances bharatnatyam, kuchipudi and kathak and teaches hindhustani music as well) came to watch vibha and i during our dance practice. gave us their blessings.
Next week is going to be terribly busy. On the 6th we're going toa kathak recital, then on the 8th to wales for the cultural festival, we'll run a folk dance workshop for children. then on the 10th we have the childrens' preformance in the morning and vibha and i are preforming for another school's cultural festival at night. then on the 11th the BBC launch in the afternoon., then that night, 3 ten min slots of dance at the University of Bradford. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I've never preformed this much.
it occurs to me i didn't tell you guys much about this arts company we're working with. or much at all about the people i'm working with. The company's name is called Kala Sangam. It was founded about 10 years ago, i believe, with the mission to unite people through south asian art. www.kalasangam.org It promotes all sorts of artists from around the world, works to introduce dance and and various types of instrumental and vocal music to children here. it's pretty amazing, how it's grown. They have all sorts of classes and preformances in: instrumental (tabla, sitar, harmonium, sarod, flute, etc..), vocal (carnatic and hindustani), dance (kuchupudi, mohiniaatam, bharatnatyam, kathak, folk) and storytelling, arts and crafts. it's more like a corporation/agency type thing, rather than just a dance company. tons to do. vibha and i take care of the busy work that piles up around here. database entry, faxes, writting letter to people, taking mins of metings, typing those up- and now, dancing at some of the preformances that kala sangam gets invited or hired to do. We're working with such wonderful people, they are all so patient and veyr good at what they do, and are SO willing to teach us and nuture our art. Ajit Singh (ajit bhaiya), is the programs manager. he deals with organizing and executing large scale and community preformances. he's this giant of a man (6'3'') and with his turban,he's even taller. He's a gentle giant though. he's hilarious, not sure if he means to be funny, but vibha and i are always laughing when we're with him. and h really treats us like we're his little sisters!! introduced us to his family and all (niceness seems to ba a genetic trait with their family) He's convinced that he'll teach us punjabi and hindi before we leave. haha, good luck. Rashmi Sudhir (rashmi akka), she's the education officer for kala sangam. organizes all the school workshops and community educational preformances. we usually accompany her on all the school workshops. She's got a little girl, 7 yrs old, who's just too cute and too overly smart for her own good ;) rashmi akka's pregnant with her second child now, due soon...a little girl! then there's kalsoom didi, the financial officer, she's forever getting vibha and i to eat fruit. sh's so sweet, just got married ( and is incredibly beautiful). so that's my family here at kala sangam. i'll tell you guys about my aunts family sometime later...i'm sure this email is plenty long enough.
sorry i haven't been sending too many individual emails, i'm on a dial up connection here, so i never have that much time before the internet flakes out. I misss you all my lovelies. i wish you we're all here, it's so green and lush- there's a forrest right by where we live here- i can't wait to explore it. the weather has been really rainy lately, so after taht clears up, vibs and i will go exploring :) tata, talk to you all soon. hope you're all doing well, let me know how things are, i'll keep doing the same from here :)
toodle loo...
much love,
sadhu
hi! what's up. i just got done with a dance rehearsal for this preformance next week- next thursday- these little kids, 3rd graders are dancing! so cute. yesterday, vibha and i taught dance at this little school in this village faaaar from where we live in bradford. we taught for 5 one hour sections, 35 students in each section. it was such an experience, i've never done anything quite like that before. :)
i wish all of you were here with me. there so much to see. this dance performance next week- on the 10th, the little kids one- is in this museum! it's lovely. called cartwright hall. wooden floors, deep plum and palegree walls, gold framed paintings...one side of the hall is a balcony (the hall is on the second floor of the museum) over looking the first. the ceilings here are so beautiful. very intricate, even in homes, just as decorated as the walls (textured, that is) with mouldings and accents. the museums' ones are very high and a pale yellow, accented with a cream. add to that a cerub motif accenting the walls union with the ceiling and original stone pillars. the whole scene, very dramatic. ha! and THIS, this incredibly grownup setting is the stage for these children's dance. i LOVE working with these kids. they're so refreshing. getting to know them, teaching them...after each class vibha and i get showered with hugs and little kisses. today the children got their costumes. little saris for the girls (red for the ones from one school, green for the ones from the other) and salwar kutras for all the boys. totally adorable. i'm a bit gushy about them :)
OOOOOHHH....so this past week, vibha and i had the opportunity to meet one of the worlds most wonderful tabla artists. There are three primary ''houses'' of tabla playing. famous ones. Kishan Maharaj's. Then the Sahai house, then i think the last is the one of Govind, or gobind, Maharaj. Vibha and i met Kishan Maharaj's son, Puran Maharaj, and his family. They're here on holiday and my aunt and uncle have been entertaining them. They are soooo nice, esp Puranji. he's this chubby, jovial type of man. He and his family (his wife dances bharatnatyam, kuchipudi and kathak and teaches hindhustani music as well) came to watch vibha and i during our dance practice. gave us their blessings.
Next week is going to be terribly busy. On the 6th we're going toa kathak recital, then on the 8th to wales for the cultural festival, we'll run a folk dance workshop for children. then on the 10th we have the childrens' preformance in the morning and vibha and i are preforming for another school's cultural festival at night. then on the 11th the BBC launch in the afternoon., then that night, 3 ten min slots of dance at the University of Bradford. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I've never preformed this much.
it occurs to me i didn't tell you guys much about this arts company we're working with. or much at all about the people i'm working with. The company's name is called Kala Sangam. It was founded about 10 years ago, i believe, with the mission to unite people through south asian art. www.kalasangam.org It promotes all sorts of artists from around the world, works to introduce dance and and various types of instrumental and vocal music to children here. it's pretty amazing, how it's grown. They have all sorts of classes and preformances in: instrumental (tabla, sitar, harmonium, sarod, flute, etc..), vocal (carnatic and hindustani), dance (kuchupudi, mohiniaatam, bharatnatyam, kathak, folk) and storytelling, arts and crafts. it's more like a corporation/agency type thing, rather than just a dance company. tons to do. vibha and i take care of the busy work that piles up around here. database entry, faxes, writting letter to people, taking mins of metings, typing those up- and now, dancing at some of the preformances that kala sangam gets invited or hired to do. We're working with such wonderful people, they are all so patient and veyr good at what they do, and are SO willing to teach us and nuture our art. Ajit Singh (ajit bhaiya), is the programs manager. he deals with organizing and executing large scale and community preformances. he's this giant of a man (6'3'') and with his turban,he's even taller. He's a gentle giant though. he's hilarious, not sure if he means to be funny, but vibha and i are always laughing when we're with him. and h really treats us like we're his little sisters!! introduced us to his family and all (niceness seems to ba a genetic trait with their family) He's convinced that he'll teach us punjabi and hindi before we leave. haha, good luck. Rashmi Sudhir (rashmi akka), she's the education officer for kala sangam. organizes all the school workshops and community educational preformances. we usually accompany her on all the school workshops. She's got a little girl, 7 yrs old, who's just too cute and too overly smart for her own good ;) rashmi akka's pregnant with her second child now, due soon...a little girl! then there's kalsoom didi, the financial officer, she's forever getting vibha and i to eat fruit. sh's so sweet, just got married ( and is incredibly beautiful). so that's my family here at kala sangam. i'll tell you guys about my aunts family sometime later...i'm sure this email is plenty long enough.
sorry i haven't been sending too many individual emails, i'm on a dial up connection here, so i never have that much time before the internet flakes out. I misss you all my lovelies. i wish you we're all here, it's so green and lush- there's a forrest right by where we live here- i can't wait to explore it. the weather has been really rainy lately, so after taht clears up, vibs and i will go exploring :) tata, talk to you all soon. hope you're all doing well, let me know how things are, i'll keep doing the same from here :)
toodle loo...
much love,
sadhu
posted by Sound & Sense at 8:52 AM
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