Famous Last Words: Exciting Opportunities

(Myself and other dancers at the Maestro's Ball; source: personal photo)

This past week I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the Ramayana. Having grown up in a Hindu household, I have heard stories from the Ramayana throughout my childhood. One of my favorite memories is lying down with my grandmother on the terrace at night while she recited the whole Ramayana to me.

I also do a form of Indian classical dance called Bharatanatyam. An important part of Bharatanatyam is its depiction of many mythological stories from India. Through this dance form, I have been able to portray specific scenes from the Ramayana. For example, I once did a dance in which we had to reenact how the demoness Shurpanaka tries to woo Rama but ends up getting her ears and nose cut off by Lakshmana. 

Speaking of Indian classical dance, this past week has offered me some exciting opportunities. Two weeks ago, some dancers from my dance school and I were able to perform at the Maestro's Ball for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic (photo attached; I'm the one in blue). In addition to that, this past Saturday I gave a solo performance at the India Food and Arts Festival.

Just last week, our dance school found out that we received the opportunity to perform in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's concert on October 5th at the Civic Center. The theme for the concert is "Voyage" and one of the songs they will be playing is the theme song to "Life of Pi" which was nominated for an Oscar. The song, which is a lullaby, incorporates traditional Western classical music with many elements of Indian classical music. The Philharmonic is inviting a famous Indian classical singer called Bombay Jayashri to sing the lullaby. To be part of such a production is an honor but we have had to put the whole performance together in under two weeks which has been stressful to say the least.