Yes, It has been a year.

Exactly a year ago, I made several changes to the way I eat and live. I am still with it. I feel wonderful and (almost) am in control of my senses. Ha!!! 

I run with shoes and no more bare feet running. I hope I stay the course...

Kiran Bedi, do get to know her!

Indian film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) came to a close yesterday evening. Lakshmi has been working for the festival for about 5 years now and the festival has drawn us close to its goals in many ways. Many good movies were screened this year but the one that inspired me the most was 'Yes Madam, Sir'. The documentary made by an Australian filmmaker was screened as a part of closing night gala. The movie is about this dedicated police chief of India, Kiran Bedi. She was in the audience and met many well wishers. It is hard to imagine how she stood alone in enforcing prison reforms and other social issues. The world needs more people like her.

Another proud moment for us was the fact that IFFLA commissioned us to create the trophies to be given to winning film makers. I sketched and designed the image. Lakshmi sculpted the piece with input from Suresh. It was a gratifying experience to see the filmmakers receive them. This was an honor. Thank you Christina for giving us the assignment. 

Yeah, life had pretty much come to a stand still for the past couple of days because of so much work in other areas besides dance. I do not know how Lakshmi survived this 20 hour shifts each day in the middle of her thesis and internship.

Ah moving on........ 

See you on the other side Carl!

Today I attended a memorial service in honor of Carl Patrick, UCLA Staff member. I will miss Carl's smile, twinkle in his eyes, and his unconditional support. I remember my student days at UCLA being very very hard. One could easily have experienced a severe breakdown of all faculties. The demands were heavy and I was trying to make so many people happy starting from my family,  guru, faculty, students and many more. I always fell short and was racing against time and expectations. But seeing Carl in the front office was the best thing. He had a calming effect on people and made it all seem very doable. He instigated Hope which was so necessary for students. 

The event today was well organized with music, kind words, and caring folks. We heard his original music compositions.  He will sing in my heart always.

Bye and see you Carl.

Splendid Mohiniattam dance performance!

Yesterday, at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Suresh and I saw one of the most beautiful dance concerts. Mother and daughter Bharathi Shivaji and Vijayalakshmi performed Mohiniattam, classical dance form of Kerala. Till the announcement was made I thought the mother was the daughter. Both of them exhibited infinite grace, professionalism, and superb artistry. Bharathi, a recipient of numerous awards has also received 'Padmashree', India's highest civilian honor. It was a true treat to the soul. Thank you!

I have written about this performance and it is published here under reviews. www.narthaki.com

By the way Norton Simon Museum has a huge collection of Indian art. You may want to check it out. www.nortonsimon.org

My Own Dance!

I had known of several teachers who had a few dances in their repertoire that they would not teach to their students. However they would dance those pieces with lot of passion and accuracy. They had saved a few to perform themselves.  I think this is a good idea. 

Most of the time, when I choreograph a dance and teach it to students, I keep tweaking  it here and there for quite some time till I am happy. Sometimes I revisit a piece after several years and rework it too. And then I also have to show in my left hand all the hand gestures to students while they are dancing. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to dance the pieces that I teach my students. So I decided to work on a few pieces for myself. I think it is a good start. 

This is a short composition in Raga Nata. M. A. Sundareshwaran has played violin. It is haunting. Gurumurthy's Mridangam gives the perfect punch!