The Chaos of Being in the Moment.

I have wanted to get an entry out, but life has had other plans for me. So I will try to post something now, and hopefully get to more depth of thought soon. Of late, life seems analogous to waiting on the ocean surface for wave sets to come in where my heavy workloads are the surf-worthy waves, and my lighter daily routines are the intervals between wave “sets.” Each set may have a similar number of good waves to surf and catch a ride, but every wave is different, and the intervals between sets of waves can vary wildly.

The weekend before last, I was invited to the wedding of a Navdhara dancer’s sister, which I am told followed mostly South Indian traditions. It was a good opportunity to see how my wearing a kurta would both feel and be received in public. When I went shopping for a more formal style of kurta than the ones I owned from my last visit to India, I was caught off-guard when I looked in the mirror, and thought “how Chinese” I look in the short vertical collars and the draping from squared off shoulders on the bodice. I decided to go with silk because I liked the look of the fabric, reminding me of some Thai silks woven with contrasting colors. A cotton kurta I liked would have needed alterations for which I did not have time. Next I needed to get appropriate footwear, and I liked the look of Kolhapuri chappals, leather sandals from the Maharastra region in which Mumbai is located. Happily I asked a friend to take me shopping, and her local knowledge and language proved invaluable, especially when “negotiating” with the street stall seller for the chappals I ultimately bought.

Dressed for a wedding with the Navdhara dancer-family!

My best intentions to learn some rudimentary Hindi has ended up being a casualty of knowing that I have started to take on more than I can responsibly handle. So I rationalize that I am not moving here forever, and that many foreigners that do live here, do so with minimal assimilation of Hindi or local languages. However, I am seeing that a certain level of dependence on personal assistance in a variety of ways is an underlying cultural interaction here in India. In many ways, it can seem a little rude to not ask for assistance in some way, and the human interaction seems to be a “key” in greasing the cogs of daily life.

Recently I was leaving a local establishment with a take-out cup of tea, and the guard at the door asked to see my receipt. I was a little flustered for a minute, as I had not been stopped in other places when leaving with a beverage in my hand. But I also realized that while some people were familiar with my face, this guard was not. It occurred to me that because retailers have begun to recognize me for frequenting their businesses on a daily or weekly basis, they may be a little less stringent on their “screening” when they see me. Similarly, smaller shops where I rely on the shopkeepers to offer me a fair price on unmarked goods like fruit, definitely plays in my favor once they realize I live nearby. However, there are shops where I have not been able to break the barrier of language and suspicion, so I am also choosing where I do my shopping based on my interactions with them.

I am around the halfway mark of my time here in India, and I am starting to reflect on what exactly might be the benefits of what I have been doing. After all, a dancer or audience member attending a single workshop or lecture could easily be enthusiastic for the moment and just as easily forget that it ever took place. The lack of “access” to the world of dance and theatre, in which I have been privileged to live, is both a source of desirability for my presence, and as easily a cause to dismiss me as presenting something for which there is no future in India. However, I grew up in Jamaica at a time when the country had even less proportional opportunity as a professional dancer than I perceive to be here in India. And my Jamaican passport had me jumping from country to country for years in search of a legally sanctioned life and career in dance, which never really happened for me in Jamaica. This is not to say that others have not had great careers in dance in Jamaica, but my “path” seemed to lie outside of the island.

“So what do we do with what we learn in your class?” It’s an interesting question, and not one that I ever thought to ask. But in retrospect, maybe the question is a reflection of both a culture and the way young dancers may be perceiving the industry or field today.

When I teach or stage work under the style of Paul Taylor, I always try to place the value of the process in a more universal context so that dancers can use what they learn in all aspects of their training, performing and creative endeavours. Technique is not mutually exclusive from one style of anything to another related discipline, and I can draw numerous analogies to other fields like Martial Arts, where Tae Kwan Do might spar against Jiu Jitsu or Kung Fu; or kayaking/canoeing/surfing where one may find oneself using single or double bladed or no paddles, on a board or in a craft dealing with flat water, ocean surf or river rapids.

In India, my ability to teach ballet at all levels has been of particular interest to my host institution of Danceworx. And I have been curious as to how the dancers feel they are applying what they learn in ballet to the performance dancing they get to do, almost none of which is ballet. I have not taken the time to ask that question directly, but I do wonder.