Flamenco: Poetry of the Arms
Flamenco, refers to a variety of Spanish musical styles developed as early as the 19th century. In November 2010, UNESCO declared it as one of the ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. It has become extremely popular all over the world, especially in the United States and what we see today is a fusion form and the American take of [...]
Garba: Why Walk when you can Dance!
Music and Style Garba is a dance form originated in Gujarat, also known as ‘Garbha Deep’, which means ‘womb’ and ‘earthen lamps’. It is a joyful style of dance, based on a circular pattern and characterized by a sweeping action from side to side. Garba performances often include singing and a musical accompaniment provided by Dhol, Dholak, hand claaping and assorted idiophones, such [...]
The art of learning dance
They say when the student is ready, the teacher shows up. I had the chance to experience this in real life last week and am inspired to share this little story today. When the teacher showed up, she spoke words of wisdom with the grace of being a lifelong observer herself. She shared how our modern education system is linear in nature and [...]
Is it the perspective or context?
If a picture speaks a thousand words, I wonder what these pictures communicate. it's the same person in two pictures. And yet, each conjures up a different image. One in a wedding outfit and the other in a belly dance costume and yet when I dress in each of them I have two uniquely different experiences. One on the inside which reveals a [...]
The True Meaning of Belly Dance
I’m inspired to write this today - about what Belly dance truly means to me. I was 15 when I had the opportunity to attend a belly dance session conducted by one of India’s finest belly dance artists – Meher Malik. It was my first time and truth be told - I was awestruck and in that moment I wished to have that [...]