I’ve thoroughly been enjoying my return to Bharatanatyam. My legs are tired, but taking the time out week to go my class is worth it. Switching styles yet again has been somewhat difficult. I think it’s good to keep things fresh, but it is a bit frustrating that what was acceptable at one school is [...]

Getting back to a routine is more exciting than it sounds. With all of September, I alternated being very busy to prepare for things and then being dead tired for the rest of the week/staying afloat. I’ve been able to find a bit more time for my dance classes, which is nice. The Shadia classes [...]

July was busy, as will be August. Point by point update: Summer school. I’m in the last week of one of my classes and second to the last week of another. It is, needless to say, a crunch time. I’m glad that I took the classes, but I’m also glad they’re almost over. It will [...]

My main goal this summer that is not academic is to re-start Bharatanatyam. I’ve been hesitant to announce that I have been on hiatus for several months. My former class, for many reasons, was not working out, and I’ve decided to move on to a different school and class. It was a difficult decision, because [...]

Performance makeup is its own beast. In best case scenario, the dancer looks unfinished, unpolished, and unprofessional. In worst case scenario, the facial features of the dancer are lost. All eye movements, smiles, frowns, whatever can’t be seen by the audience. Even if you hate wearing makeup, it is important to invest in it. Because [...]

A few days ago, one of the search terms that led someone here was “why is muscle memory important.” The search term led me to think about why is muscle memory important. Many commonplace things we do are a result of muscle memory. Typing, walking, etc. Imagine if you had to make a very conscious [...]

I’ve managed to go to ballet steadily for three weeks. Although I initially began attending class to start cross training for both Middle Eastern dance and Bharatanatyam (some of the exercises are useful those forms), I find myself enjoying the class more. The class fulfills a need that I didn’t realize I had: a hobby [...]

Part of my new dance cross-training is to do some ballet. Rather than wait for 2011 to roll in, I’ve decided to start changing or adding patterns, behaviors, whatever whenever I see fit and can afford to do so. Monday I attend beginner ballet at an adult-only studio. I hadn’t been there in about year, [...]

My Bharatanatyam class performed a dance yesterday; to your left is a photo of me all decked out my costume. The show was lovely; it’s nice to see such talented dancers. I have a lot of work to catch up on, due the extra rehearsals and losing Sunday to the show, but here are some [...]

At my Bharatanatyam class yesterday, our teacher mentioned that some dancers from another class would join as at the beginning of our dance. The reason was that, although there are 11 of us, we simply cannot fill one gigantic stage. What intrigued me on this is that I’ve heard the same thing about Middle Eastern [...]