Our Dancing Weekend

Last weekend, Tricia and I celebrated dance in two different styles – Michael Jackson and Bharatanatyam.  On Saturday, Tricia spent the day at Zephyr stadium with about 70 other dancers.  People of all ages and walks of life practiced MJ’s Thriller dance over and over again for 7 hours, before they participated in the worldwide event.  Dancers from the Jefferson Performing Arts Center taught the diverse group – which ranged from small children to those of us who grew up listening to and watching MJ.  With wistful smiles, the adults shared memories of how he touched their lives.  They were there to pay tribute in a way that would have made him proud – by dancing as a community.  It struck me how freely and enthusiastically everyone participated.  Adults who hadn’t danced for years practiced for hours alongside teens in a high school dance group, and with little boys eager to emulate MJ’s swift and otherworldly moves.  I have a feeling that next year there will be a much larger group dancing at Zephyr Stadium!

 Here’s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UeTApcWsGE

Dancing to Vande Mataram at The IANO Diwali Celebration was my most joyful dance performance yet!  I overcame my fears and just lived in that moment.  When I stepped onstage with my classmates, I focused on what an amazing event this was – Diwali, Dr. Abdul Kalam’s presence in the audience, the inspirational song, and the opportunity to dance with my friends.  My performance wasn’t perfect, but I got over that.  (Thanks to Tricia’s assistance in getting ready, nothing flew off during the performance – a real success!  She took time away from her Saints game to help me get ready.  We agree that the real reason Hindu Goddesses have 10 hands is so that they can fix their hair and adornments!)  Being truly present in that music – Wow!  It was marvelous.   Afterwards was a total out-of-body experience.  People came up to me and said so many kind things.  Being a patriotic song for India, they appreciated that we danced so passionately to it.  Miss  Shanti was proud of us, and so I felt very encouraged and uplifted!  Our next performance is at a Go-Puja Mela – Festival of the Cows, which is in Mississippi.  We’re learning a dance about Krshna, and it’s really adorable!  I was too keyed up to remember to take pictures at the Diwali event.  Tricia, however, took a superb video.  Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQW1XDL8_jw

The only photo – after the show!

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