| sweet sangeet |
| ...oh, my very, very good friend! |
| So I met Radha doing Bharatanatyam, or Classical Indian Dancing. She and Praneeta, the other Subcontinental Seductress in the company (let us not forget our teacher and mentor, Tehreema!) have helped us not only with the dancing, but our appreciation of Desi (general term for people of the subcontinent, kind of like "Latino") accents, food, and culture. Radha has quite a gift for prose. |
| Ravi Mochalicious Fabio Mayo on the Side Bones the lovely Mrs. Dash as yet unnamed |
| the dancers: |
| Radha Praneeta Keith Steven Kimberly Tehreema Urmika |
| Most of the company humor (without which we would kill each other) has been derived from the combination of eastern and western cultures. It's been quite an education for some of us. For example, we found out one day what the forehead ornament is for. We were asking what the "dot" is for, and Radha, in perfect timing, says in a melodious Desi accent: "It is a bindhi, not a dot." Her response (let alone her accent) was totally unexpected, and much hysteria ensued. Keith turned to me and (with accent) said to me: "What does bindhi mean?" I responded with "It means dot." The other side of this, you realize, is that there is an ongoing comparison to see which of us non-Desi dancers reflects the most light in all of our paleness. Kimberly and I are tied.. The gloves are pretty much off in the company. We razz each other for the (sometimes numerous) people that we (Radha) date, who's the oldest, who's the most petite, who has the longest arms, who eats the most during rehearsal, who spends the most time flashing oncoming traffic on Western Avenue, and who has the strongest accent (of any type). Can you feel the love? |
| COMPANY TERMINOLOGY: |
| Tai-ya-tai's: *said with Swedish-like musical intonation* The basic movement for bharatanatyam, which requires one to lift one's foot nicely and slam it back into the ground with the proper amount of force. Oblique: The direction of a facing or movement whose lateral plane extends from one corner of the room to another. Also known as a diagonal. To Ring One's Mo-bile: To call one on their cellphone to remind them of the lateness of their arrival. Jelabies: Any Indian dessert (according to Fabio, who is singularly obsessed with them and hopes for them at each meal) Very: Always repeated (ie, I am very very happy to see you, my friend!) Ta-ta: Ta-ta |
| THE GOLDEN RULES: |
| As Tehreema likes to say, "your words come back to haunt you." Here are some of hers: One dayI was told "You need to make it smaller and tighter." We've all been told "I don't know how you're going to manage this, but..." There are other fabulous bits of wisdom that have been carved into: The Ten Commandments of Bharatanatyam |
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| COMPANY PRESS |
| Arizona Republic The Washington Post Pakistan Link The big screen The real website Stay tuned for more! |
| WE'RE GOING BACK TO ARIZONA!!!! For the second year in a row, we'll be dancing for Pakistani Independence Day in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 15, 2004. |
| Urmika is our newest brown girl. Finally, someone else who appreciates the chanting of exercises in Cartman's voice! |