me.....a peacock?

Rev...i hope me being a peacock is a compliment(the head jabbing up gave me a headache)..that session was soo intense(jan @ pandi kutti escaped it)...the workshops we have been having this year has been rather interesting... other than madhavi mudgal, the other teachers taught us the raw quality of their dance forms..and that is where the intensity lies..

Sometimes i guess we just need to loosen up and let the body take us through the flow.. we have been so controlled and our expressions are so "poised" that it is just so so so hard to let go..

For those who have studied in sutra and those who have watched Sutra performances,dancers from ages back until now, have a certain GLANCE.. im sure all of you know THAT glance.. haha!when i had the deepavali photoshoot, i automatically had that glance for the photographer...unfortunately for commercial use,it really didnt work...

I dont think the add campaign wanted mystism of the dancer, they just wanted big happy ronald mcdonald smile.. it was a struggle for me at first, having the perception that mysteries glances are always the best..

So this means, dancers in general must learn how to switch on and switch off.. that proves to be a challenge for me..what about you guys??

Thanks to the encouragement given by mei, rev and even my mom...i am slowly using less kajal for my eyes(hoooray for me)..its hard to break old habits... and rev, thanks for not pulling out my fake eye lashes, cause the make-up artist freaking GLUED IT to my eyes... OOUCCH...

sudhesh, thanks for that lovely poem..your contributions to this blog will be appreciated even when you are thousands of miles away from KL...

(Nish)

Dance and the Dancer

Where words do not reach,
Where thought itself stumbles,
Where nestled in complete surrender,
Rests unbridled joy,
There blossometh the fragrance divine,
There the body becometh spirit,
Thence is born the primeval Dance.
Thus man spake of the Gods,
And thus the Gods speaketh through man.

A humming bee in the midst of spring bloom became a poem.
A darting glance of a lover became an epic.
The summer night’s moon shining in a lotus pond became the world,
Never a thought of tomorrow, never a past there has been,
For what joy is there, in that we do not have now?
The dance is the story of the universe,
The dancer tells, nay, he becomes the universe.


- Sudheesh

.. seraikella ..

hahahahaahahaha... dat was such a fun workshop. the best step i think we've ever learnt is that [damn i can't show].. that miss world pagent walking thing then hands in anjali and we swing our right leg at the back. get me?? well, i'll show when i c u guys. did u guys see his eyes?? they were really scary i swear. like he can see thru ur head and knows exactly what u did last birth. [have to exagerate la.] nishah had a photoshoot today for an add and she had fake eyelashes... was really tempted to try pull it out.. haaha..but she looked nice... as usual la.. they got the right person i have to agree.. ok, enuf buttering nish.. shantona looked bit sick today.. its the time of the month.. [ops,it doesn't have to be a secret isn't it?] mei mei was tired cos she was directing the whole photoshoot[hehe].. but the poor girl hasn't had a break since navarathri week..jan, r u having fun watching black eyed peas?? oh divya walked in in her basketball jersey.. looking axactly like a boy if not for her pretty face.. and the samurai hairstyle.. and nalina looked all gothic today,black pants,black kurta, smokey eyes and all..hmmmm... oh then of cos master made us do saberi pallavi for them before we went back.. jan jan where were u when we needed to copy.. but yeah, managed.. nishah can move like a peacock i saw.. hehe.. okie bed time.. nights.[rev]

Life aint mundane for a Sutra dancer...

So true Divs, so true! But i warn you... it only gets busier and busier... and eventually u'll stop even noticing your friends go and have fun after exams, cos u'll be so used to spending all your extra time at sutra... yay!:p hahahhah! if it's one thing about Sutra, it's NEVER mundane. There's always something or the other to look forward to, or dread:P And when you have as much time for Sutra as ive had this year... there really is sooo much to do. And if it's something we girls have learnt it's to do everything efficiently. Man im so proud to be a prt of u girls. Watching navaratri go by so smoothly, and my own arangetram running flawlessly was proof of how amazing a team can be when there's nothing but positivity to guide you along.

I still can't believe I have merely 2 more months with most of you, then im off again. This year has just flown by, and there have been mroe memories and outings than i can count on my fingers:P Fulfilling would be the word. Iit's felt as though someone dropped me into this different life, and in Jan i have to go restart my other one. On the plus point tho, i wont be totally going away since stirring odissi and other things are being plannedd.. so woohoo rite there! Of course, which brings us again to the concept of having no REAL holidays,... since we're always having to balance our dancing life (which is really almost like dancing full time, for those of u who study of work in KL), and ure study or work life... so really there's not too much time for a fulll blown social life:) Just the time we steal here and there, and then drag ourselves for practise or rehearsals the next morning:)


Sigh the memories....

if its one thing ill always have is good memories about Sutra....e.g. The amazing ambience as Nishah led everyone in the bhajans this vijayadasmi, Having divya wait on me hand and foot behind the scenes during my arangetram, geethika massaging my hand (??go figure;)), rev doing my makeup, mei mei sitting on edge worrying about my hair falling out during the rehearsal:P, Nishah "not raining on my parade;)", jan rev and i in zouk for the bachelor party (WOOHOO;)), and the first time i met nishah and her girgess parents.... mannn too many more... but i realise im rambling now. i love u guys... sniff sniff...

I'm back!

OMG I can't believe I'm actually blogging xD Well well, it's been a very very long time since I've sweat SO MUCH and get blisters for god-knows-how-many-times-I've-got-it and the latest one I had was horrible! Can you imagine a huge ball of fluid in your heel and it's bleeding inside??? >.<that's what you have to go through if you want to be a very involved dancer at sutra and it definitely AIN'T SWEET. I just finished my PMR exam, but I had a feeling that very few teenagers had. FRUSTRATED. I brought my phone to school everyday *I know I'm not supposed to* and I got this sms on the second last day of PMR from one of the elder girls saying that I had to come for reherseals on the next day straight after PMR. And I TELL YOU, honestly I was FREAKING FRUSTRATED. Thinking about how the other candidates get to go out with friends, have fun! release tension after a few moths of pressuring.. And I had to go for freaking classes T_T and add on more tension and pressure actually. It's tough!!! And there was I, IN CLASS, suffering, trying to learn a total alien piece . Thank god it wasn't the usual Odissi stuff that we do. It's a new piece called Avocations, it's a mixture of folk. Luckily I had my *ka ches* to help me out!! *it means elder sisters in cantonese* and they definitely made it fun for me!! And I'm really really really thankful that I have such wonderful ka ches espescially yee ka che for helping me out the most!! I wrote this just to tell you all the not so glamorous part of being a very involved dancer in sutra. That's all for now! Chiaow! =] Divs

Post-Navrathri, Pre-Deepavali

Pheww.... 5 non-stop days... and it finished beautifully...i mean Navrathri...We couldnt have asked for anything better, smooth sailing performances and most important no "tension" among dancers... For an event well done, everybody from Head-Tail are responsible...

Im sure everybody has a favourite moment during this festival... Mine would definitely have to be watching my mom break the coconut... Haha, China Woman doing the pooja and breaking the coconut like a typical temple priest... I didnt even know my mom could do that... I sure dont want to piss my mom off after watching her gracefully crack open the coconut!! For those who are curious, my mom was not adopted by an Indian family, she was typically brought up the chinese style...

You know the feeling when Master watches our every single detail during a class or a performance...Haha, im sure everybody has felt that way at least once... Well, Master was watching my mom crack open the coconut as if she was executing a fine chauka... Hahah!! She told me after all that, she is not going to do it again... thanks to his glances, intensity and presence..

I guess she has finally understood how we Sutra dancers have felt all our lives....Nish

Vijayadasmi

What a relieve it is.. Vijayadasmi is over. everything went according to plans.. but then again, there's no chance of screwing up in Sutra. Such is the training, so much so that when we work anywhere else, let it be uni or work, everything is done at its best level. we try to, at least =]... The weather was at its best behavior,thank god. can only imagine the mess it would have been if it rained today. the decoration for the alter was just breath-taking. So many creative people around. esp shiva. anyway, let me take this opportunity to pat nishah, jan, shantona, mei mei and all the kutti's on the back. well done u guys. feeling so encouraged for the odissi festival next year,already. hopefully that event runs as smoothly as this year's navarathri. cheers to sutra.

Whats race got to do with facial expression?

So finally thanks to January Low, we Sutra beings can come out of our closets....people, join me and say..THANK YOU, JAN!!

Well, i have been threatened by two people whom i wont mention (Jan & Rev) to say something in regards to the birth of this blog.I think its a good idea to open this up, but please people lets keep this clean. NO CURSING, how much i would love to but i wont cause this is for everybody.

Now that we are in the midst of Navrathri, im sure when its done....we will all have something to say. Everybody...students, teachers, dancers, ex-dancers...

So do contribute in any way possible without any hostility. Whether any of us like it or not, Sutra has become so close to us in many aspects. Some of us, its like a second home, some of us even admit Sutra is their FIRST HOME..(yes, you jan) and for others, they cant stand Sutra!So looks like Sutra has affected us in some way or another.

Does anyone think that being a race other than an Indian makes it difficult for the facial expressions to flourish?? It seems hard to reason out why some people have those thoughts...especially in Sutra. Expressions may differ but isnt that the point! To celebrate each anothers uniqueness.I believe the only way to judge how well the expressions are, is to see how much it means internally to the dancer.

One scenario, is when Mei Mei was doing her role as Tara in Dasha Mahavidya. With the rest of the dancers on stage, she still commanded that power of a goddess. Its amazing, she gave me goosebumps. In a story from Indian Mythology, a glance of a chaste woman is enough to burn a kingdom. And that people was how i felt her glance was!

For those Indians who think that only they can express their faces, well move over cause you are not the greatest..And for those non-Indians who think they cant, then they dont know their own capability.......

Think about it......

Navarathri

Navarathri means stress for us. But not this year. This year everything is going smoothly. Touch wood. The show finishing by 9 definitely helps. =] The younger girls are doing much more this time around.. warm up, emceeing even demonstration..Gami, Divya and Geethika. I like it like this. Now its time to sit back and watch the fun. How scary it used to be doing all those tasks in front of the students, their parents and audiences.. The amount of students we have is unbelievable. for Moksha and Mangalam there's a mass number of people on stage. Dats nice too. Sutra's Grown and growing..

First One!

Today I had a chat with Rev, Nishah and Mei Mei and we came up with the idea of a blog for Sutra Dancers. We will tell you all our trials and tribulations of being a Sutra dancer and share all our experiences (good and bad).

We want this to be a channel where all Sutra involved people can come together and talk about their experience with us. Because I've noticed that at one point in almost every Malaysian Indian girl, they've been in Sutra.

So if you come across this blog and were or still is a part of Sutra Dance Theatre drop us a note, we'll give you the password and you can blog away!

I called it Salangai Oli because many girls wanted to start learning Bharata Natyam or Indian Dance after this movie!

Hope the blog doesn't die!