This week was yet another good week learning Bali dances and Bharatanatyam. We had some new experiences and we had a lot of fun. We practiced the basic motions that Kalyani had already taught us and we also had a mock monkey fight in the circle in order to practice for what a monkey fight would be like later on when we perform the Ramayana.
Also, we defined again what we really liked ab out this class and what we hoped to gain out of it. The thing that I hoped to gain was the time to stretch during the week. And, one of the bigger reasons I liked this class was that it allowed me to stretch outside of Kung Fu, which is a big part of my life but I don't get to stretch out for it everyday. So, this class allows me the time and chance to be able to keep my flexibility up and not waste what it took me six years to gain.
Additionally, I liked the fact that the foot stomping is similar to the exercises for iron foot training in the Shaolin temples all over the world. The fact that this was something that I only noticed half way through the class made me realize that everything in my life is interconnected if I think about it for a little while. Chemistry and Mathematics relate to the movements and the basics principles of both relate to how the dances are structured with the angles of my feet and how my body will adjust itself after a short time to the basic motions and after a long time to the more advanced motions. An example in Chemistry is the law of the conservation of matter and how nothing is wasted truly in this dance in that all the pain results in the hardening of my feet. Furthermore, it relates to the Hindu belief cyclic belief that Destruction follows neutrality, neutrality follows Creation, and Creation follows Destruction. There is nothing that is wasted, but rather everything is converted to another form of the cycle. The truth about the situation makes me feel as if I can further understand the story in that I can relate it to my body.
In reference to using my body to tell a story, I think that in order to tell a story using only your body is a different experience. I mean, given that a dance itself is a performing art, I supposed it tells a story alone but it also has a different meaning in the case of the Ramayana. The story was originally told from paintings and so to truly depict that story our bodies have to move as though they were paintings on the wall. We cannot really give three dimensionality to a two dimensional story if we did not originally write the story ourselves. There is increasing difficulty in terms of how to tell the story correctly in terms of how we know if we're right or not. My body has to move and contort as if it were a painting on a wall moving from one to the next but at the same time, it has to be done so that it is fluid but not overly fluid and not rigid, or else it becomes wrong by comparison to the pictures that originally depicted it. The meaning behind a dance like this is really difficult to ascertain, but the meaning of using my body to create art and to tell a story in this case is to become a part of the story and the art itself. To perform with one's body is to be the art itself and not just in a sense that our bodies themselves are naturally the art inherently by performing but rather they become beautiful as an art if work is put into them and they are respected. In other words, working on one's physique, frame, and posture is a part of creating that art as well.
In terms of evolving as an artist, I think that I'm better beginning to understand art from a personal level and not just from the perspective of a person who made art on paper or an appreciating party in relation to the art. To become the art itself is a whole new level that involves realizing that the normal technical aspects of art don't necessarily apply to the situation. The concepts such as structure and composition apply but the creation of said technical aspects is different as they involve different techniques. To say that there is only one way to create the art or art in general is ignorance. I believe that the Ramayana has made me better able to see these things by showing me how to perform with my own body as the art.
The techniques that are different that I was mentioning earlier are similar to traditional dance but the fact that more of a person's physique is shown off in this dance makes it very similar to how athletes and dancers prepare for their performances. In order to make my body a better part of the art, I would have to tone my body, which brings me back to one of Guru's original things he said about making our bodies sculpted by the end of the semester. I'm also going to halve to learn how to make my movements pop but at the same time fluid and smoothe so that at a given instant, I can make a sudden motion and ease it back to normal. The path to making this all happen is going to be difficult but worth it in the long run.
That's my word for the week,
'til next time.
ZBN
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fourth week of class - beginning to understand the character dances
This week was certainly an interesting week that I really made me happy but that is not to say that there weren't some problems. But, nothing too big that I couldn't handle. On Monday afternoon, we started class by reviewing our dance maneuvers that Kalyani(sp) taught us. Most of our feet were aching by the end of class from either doing the exercise correct or wrong.
The problem with doing a dance measured by the pain u experience at first is that if I do it right it will hurt but if I do it wrong and hurt myself in the same location unknowingly on my body, then I can't know if I'm doing it right or not. However, the pain is only on the bottom of my feet and my calves so it's fairly easy to know if you're doing it right.
But, I digress. We practiced the Mudras and dance steps with Kalyani. Then, we starting practicing the triple circles that are what the monkeys would do. It consists of a basic step with hands on our hips that starts in a line and goes into three circles along with the recitation of "Ohm." I'm beginning to like the monkey role because the monkeys seem to have the most fun in the act as they have to act like monkeys and have to act wild as if monkeys.
On Wednesday, we had a new guru along with Kalyani. We learned three new dance moves that were a little difficult to learn at first that incorporated two old Mudras and one new Mudra that reminded me of a Kung Fu move. The feet movements were very similar for all of them and they were incorporated into a combo move that consisted of all the new steps. I had some trouble at first but I felt like I was getting it by the end of the lesson. We practiced it by going around in a circle with the maneuver which was a good exercise but there was a little lack of room.
After Kalyani's lesson, we did an exercise with cups on our heads as crowns that was used to make our posture a lot better when we danced. We walked across the room, in a regular step but with our hands in the two Mudras that were used to represent a bow like that of Rama's and Lakshmana's. After that, we learned exactly how to walk like Rama and Lakshmana. Rama is more extravagant in his bow posture and more heroic feeling to the stance. Lakshmana is more practical and like a bodyguard. While Rama walks, or rather travels through the jungle, Lakshmana circles Rama quickly like a single bodyguard in order to protect him.
After that exercise, we sat in a circle and essentially, we practiced a beat and talked about the summoning of Sita in terms of the dance.
I really liked the classes this week. In terms of Ramayana, I'm getting farther but it's hard to describe a point, but I'm making progress.
'Till next time, I'm still me,
bye
The problem with doing a dance measured by the pain u experience at first is that if I do it right it will hurt but if I do it wrong and hurt myself in the same location unknowingly on my body, then I can't know if I'm doing it right or not. However, the pain is only on the bottom of my feet and my calves so it's fairly easy to know if you're doing it right.
But, I digress. We practiced the Mudras and dance steps with Kalyani. Then, we starting practicing the triple circles that are what the monkeys would do. It consists of a basic step with hands on our hips that starts in a line and goes into three circles along with the recitation of "Ohm." I'm beginning to like the monkey role because the monkeys seem to have the most fun in the act as they have to act like monkeys and have to act wild as if monkeys.
On Wednesday, we had a new guru along with Kalyani. We learned three new dance moves that were a little difficult to learn at first that incorporated two old Mudras and one new Mudra that reminded me of a Kung Fu move. The feet movements were very similar for all of them and they were incorporated into a combo move that consisted of all the new steps. I had some trouble at first but I felt like I was getting it by the end of the lesson. We practiced it by going around in a circle with the maneuver which was a good exercise but there was a little lack of room.
After Kalyani's lesson, we did an exercise with cups on our heads as crowns that was used to make our posture a lot better when we danced. We walked across the room, in a regular step but with our hands in the two Mudras that were used to represent a bow like that of Rama's and Lakshmana's. After that, we learned exactly how to walk like Rama and Lakshmana. Rama is more extravagant in his bow posture and more heroic feeling to the stance. Lakshmana is more practical and like a bodyguard. While Rama walks, or rather travels through the jungle, Lakshmana circles Rama quickly like a single bodyguard in order to protect him.
After that exercise, we sat in a circle and essentially, we practiced a beat and talked about the summoning of Sita in terms of the dance.
I really liked the classes this week. In terms of Ramayana, I'm getting farther but it's hard to describe a point, but I'm making progress.
'Till next time, I'm still me,
bye
Saturday, September 13, 2008
More understanding of the ramayana and Bali
Again classes are starting to pick up in their difficulty as the semester starting to jump into the work load. Specifically, in Introduction to Classical Asian performance on Monday, we started to learn about the different mudras, or hand positions, as they correlate to different dance steps. So far we've learned five mudras (Pataka, Katakamukha, Shikhara, Tamrachuda, and Chatura) as well as the dances (namaskaram[a salutation], ta-ka dhi-mi[a 4 beat dance], ta-ki-ta[a 3 beat], and tai-ya-tai[another 3 beat that has only two feet gestures]). As well as the different naming schemes for people in Bali which is based on their birth order and their caste in society (Brahmana[priests or other clerical services{male: Ida Bagus, female: Ida Ayu}], Ksatria[rulers or warriors{male:Tjokorde, female:Tjokorde Istri}], Wesia[tradespeople{male:Gusti/Dewa, female: Desak}], and Sudra[the remaining 95% of the population{male:I, female: Ni}]). One person we learned about who had two names was I Gusti Jelantik who in particular had one parent of two caste classes.
Another aspect of Balinese culture we learned about is the Kecak or Cak ceremonies which is a sanghyang ritual that is used to get rid of evil spirits that may enter the dancer's body. These are related to a teeth filing ceremony to banish evil spirits from the dancer when they come of age which for girls is their first menstruation and for boys is their voice changing or for both before their marriage. Upon the tooth filing, the father's obligation to his daughter is done then.
Monday's class was not too bad of a class and I like the mudras a lot and how they relate to the dance itself. I have some troubles with the foot work as I can't stomp as hard as I should without shoes on. I'm not sure if I can condone stomping excessively due to the possible effects on not only my heels, knees, and shins that result from the stomping. When I was in high school, I used to run on track in my Senior year which I stopped shortly after due to how much trouble I was seeing some of my friends, who ran all through college and high school, had with those specific parts. I have since then found a better technique for running other than a heel based running but that's a story for another day. However, the fact that we're stomping on a softer floor is somewhat helpful I suppose. I can see this dance being done with a more softer footwork but still as graceful, but I guess that it wouldn't have the same effect that the stomping has for the audience. I guess I like the dance itself and I think my favorite mudra to date is Katakamukha just because of how it looks.
On Thursday, we had class in Swem library which was the first class I've ever had in there so it was a new and good experience for me. In there, we watched a previously performed version of the Ramayana that Francis had been in before. The more I watched, the more I saw that was straight from the book. I really liked the mixture of languages that were in the play and how they really made the demonic aspect of Ravana interesting as well as the comedic aspect to the play. I was a little disappointed by the fighting choreographs but I'm not used to Balinese fight scenes but I think that I could choreograph something a lot better. I did like the use of the bows and the monkeys throughout the play though.
In terms of how far I am in reading the Ramayana, I've gotten pretty far now and I'm begining to really like it. I've read past Rama's initial banishing and the reaction of his wife to stay true to him, his brother who was willing to take revenge for him, and his mother who grieved constantly at this. I'm starting to get towards the part where Rama kills the 14000 demons.
Thank you for reading and until then, I'm still me,
Later.
Another aspect of Balinese culture we learned about is the Kecak or Cak ceremonies which is a sanghyang ritual that is used to get rid of evil spirits that may enter the dancer's body. These are related to a teeth filing ceremony to banish evil spirits from the dancer when they come of age which for girls is their first menstruation and for boys is their voice changing or for both before their marriage. Upon the tooth filing, the father's obligation to his daughter is done then.
Monday's class was not too bad of a class and I like the mudras a lot and how they relate to the dance itself. I have some troubles with the foot work as I can't stomp as hard as I should without shoes on. I'm not sure if I can condone stomping excessively due to the possible effects on not only my heels, knees, and shins that result from the stomping. When I was in high school, I used to run on track in my Senior year which I stopped shortly after due to how much trouble I was seeing some of my friends, who ran all through college and high school, had with those specific parts. I have since then found a better technique for running other than a heel based running but that's a story for another day. However, the fact that we're stomping on a softer floor is somewhat helpful I suppose. I can see this dance being done with a more softer footwork but still as graceful, but I guess that it wouldn't have the same effect that the stomping has for the audience. I guess I like the dance itself and I think my favorite mudra to date is Katakamukha just because of how it looks.
On Thursday, we had class in Swem library which was the first class I've ever had in there so it was a new and good experience for me. In there, we watched a previously performed version of the Ramayana that Francis had been in before. The more I watched, the more I saw that was straight from the book. I really liked the mixture of languages that were in the play and how they really made the demonic aspect of Ravana interesting as well as the comedic aspect to the play. I was a little disappointed by the fighting choreographs but I'm not used to Balinese fight scenes but I think that I could choreograph something a lot better. I did like the use of the bows and the monkeys throughout the play though.
In terms of how far I am in reading the Ramayana, I've gotten pretty far now and I'm begining to really like it. I've read past Rama's initial banishing and the reaction of his wife to stay true to him, his brother who was willing to take revenge for him, and his mother who grieved constantly at this. I'm starting to get towards the part where Rama kills the 14000 demons.
Thank you for reading and until then, I'm still me,
Later.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Second Week of Classes: Mudras and Indonesian History
This is the last day of the second school week. I waited until today to update my blog so that I could fully gauge the week in its entirety and not just any one moment as a week is not determined by one day. This week overall was pretty good. Most of my classes are making sense and I think I'm starting to get the hang of my Classical Asian performances class.
On Monday, we covered the basic routine of Bali if I remember correctly. It essentially felt like I was raising my feet up like a warrior from an ink painting from India or China would act if they could so act. The hand motion to it was fun and I could see it as if it were part of a meditation of sorts more than a dance. More or less like a moving meditation like that of Tai Chi Qua'an. I probably should have written about Monday on Monday so that I would remember more of the class other than the motions. Well, I take that back. On Monday, we went through what we were each bringing to Bali and the Ramayana performances. When we started talking, what I bring is my Kung Fu which I find sort of funny that I'm the one bringing Kung Fu this time around. Regardless, it seems like it'd be fun to organize a fight routine of sorts. It makes me feel like Sammo Hung of sorts. But, also on Monday, we did a lot more of the advanced stretches which I have to say I really needed to do since I was really aching from weight lifting on Sunday. This cleared the pain right up. I really enjoyed it.
As for Wednesday, I was surprised. We started learning about the theoretical aspect of the class as well as more movements. Francis told us about a lot of the history of the Balinese people and how they remained Hindu for so long even after several crusades by different people. But, the thing I found the most interesting of all that class was the philosophy, of the Hindu belief system I think, in that Neutrality follows Creation which follows Destruction which follows Neutrality. I started thinking about it a lot and it really made me happy today when I was thinking. I mean, the reason for it was that, to me, it feels like it has the message that no destruction is permanent. I mean, no Creation is permanent but it is nice to think that there is a reaction for every bad thing that happens such that something good happens.
Anyways, for most of class, Francis taught us that but then, he brought up another one of my classmates that knew a lot about Hindu dances and she taught us three Mudras as well as an opening step that I was liked and actually practiced a couple of times in front of my Hindu friends in my Dormitory. After that, we all sat in a tradition circle of sorts. I'm sad to say I forgot most of the names but happy to say I remember the motions and movements. The circle, however, had three overall circles and involved a chant that sounded to me like "Chutpk" except the last part of the k gets cut off when you say it and you say it as if you're expelling air from your lungs in order to release chi (in terms of how I see it). We started to learn more about the dance throughout class and I'm happy (which as you read you'll find I'm usually very) to say that I didn't drop the class and I'm looking forward to Monday save Hurricanes (3 of them) don't cancel class.
'til next time,
Me
On Monday, we covered the basic routine of Bali if I remember correctly. It essentially felt like I was raising my feet up like a warrior from an ink painting from India or China would act if they could so act. The hand motion to it was fun and I could see it as if it were part of a meditation of sorts more than a dance. More or less like a moving meditation like that of Tai Chi Qua'an. I probably should have written about Monday on Monday so that I would remember more of the class other than the motions. Well, I take that back. On Monday, we went through what we were each bringing to Bali and the Ramayana performances. When we started talking, what I bring is my Kung Fu which I find sort of funny that I'm the one bringing Kung Fu this time around. Regardless, it seems like it'd be fun to organize a fight routine of sorts. It makes me feel like Sammo Hung of sorts. But, also on Monday, we did a lot more of the advanced stretches which I have to say I really needed to do since I was really aching from weight lifting on Sunday. This cleared the pain right up. I really enjoyed it.
As for Wednesday, I was surprised. We started learning about the theoretical aspect of the class as well as more movements. Francis told us about a lot of the history of the Balinese people and how they remained Hindu for so long even after several crusades by different people. But, the thing I found the most interesting of all that class was the philosophy, of the Hindu belief system I think, in that Neutrality follows Creation which follows Destruction which follows Neutrality. I started thinking about it a lot and it really made me happy today when I was thinking. I mean, the reason for it was that, to me, it feels like it has the message that no destruction is permanent. I mean, no Creation is permanent but it is nice to think that there is a reaction for every bad thing that happens such that something good happens.
Anyways, for most of class, Francis taught us that but then, he brought up another one of my classmates that knew a lot about Hindu dances and she taught us three Mudras as well as an opening step that I was liked and actually practiced a couple of times in front of my Hindu friends in my Dormitory. After that, we all sat in a tradition circle of sorts. I'm sad to say I forgot most of the names but happy to say I remember the motions and movements. The circle, however, had three overall circles and involved a chant that sounded to me like "Chutpk" except the last part of the k gets cut off when you say it and you say it as if you're expelling air from your lungs in order to release chi (in terms of how I see it). We started to learn more about the dance throughout class and I'm happy (which as you read you'll find I'm usually very) to say that I didn't drop the class and I'm looking forward to Monday save Hurricanes (3 of them) don't cancel class.
'til next time,
Me
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