Where's the Bhangra in Chitrangada? by Ruchi Saran

When I auditioned for Pratidhwani in March, I expected to be dancing high-energy Bollywood style with some Bhangra thrown in - think 'Mauja hi Mauja', 'Gym Shim Kar Le Ve', 'Twist' etc. So when I was called to do a Manipuri-inspired dance for the Indian traditional dance ballet, Chitrangada, I was a little sceptical. Would I enjoy it? More importantly, would I be able to do it.

I grew up a clumsy tomboy, shying away from graceful dancing because I thought I looked silly. I would constantly say no to Bharatnatyam and Kathak dance lessons and wished my parents could instead find me a Bhangra class. Even now, I gravitate towards hip-hop, salsa, belly dancing and always Bhangra (ok, I think you get the drift :P). But wait, I digress!

So to return to Chitrangada - in the first practise, when faced with the Manipuri-based steps, in which the focus is on grace, flow and elegance, I wondered if the organizers had remembered my audition right! I panicked when I saw the intricate hand movements that had to flow along with (what I measured scientifically to be) a gazillion turns. The one thing I absolutely knew was that I couldn't muster any natural elegance in my step, any natural grace in my facial expressions, any natural flow in my moves. But there was a small voice inside me, from a place deep deep within, that said to me quietly and insistently, that I might, just might, be able to fake it. And so, I fought on!

I was also roped in for a sequence using Indian martial arts. Hey, I thought to myself, I work out (now and then), I'm fit (kinda), I can stretch (a little), this will at least be easier than that classical stuff I'm doing. Um, yeah, no, it wasn't (sigh!). You'll see for yourself how hard the steps we're doing are. We had to practise long and hard, do yoga to get flexible, work at syncing with the music and each other, and there were quite a few bruised knees and many sore muscles along the way. And yeah, self discovery happened along the way -- I found out that I'm a total klutz! It turns out that I cannot differentiate my left limbs from my right while learning a step. It's painful and embarrassing to watch me learn new moves, much less be the one teaching them to me. (I know this because of the alternately pitying and murderous looks my choreographers and dance partners gave me).

So how did it all turn out in the end? This is probably not a major spoiler for readers, but there is a happy ending :) The two sequences I'm in, though completely different, are (in my completely biased opinion) the best in the show. The choreographers have done an amazing job and the rock stars I am dancing with are killing it! You'll see :) I mean, you've bought your tickets, haven't you?

Ruchi