Bhakti or Devotion

[Michael Eisenstadt]

the program ended with Bhakti towards Ganesh being
practiced right before our eyes: Sanscrit hymns were
sung as the dancers enacted the rite of Ganesh worship.

not so easy to find Helm Auditorium on the grounds
of St Stephens -- big campus like St Eduard's Univ

audience 99+% Indian. we saw a beauty spot on the
foreheads of 2 MEN. never seen that before.

there were 5 pieces, surprisingly or not we found 
ourselves staying to the very end. Not the very
end as there was a drawing for a free Indian 
dinner at a restaurant after the performance. That
we skipped and got out of the crowded parking
area ASAP.

2 male dancers were small slightly overfed looking
their torsos bare. i had never seen classical 
Indian dancing. what a revelation! the arm work
was fantastic although not entirely surprising -- after
all one has seen Indian multi-armed sculpture. but
i had no idea of the foot work. their foot work was 
more integrated with the arm work than in the
western ballet tradition. the footwork reminded me
of jogging or flat footed dancing which is what I have
heard the locals who did it (in Galax Virginia) refer 
to it as. but joggers keep their torsos stiff. The tap 
dance version on TV is based on flat footed dancing.

the audience was kept outside the airconditioned
auditorium because the musicians arrived late.
we realized we were in Indian time, like waiting
for several days for the train until the track that 
got washed away gets fixed. during the intermission
we ate a potato knish with a spicy tamarind based
sauce. 

devotion is often a pretty thing to see. i once 
laughed out loud in a French class when the
teacher read the Peguy poem that begins

Il n'y a rien aussi beau qu'un enfant, 
en faisant ses prieres a Dieu.

It made me laugh because I had often seen the 
calendar version. I was called in to the Dean
and informed that i had hurt the feeling of 
the professor.