The Dance of the Hyperbole Students showcase the penultimate piece, “Hyperbole,” in the Washington University Dance Theatre​*​ Living for the last two years masked behind a sanitized cloth; with a social distancing even from our loved ones, yet in the same home; sleeping alone in our rooms with our soft pillows as our only bedside companions; not being able to share our tea with our gossiping greying cacophonous neighbour; or even not being able to lend our inner stories to our restless dreams; we are constantly today, creating an artificial world. In this excessive superficiality will we forget we are alive? Do we have voices? Do we have real living pain and words that can be penned? My answer is NO. We as humans are never created with a loss of memory and total negligence to ourselves. We are created instead of choosing to forget, choosing to see our lives as three eased dots… I see these moments of the easing gentle pauses, the “life moments of truth”. For we as artists, as creators, those little dots are seconds of life, where we can shape and spawn, grow words into lines, lines into paragraphs – of stories, love songs, and poetry of yearnings and being alive in protests. These small breaths, to many, are simply just hyperboles of grammar, however, to the artist, these are intensely alive, strong, emphatic forceful portions of feelings, of coming to belong to what he only knows is the only truth…his art form. Let us not even once, then, discount these as mere undecorated flecks, but as gigantic astronomical atoms, that pinpoint to the immense creativity and churning in the human mind. If just one of these little mites gets charged, we create a gigantic reaction in our minds. That chemical reaction is sure to explode, not to destroy but to give birth to a new vision. Despite, us being confined sometimes only to our bed, our Dunlop spring jail does not cause us fatigue or despondency, but becomes a renewed vigour to explore maybe a new set of chord structures; a grand opening line of a play; a brilliant myriad vision of the landscape; or the shy yellow golden sun waiting to be captured in your mobile phone. So, the point here is to urge one to carefully mark these seconds of the speckles in your life, and turn it around to something beyond our sight, even more, farfetched than we can imagine. I see this applying to all, not only to the artsy right-sided brainers but also to the privileged, analytical, left-sided companions. For we all, need those little moments where we can break into a song, rush and jump to paint, stroking colours green hues or act out each intense dialogue we only wish to hear again and again. Come let’s join in the dainty dance of the hyperbolic few! 1. ​*​ Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr./WUSTL Folk Dances of India: Ghoomar Dhanak Preet ki sar pe odh kar ghoomar ghoomar ghoome O lalak reet sab jag ki chhord kar ghoomar ghoomar ghoome Dhola wale thaant, ghoomar ghoomar ghoome re baisa, ghoomar ghoome re Ghoomar Lyrics, Padmaavat Rajasthan is well famous for its vibrant traditions, enthusiastic dance forms and elegant culture. Ghoomar is just another spectacle of this diversity and culture that started with the Bhil tribe to worship Goddess Sarasvati and is now embraced by other Rajasthani communities.​1​ Typically performed by women, Ghoomar gained popularity during the reign of Rajputanas, who ruled Jaipur after defeating the Bhils. It is believed that the two communities embraced this folk dance form to signify peace.​1​ This Folk dance is performed by a group of women moving circularly, swirling and twirling around in their flowing robes called ‘ghagharas’, a traditional Rajasthani long skirt. This spectacular folk dance derived its name from ‘ghoomna’ and is elegantly showcased by women wearing a veil, ‘ghoonghat’ on their head covering their face.​2​ The upbeat rhythm and graceful and elegant gestures like pirouettes, finger-snapping, beating palms, and other foot movements maintain the tempo. This splendid spectacle fills the body with enthusiasm and zeal for our old long-standing Indian traditions. According to rituals, it is mostly performed by the newly married bride on being welcomed to her new marital home. Ghoomar is often celebrated at weddings, festivals and other religious occasions too.​2,3​ This folk dance symbolizes the transformation of young girls to womanhood in the Rajput community and traditionally performed in wedding attire.​3,4​ Kundan, mirror and silver jewellery are used as accessories for the celebration. Women are seen wearing joyous, vibrant colours of red, orange, pink with heavy embroidery and mirror work. They cover their face with a veil threaded with lace and zari borders.​2,4​ These bright colours signify prosperity and high enthusiasm filled within the community. Ghoomar is famous all over India and is being performed by various artists and celebrities in movies. Deepika Padukone took more than a month to learn this folk dance to get her footwork right for the film Padmavati. ​4​ In today’s world, this dance is performed by all ages of women worldwide and is cherished as a historically and culturally significant entertainment folk dance form.​3​ It showcases the rich culture of Rajasthan through aesthetically pleasing movement and traditional attire. Tourism in Rajasthan has boosted due to the peculiarities of regions, their manner of dressing, traditions, and folk dances. Ghoomar was a tribal dance that graduated to a folk routine that has now assumed international proportions thanks to a vibrant culture and its recognition as a pride of India. _________________________________ Independent Project by Sezal Chug Guide: Prof. Manohar Khushalani __________________________________ 1. 1. Wikipedia E. Ghoomar. The free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoomar 2. 2. CultureTrip the. Ghoomar. theculturetrip. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/why-ghoom ar-is-one-of-the-worlds-best-local-dances/ 3. 3. Utsavpedia T. Ghoomar. utsavpedia.com. https://www.utsavpedia.com/cultural-connections/ghoomar- of-marwar-inspiring-indian-dressing-for-centuries/ 4. 4. RajasthanDirect the. Ghoomar. rajasthandirect. https://www.rajasthandirect.com/culture/dance/ghoomar Leading scholar of Indian classical dance, architecture, art history, culture Kapila Vatsyayan no more Kapila Vatsyayan in her younger days. Dr Kapila Vatsyayan passed away peacefully at her residence (No.85, SFS Flats, Gulmohar Enclave, New Delhi), Wednesday 16th September, 2020 at about 0900 hrs, this morning, . She was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. Many people felt she was the most authoritative commentator on these subjects. She was formerly a member of parliament and also served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Education, where she was responsible for the establishment of a large number of national institutions of higher education. She served as the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. She was former President of India International Centre (IIC) and an IIC Life Trustee and the Chairperson of the IIC International Research Division. Bornon 25 December 1928 she was over 91 when she passed away In 1970, Vatsyayan received theSangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s national academy for music, dance and drama; this was followed by the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the fine arts conferred byLalit Kala Akademi, India’s national academy for fine arts in 1995. In 2011, the Government of India bestowed upon her thePadma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour. Lamenting her demise, Film actor Sharmila Tagore said “I guess the final curtain comes to us all. I too have had some endearing moments with her.There was so much to learn from her.I admired & was inspired by her. Today where do we see people like her? With her knowledge & drive?Who is there to appreciate her legacy?” Music in Healing Discourses on Music -6 Prateeksha Sharma Music appeals to the emotional side of the human nature. Music stirs, births, expresses, fires, harnesses, channelizes and tempers emotions. Music precedes the development of language as a form of expression. That is because music is present in nature even before the human is born as an individual or a species. In his bid to emulate the sounds of nature man becomes musical. And yet in amputating himself from this connection with nature, in the process of socialization and civilization the human loses touch with the lyre within, coming to a point of dis-ease or an absence of ease. Man has instinctively known forever about the healing aspects of music. Speaking about this knowledge in context of Indian music, Alain Daniélou the late Director of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation, Berlin, opines that “a general Sanskritic theory of music, termed Gāndharva Veda, was elaborated at a very early date.” He continues saying that it seems that theGāndharva Veda studied every use of musical sound, not only in different musical forms and systems but also in physics, medicine and magic. Music makes the human ‘whole’- in harmony and in balance. Don Campbell says that bringing a body in to balance requires observing the orchestra in it’s entirety, it’s current condition and past experience, it’s inherent strengths, it’s potential for improvement. And the real genius of healing lies in teaching the body, mind, and heart to discover and play their own music-not something that has been dictated by social norms. If one is to examine healing in terms of emotion, then the process of healing involves the transformation of one kind of emotion into another.