Blog #55: Prabin Sir

Okay so... I'm not sure I ever detailed how much I loved performing my Bollywood dance last weekend, but it seriously filled me with so much joy. It's no exaggeration that being a part of Nritta, the massive dance festival at Christ University, was one the highlights of my entire trip.

There are a lot of reasons I loved it so much.

First of all, I just love dancing. Going to Bollywood class twice a week was always something I looked forward to, and learning a totally new style of dance was loads of fun. There's just no way to be anything other than excited while dancing Bollywood!

Secondly, the rest of the performances in the festival were just absolutely astonishing, and I loved seeing the passion and talent that went into them. From the music, to the different dance styles (such as Bharatnatyam and Khatak, which we just recently learned about in our Indian Culture and Traditions class!) everything was just beautiful. Counting rehearsals and actual performances, I watched some of the dances probably ten times in about three days, and I was still awestruck by them. Being a part of something so incredible was just amazing.

Finally, I love our dance instructor. Prabin Sir is an insanely talented dancer and choreographer, and was able to put up with some crazy Americans and actually make them look halfway decent on stage. Not only is Prabin Sir an incredible dancer, but he is kind and funny and inspiring.

Although our Bollywood performance is over now, Prabin Sir promised to teach us some traditional Indian dance, such as Bharatnatyam. We met this morning for class, but instead of dancing, we all sat around in a circle and talked. Luckily for us, Prabin Sir told us all about how he got to where he is today. From raising his hand to take dance class as a senior in high school, purely to have an excuse to get out of economics class, to touring the world performing traditional Indian dance, his story is filled with hard work, dedication, adaptability, a little bit of luck, and overcoming obstacles such as a lack of familial support.

Seeing him now, as an incredibly successful dancer, who also has a beautiful family, and a radiant and joyful personality, I can't see Prabin Sir as anything but an inspiration.

Plus, he did teach us some Bharatnatyam yesterday, and now that I know a few basic steps, I'm even more in love with the dance than I was before. I'm so so grateful for the chance to learn and practice dance this semester, and it was only made better by the fact that Prabin Sir was my instructor!

Prabin Sir before literally descending from the ceiling at Nritta.