Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Anjali's Response to May 2010 Assignment: Contemporary Bollywood Courtesan
Untitled from Post Natyam Collective on Vimeo.
password: bollywood
Set to the music of "Umrao Jaan", we only see this woman's feet. I had this idea of a modern day courtesan dancing in her home, dancing in her blood and then off to "work". What would this "work" be today?
what images come to mind when viewing this woman's dancing feet?
what does the shedding of the skirt and putting on shoes (as well as choice of shoes) mean to you?
suggestions for development?
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1. what images come to mind when viewing this woman's dancing feet?
ReplyDeleteThe kind of skirt you wore initially places the woman in a folk context to me, and her dancing connotes a joyous, fun-filled, celebratory feeling highlighted by the whirling of the skirt and the very light, bouncy approach to footwork. I do notice that my sense of the folk-like quality of this character is in contradiction with the modernity of the room in which you are dancing, as well as with the quick pointing of the feet in the beginning, which is one of the few movements clearly from Western technique.
2. what does the shedding of the skirt and putting on shoes (as well as choice of shoes) mean to you?
Taking off the skirt to put on the shoes surprised and interested me. I read the action as leaving a village/folk context and stepping into a modern (western or westernized?) world. I am very conscious that the woman is probably completely barelegged as she puts on the shoes. The shoes are slightly ambiguous to me – halfway between “sensible” and “sexy” high heels. On the one hand, putting on the shoes suggests a loss of freedom, while on the other hand, the solidity of sound that they provide, as you slap the hard heel onto the ground, suggests a grounding not as present in the dance in the skirt.
3. suggestions for development?
Zooming in on the feet is a very interesting approach. The camerawork and physical environment in which it is filmed could probably be considered more fully. Also, how much are you thinking about the words of the song?
1. what images come to mind when viewing this woman's dancing feet?
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning the song seems yearning, and so do the first few movements of the foot sliding, then a little tap and a pretty ballooning of the skirt. The swinging open of knee references the dancer's sexuality, and possibly teasing with it.
Then the rhythm starts and the song sounds folky, the dance also seems more folky and fun with the steps and turns. There's a part in the middle, around 1:20min where there's something about your movement that seems like you're marking the space with some sort of importance. With the turn of the skirt it seems more joyous again, and I notice the open and close of knee again.
The skirt coming off is surprising, and reads to me as a cross between a sexy shimmy and a practical movement to remove it.
2. what does the shedding of the skirt and putting on shoes (as well as choice of shoes) mean to you?
kicking away the skirt seems like you're leaving behind "tradition" and perhaps a bit distainfully, though it just might be practically.
Stepping into the shoes seems like going into modernity. It is purposeful, yet it doesn't fit easily or right away. It needs some adjustments and then with a tap is claimed. Then a sigh and heavy walking as she leaves as if with a great burden, not happy about what she is going to do.
3. suggestions for development?
There is a tiny bit of modern dancy looking vocabulary mixed in, but it is so little to become really a statement. I would either nix it or develop it more. I really love the possibility of creating moods or feelings with the way you move with your feet...pensive, joyous, sexual, etc. Perhaps the moods she goes through tell more of a story or lead up to the transformation/removal of the skirt more?
I am also curious what you mean in your description about "dancing in her "blood." That sounds really intense and could include lots of imagery but seems like a totally different piece to me.
Perhaps we could imagine who the camera is (like in your pregnancy study, it was a clear viewer) and why it would be so low to the ground...Maybe her child? and if so, what is the relationship of the child/camera to the dancing feet and vice versa. That could create a lot of complexity.