It seems that April 29th is "international dance day", and it was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Jean-George Noverre, a French dancer and ballet master who died in 1820. Needless to say, you can research his legacy widely on the internet. I will spend this post on the "international" part of this celebratory day.
In 2018 - 2019, I taught in Mumbai, Delhi and Goa over the course of six months in India with a Fulbright grant. You can check out my adventures in India in my companion blog dancingkayak.blogspot.com which you can also find under my profile here.
During that sojurn I taught ballet and modern dance classes to an extensive range of dancers and enthusiasts, a few of whom continue to keep in touch with me. Two such dancers are Arjun Menon and Neeraj Lohani, whom I met while they were training at different institutions. Both of these very special artists have been kind enough record a short message of encouragement for dancers to take advantage of my open classes here in NYC.
Neeraj with Sumeet Nagdev Dance Academy dancers, also in 2018.
In many ways, I don't think I chose dance to anchor me professionally throughout my life. I certainly knew that I was incredibly fortunate to have been able to meet most of the challenges that a life in dance put before me: artistry, musicality, technique, physical stature, racial heritage, nationality, opportunity, and a few others. In fact, I never imagined that there was such a thing as a professional life in dance for someone such as myself. Yet wherever I did not see someone like me, I saw "opportunity"! Opportunity to fill a void that directors, choreographers, managers, business owners likely didn't know existed, much less needed filling!
I loved the opportunity to spend an extended period in India meeting and helping to further the knowledge of western classical ballet and American modern dance forms. However, it was the dancers and the friendships sparked by sharing space with them in person that was likely the biggest reward!
If you happen to spend a lot of time surfing for "dance" on the internet, you might recognize a few other faces in the above photos.
Having a "studio" home in NYC with Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the Taylor School, is yet another blessing in my life, as they open more studios and classes than they ever have previously. Certainly there are many older more established studios here, but none have our exclusive access to the breadth of dances created by Paul Taylor. Dances that have lives in some of the most storied ballet and contemporary companies around the world. Taylor's dances have given audiences and dancers experiences that endear them to the power of communication through movement with technical skill and artistry, yet doing so as "individuals"!
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