To Courteous Guys

Hi guys!

OK. So I'm a feminist and I don't realy like asking ANYONE for help. 'Kay? Good.

Now... I do, however, not mind it if you want to hold the door. The way I figure, someone has to, and if we have nominated the male half of the population to have that job, then great. OK by me. Besides, I am The Diva, and it's good that you see fit to recognize My Magnificence by opening doors. I especially appreciate when I have my hands full of turkey dinner. Thanks.

However, guys, we gotta get something clear. The procedure of opening doors is this:
- approach door
- take handle
- pull door open... now... here's the tricky part:
- if the door opens toward you, stay on this side of the door frame
- if the door opens away from you, walk through, and hold the door on the other side of the door frame
- do NOT switch the ifs and the thens of the above statement
- hold the door, for long enough for me to get through
- pay attention, dude, don't just stand there like a lump, after I'm through, let the door close, don't just stare into space


The reason I point this out, is that there have a noticeable amount of door-holding violations recently. If you try to go to the opposite side of the doorway from the door, you end up supporting the door at the fulcrum - the hinges. Now... given that most of you are geeks, and college grads, I gotta figure you took High School Physics. Remember how when you are very close to the point of the angle, there is more work needed to move (or not move) the lever? Yeah. That's why we put doorknobs on side and hinges on the other clever huh?

Unless you are Mr. T or Stone Cold Steve Austin, you don't have the muscle capacity to hold a door open when you support it from the hinges. And you DEFINITELY don't have the ability to hold the door open this way, while squishing yourself to the wall on the side of the door frame, so I can get by your maniliness. Just for the record - standing there, smooshed up against the wall, holding a door with your arm quavering with exhaustion - is not manly-looking. It's goofy looking.

This also poses a variety of risks for the lady:
- you might not be able to hold said door for my entire, stately entrance - in which case, I have to figure out how to deal with a door slammed in my face.
- you and I might not fit in that tiny little door way space. I don't know about you, but I happen to be a Glamazon. We needs our space. After all, my radiance extends a good two feet past me, and I don't feel like squishing it to get by you.
- me tripping over you on the way through will make both of look like big dorks. We are no longer Scarlet and Rex - we are now Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Also - a small gripe. If, when you cross the threshold, I am just a womanly blob on the horizon, you are not expected to wait for me. We Divas proceed at a stately, diva-like pace. We do not intend to hurry just so you can feel gallant. And do not, do not, if you are basking in Our Radiance while holding open the door, tap your foot impatiently or look bored. After all, you have a full on view of my cute outfit and pretty neato boobs bouncing along at you. Enjoy the view (even if you are gay, and it's just an aesthetic thing), look like you have nothing better to do. If you do have something better to do, then move along. I will handle the door. I hear that if I turn that bumpy thing and pull it should be obvious from there. I did manage to make it out of the house without too much difficulty.

Thank you

Lakshmi

Seraglio Course Outline

I figure, I might as well write it up here, I can easily paste it into Word later... and anyone who wants can read it.  Keep in mind, folks who actually study Indian dance/music something, that this is a 1 hour course for people who may or may not have anything to do with any parts of the Indian performing arts before.  And yet, we are not doing "Day 1: Bharata Natyam",  we are looking at some tasty tidbits that might supplement whatever else we are doing in life.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty

Or at least that was the title I sent... they seem to have gone a little haywire on the event site - http://www.eastkingdom.org/event-detail.html?eid=1129

I. General Thoughts on Abhinaya (under 10 minutes)

1. Abhinaya vs. Nritta
2. Abhinaya in historic texts
3. General principles:

• Hand movements are very important
• A stiff hand connotes tension - anger, pride, aggression, emphasis
• A loose hand connotes relaxation - familiarity, congeniality, comfort
• Adapt movement as needed to give meaning - be intentional, work within the framework of the basic mudras, altering movement consciously.
• Face and eyes are used to give shades of meaning.
• Practice head slides until you can do them with comfort
• Practice in mirror
• Leg movement is often less precise - vary movement while keeping it symmetrical, combine slow and fast steps, keep back straight and balance centered.

II. Sringara - What is it?

1. Rasa is that which the audience experiences from seeing the work of art
2. Navarasas (9 rasas) - Shringar (erotic), Hasya (humor), Karuna (pathetic/pathos), Raudra (terrible), Veera (heroic), Bhayanaka (fearful), Bibhatsa (odious), Adbhuta (wonderous)
3. Rasa vs. Bhava
4. Some examples

• Poetry - selection from Purandara Dasa
• Art - copy of painting from Ragamala

III. Movements

1. Beautiful Woman

• hair - long, thick, braided, adorned
• jewelry - necklace, bracelets, rings, anklebells, earrings
• saris
• teeth & lips
• overall - slow walking, beautiful of face, just "beautiful"

2. Interaction a Man

• visualing the man, 'speaking' to the man
• pining for the man
• loving the man
• being spurned by the man
• thinking about the man

3. Telling a story, putting it in context

• who are you telling the story to?  the man?  a friend?  how does this change your physicality?
• what is the surrounding framework?  is this part of a larger tale? 
• does other activity come into contact - you don't just love someone, you do things with them... what things?

This is mostly an outline.  I need to go in and flesh out the examples of sringara.  And I'd really like to pull out my notes on subtypes of sringara.  Hopefully we'll spend the majority of class time on section 3 - that's the part where we really get to play.  The bullets aren't really so much 1 bullet per move, but general things to think about.