3. Stage Performances
For every dance performance, we go through the exact same routine. In the weeks and months leading up to the performance, we have our usual two classes per week. A week or so before the performance, we have class every evening. Two days before the performance, some of us realize that our blouse is two sizes too big or that our pants don't go up all the way. One day before the performance, all of the moms flood the studio asking for all kinds of flowers, jewelry, outfits and makeup needed for the next day. The night before the performance is the inventory time for us dancers. We will invariably find a missing red sharpie or a dried up eyeliner and send our frantic moms out before the stores close.
Morning of the dance is a whole another ball game.
It starts with hair. Some events don't require elaborate hair-do and it will just need a braid and a strand of flowers. Major events like Nartana annual day typically require a full hairdo- full bun, hair/braid extension, two different types of flowers, Surya/Chandra medallions, full head-set, etc. It usually takes an hour or more just to get the buns and braid in proper alignment, before we move on to the makeup.
When we were younger, make up sessions were always combined with other friends. We would be seated around a large dining table and complain as our moms yanked our heads in all different directions. Now, we sit in silence and hope that our foundation looks less orange and more like our skin. Some of us have moved on to doing the makeup on our own and just need the parent to fix eyeliner.
Once the make up is done, we put on the dresses. Some are straightforward, just the usual pants, blouse and fan, while some have 5-7 elaborate pieces that confuse even the most seasoned mom on which order they need to be put on. Once all that is figured out and the dancer has the dress on, it is the time for jewelry. The earrings and their extensions need to be pinned down. The forehead piece needs to be glued down. The necklaces need to be sewed in. The waist belt needs to secure the braid. The bangles are the easiest, while the nose rings are the absolute worst. They need to be literally lodged into the skin or they fall off on stage.
By now, the hosting house typically turns into a war zone. Every possible surface in the viscinity of the dancer gets littered with dance stuff. However planned and organized we start the morning, chaos invariably returns by the time we leave home. After reaching the venue, we quickly scribble some dots on our hands and feet with red sharpie, and borrow white eyeliner from our friends for the bottu- somehow we never seem to have the white eyeliner in our makeup pile! The gajjelu (anklets) are the very last ones we wear, moments before going on to the stage.
The post performance adrenaline and the exhaustion that soon follows is the same, whether we are performing for the first time or the twentieth. Even the willingness to go on to the stage for the next performance stays the same, if not get even more intense!
In the almost 9 years I have been learning Kuchipudi from Anu aunty, I have given over two dozen performances, each with a unique memory in my heart. I look forward to adding more memories to this list in the years to come!
List of all my performances thus far:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i81HCKdXqKUI-lS6IPVImk9YFT0-n0Z2yQT0qOuLFxA/edit?usp=sharing
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