7. The preparation- Core

June 15, 2024

7. The preparation- Core

Even though the formal start to the Rangapravesam preparation was on October 23rd, my regular lessons only began in the second week of November, after the conclusion of Nartana Annual Day. I felt very excited when I saw the whatsapp notification come through from Anu aunty for the creation of the group "Raaga Kuchipudi"!

In one of my first lessons after that, aunty discussed the flow of the Rangapravesam with me- an invocation song, a Devi item, a main item, intermission, three more items, and a Thillana followed by Mangalam. At the time, aunty was still figuring out the specifics: sequence of items in the second half, how to incorporate Taara into all of this, etc. As the items in the first half were more or less set in stone, most of my initial classes in November were focused on those items.

Just as important as song selection for a Rangapravesam is the costume and jewelry selection! There is an interesting story about my first dress. The teachers at ManaBadi that my mom helps coordinate all get sent sarees. In the pile mom received last year was this red saree that I really liked. However, they do a lottery to decide who gets which saree and that red dress went to someone else. Turns out that the other aunty did not like the red saree and traded it with my mom's. When Anu aunty mentioned she will be in India that December and could help look for my sarees, my mom had the brilliant idea to turn my favorite red saree into a dance dress! Aunty took one look at that saree and approved it!

Aunty would video call us, send pictures of various sarees and jewelry and ask for my input. Aunty was so kind to me that even on her birthday, she was out shopping for my jewelry! The way she always included me in every detail, small or big, made me feel so important! Despite her busy schedule while in India, not only did she pick my two other dresses and all the matching jewelry, she also took online classes for me to keep the momentum going!

In the second week of February, we got the good news that we have the PRCA auditorium available for my event on July 14th! Mom wasted no time in sending "Save the date" info to all the close friends and family. That same week, we also got some not-so-good news about my mom's health, which put my Rangapravesam in jeopardy. We discussed the timeline of mom's treatment and surgery with her healthcare team as well as Anu aunty, and decided to forge ahead as planned. There was a silver lining to all those difficult conversations- mom decided to write an inspiring song that Harini will be setting to tune, aunty will be choreographing, and I will get to dance to it at my Rangapravesam! Over the next couple of weeks, we firmed up the list of songs, including a cute song aunty picked for Taara and I to dance to! Taara was ridiculously excited when she got to know that she too would get to dance during my event! Aunty also finalized the team of musicians that will be part of the Orchestra for my big day.

March got busy with Kalakendra performance on March 9th and Uma's Rangapravesam on March 31st. I missed being a part of Nartana's Margazhi utsavam presentation this year and I generally missed seeing my friends at our regular classes. So I was thrilled to be a part of the team that presented the beautiful Swathi Thirunal composition, Sankara Srigiri, at Kalakendra. I also got to see Uma's preparation from close quarters as I volunteered to operate lights at Uma's event.

April and May were grueling. Aunty took many intense 1:1 lessons to knock out the choreography for most of the songs. I was also part of the team performing in Seattle at the TTA mega conference and it all meant that I was spending countless hours on dance in these two months, in addition to the various demands of my school. Amidst all this was my photoshoot on April 19th. These were also the most difficult months for my mom and the whole family, given her various procedures, medical appointments and of course the big surgery on April 30th.

I am grateful to Vandana aunty and Sonakshi's family for offering me rides to/from dance classes while my mom was in recovery. I am also grateful to our family friends that flew in to help out with my and Taara's dance chauffeuring. I am always grateful to Anu aunty - for picking me up for all my 4pm classes and for all the inspiring pep talks.