![]() Finding Ganesh meant much more than being introduced to the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings. Finding Ganesha meant diving and re-surfacing into the remembrance and flow of India, Hinduism, and the ancient flow of Guru Parampara. I studied Flamenco Dance in Sante Fe. I was drawn by the emotional intensity that stirred in me the first time I saw a performance at the Ohio State Fair. Really! The Ohio State Fair! After attending a Flamenco workshop in Sante Fe, I could not find a Flamenco teacher in Ohio, so I started dancing with a belly dance troupe for a few years and loved it - pure joy! The music in both types of dance, created a deep yearning in me that led me to an East Indian dance called Odissi and a week-long dance workshop with Sanchita Battacharya at Omega Institute in New York. And that is when I dove. Literally. Sanchita introduced us to basic Odissi Dance Techniques to "worship" Ganesha. I had never heard of this elephant headed God in my outer world. But from the first wail and vibrato of the music and a namaste mudra, something in my inner world opened up and brought tears of remembrance and longing. We touched the earth, our eyes, then our hearts and and followed dance moves and mudras portraying the story of Lord Ganesha. It was Rich. Sacred. Full. And a a non-verbal undercurrent was running trough me wanting more.
I asked Sanchita if there was some gesture of devotion that had to do with bowing - if she would show us. She showed the namaste mudra. I "knew" in my body that there was more, but I did not have a word or picture for what is was in my ancient memory. I said no, there is more, the head must be lower. Sanchita hesitated. I am not sure why. We were a bunch of white non-Indians wanting to learn this. Maybe because we would not grasp the sacredness in our deepest consciousness? I asked again and she demonstrated sashtanga pranama, and I knew in my whole being that this is what I was waiting for. To put head and heart to the earth, and dive, dive, dive into the deepest truths. To dive into the forgotten knowings. To resurface as consciousness. The final dance scene from Sadda Dil Vi Tu (ABCD - Any Body Can Dance) is a crowd favorite dance to Lord Ganesha. At first, The dancers are simply representing Ganesh with masks. But as the music continues you can see in the crowd's eyes that they are having darshan of Ganesha. Ganesha is there, all pervading, awakening the audience to the moment. One by one they forget it is a dance competition and they surrender to Ganesha. They dive in - and re-surface. It's also a fabulous dance song to get moving to! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk01NN4ttKg
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