I wanted to wait for the photos before blogging about this..... Well they only just came, but were definitely worth the wait. Geri, the photographer for the event, really caught the ambience I thought- pure exotic elegance (www.geripix.com). Working for a large organization like Cirque du Soleil can be maddening with its complexity, but they really treat their artists with love and respect-- it's almost a shock, as in NYC one is often on the defensive, waiting for the next underhanded hit. We worked hard, but were well-paid. Indian costuming was important as the event had to have a lush Indian feel to match the feel of Kooza. Anil has so many costumes in his collection and the event organizer was in awe-- (seebelow)
made me email photos to the board of directors in Montreal so they could oogle......
THE COSTUMES: Here are some of what we wore: my costume in gold/orange, flowers, garlands and gold ornaments for the gods. In India, a classical dancer can take 4 hours to get into costume and character. In our case, 2 hours was the limit. We were 3 American and 3 Indian dancers. The two Americans, besides myself, had no Indian dance training at all, but Anil was great at giving them movements they could easily imitate-- that, plus an extra bit of makeup, some braided hairpieces (see photo above), 3 saris, and, presto, we fit in seemlessly (lol).
THE BEST PART: THE MUSIC--- The event director found and amazing trio which played on top of the Cirque dj's mix. The sound system was perfect and the mix was so spectacular, my anxiety just disappeared and I went out and danced with abandon--- What an unexpected thrill!!!
There were other performers as well: a fire dancer, and my yoga teacher and his partner performing a yoga duet. There was a gorgeous Brazilian bodybuilder, who Anil dressed up in the gold pieces to depict Shiva. He spent the evening serving tea and basically presenting is be-jeweled physique. An old guru read palms and a bunch of lovely ladies did henna and Indian makeup for the guests. We were introduced to the board of directors and the owner who had come from Montreal for the premier. All the performers attended, as well, and we got to entertain them for a change. One upset, at the last minute the organizers decided my incense pot might cause allergic responses and the flower petals for the ceremonial offerings might be a safety hazard, so we had to stick the flowers in the pot instead of using the incense (it's always something)-- but the upside was that they gave us endless supplies of Red Bull on ice in our dressing room, so I forgot the let down of having to balance flowers on my head. Below are photos to hopefully lend some of the excitement of the evening to the readers. MAYBE SOME OF YOU WILL EVEN BE INSPIRED TO TAKE OUR WORKSHOP ON JUNE 13!!!
