中国古典舞 (Classical Chinese Dance)

18th June 2017, Maryland, USA: 

It was one of those busy working days at office and after we wrapped up our notes, reports and documents, Yu Huan slipped an invitation to traditional Chinese dance recital, of which she was a participant too. My eyes gleamed with joy, as I was unaware of this hidden talent in her. So, Calendar marked and sunday afternoon was booked to witness the Xuejuan Dance Ensemble.

Another reason for our mounting excitement was our daughter, Akshara, as it was the first time we were taking her to a live dance show and how curious we were to see our little one’s reaction!

And soon we were there, parked our car and trotted up the staircases to only enter a packed auditorium. As we scuttled our way to the seats, the lights dimmed. Curtains drawn aside. Silence. Music played. And, we witnessed an enchanting rendition to Zhuo Ma – a famous Tibetan traditional song. The costume, expression and grace was mesmerizing and transported us to the Zhang highlands in Tibet.

The next piece called, ‘Auspicious Clouds’, was a classical dance based on Han and Tang dynasties. The dancers were in an alluring sync as the music cascaded down. Beautiful hues of blues and white covered the stage, and just as we were bewitched by that serenity, the classical Chinese fan dancers breezed on the stage. Amidst the group we saw a recognizable smile (all dancers look very similar with the same costume and make up) , yaayy that’s Yu! So happy we were to see her sway in rhythm.

The ‘Divine Serendipity’, ‘Incense’ and ‘Dunhuang Classical Dance’ were equally enthralling. The colorful costumes, the perfect lighting, and the dancers fondling in perfect rhythm to the melodious tune from the Konghou (Chinese harp) or Pipa (a pear shaped stringed musical instrument), hypnotically carried us along.

In ‘Arirang’s’ melody we saw beautiful maidens dreaming of their wedding and future. Even their beautiful purple gowns flowing in music did not miss the cadence!  ohh how serene it all was and the maidens effortlessly took us with them into their world of dreams.

‘Mamma can we go now!’ whispered little Akshara. 2 hours over, and my little toddler’s patience held good all this while, with her little ‘wows’ and ‘applauds’ here and there! Not bad…  

And as we prodded our way out through a still packed auditorium, my mind couldn’t stop thinking over the fact that all this while the dances I have witnessed be it the classical Indian dance, the Tanoura dance of the middle east, the hip-hop of the west, all have beats to it. And dancers counted these beats to change their moves. But here is a music that had just no beat! It was a pure melody of the harp and pipa cascading down, and the dancers in perfect sync, swayed to the right moves and all together at the right time!

My train of thoughts came to a full stop when we got to witness another performance at the parking lot and this time the performer was little Akshara :) who voiced her Chinese music and imitated the dancers convincing us that she is one. And yes, we applauded an equally convincing applaud, wrapped her in our arms and then in the car seat to head to our next destination. 

Zaijian (bye) until then….