Temples, Stalkers and Fortunes

Thursday was a run-through of the performance from about 10:00-2:30. I took the company class and then videotaped some stuff and worked on my computer. Around 2:30 Dana taught a class for some college strudents from Loyola College. They were all on a dance team and most have never taken a modern class. Results were mixed. After class Dana's dancers demo'd some pieces and then the college students danced their hip-hop dance for us. There were very funky and enthusiastic.

Very few women do any type of dance except classical Indian dance. As I mentioned before there is a real separation between men and women. It is rare to see a woman on the crowded buses that we see during rush hour but there are "women's buses". The maids in this hotel are all men as are the waiters and the hotel clerks. But there are plenty of female business women here. They just don't take the bus.

After we left the studio and got showered Tati and I took a wild rickshaw drive to the Pizza Hut. I took a movie and will try to post it to YouTube soon.

In the evening we went to the Council General's residence which was beautiful. The food was Indian and was quite good. I sat at a table with two diplomats, the head of the dance school John Britto who is responsible for dana's trip here, and 3 members of a classical Indian dance troupe. When I mentioned Shah Rukh Khan the choreographer said she hated him but I made her admit that he did have a certain charm and that he could dance.

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Today (Friday) 2 of John Britto's dancers took us to Mamallapuram Temple about an hour south. As soon as we stepped out of the car a vendor was offering to sell us peacock feathers. One guy followed me around trying to get me to buy sandals. I made the mistake of trying them on. They were pretty cool but he really annoyed me. He was hard to shake. The dancers were calling him my stalker. This goat was eating the marigolds attached to the front of a car in the parking lot.

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The temple on the beach was very beautiful. It is dedicated to Shiva so there are stone carvings of bulls (his "ride") all about.

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There is a narrow passage that goes aroung the center of the structure. One is supposed to go aound it 3 times for good luck. He I am with Tati after my 2nd circuit.

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The two dancers that were with us helped us immensely to buy stuff from the vendors. I went into a fabric/clothing store and with the help of Johnson (his real name) I had a long top and pants made of a beautiful silk in one hour. Johnson haggled with tailor for about 5 minutes and the tailor reluctantly settled for ~$20. But there were obviously no hard feelings because Johnson was writing down my measurements for the tailor as he took them.


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My fabric is the blue he is working on The orange fabric is a shirt Kelly bought that needed to be taken in.

We then went to an artists' working area where we did some more shopping and many of us had our fortunes read. I had a Tarot card reading that involved a parrot and that predicted that in the future my family won't help me but my friends will. Hey, what's up with that? And I will live to be at least 85. Oh I will also be travelling in the same manner as I am today often.

Here is my Tarot card reader reading someone else's fortune.
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Some of the other dancers had their palms read. Here Alvin (his real name) translates for Shu-Chen. Her readings were much more personal. That scared me so I went with the Tarot reading.


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