As the weather gets warmer, people are anxious to get out of the house — on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd, visitors gathered at the Carmine Carro Community Center, 3000 Fillmore Avenue, in Marine Park, for the first event of the spring/summer season.
The Dancing into Spring: South Asian Dance Workshop was organized by the Marine Park Alliance (MPA) and curated by dance instructor Sloka Iyengar, who previously performed at the MPA’s Festival of Lights — Diwali event, to showcase South Asian dances and movements.
“We’re excited to kick off the season with our spring/summer program calendar and to start off with Dancing into Spring,” MPA Executive Director Scott Middleton said. “We are delighted that Sloka was interested in coming back to the park for a spring-themed program. People, young and old, came and learned about some dance moves from Iyengar’s culture, while also celebrating the coming of spring.”
Iyengar presented several South Asian dances and other performances, including the Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance originating in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Iyengar demonstrated this special dance to her audience through her movements, focusing on balance, footwork and hand gestures. Another traditional South Indian dance form was the Padam, and the Padam that the Iyengar performed was Gaana Reengaram, a spiritual performance.
She also demonstrated hand gestures, such as a bee (Bhramara), a peacock (Mayura), a deer (Mrigashirsha), and a fully bloomed lotus flower (Alapadma), among others. These hand gestures, called mudras, are sacred ritual movements practiced in South Asian religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Mudras evoke a connection to nature and spring by enhancing meditation, channeling life-force energy and restoring mental and physical balance.
Iyengar taught attendees several Indian languages used with these dances, such as Hindi, Tamil, and Sanskrit, the latter of which is the language of the Natya Shastra, an ancient Indian text on Indian performing arts.
With dances, comes music, and Iyengar spoke of Indian musical scales (saptak), based on Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, similar to the Western solfège.
“Thanks to the MPA for having the space ready, letting everybody know, and it was a beautiful day. It was nice to see about 25 attendees show up — people of all ages showed up, people with their families or just by themselves,” Iyengar said. “It was an inter-generational event, which I think are so sorely needed, and for people to learn of cultures that aren’t their own.”
Events such as these play a major role in bringing the community together, as they showcase that many different cultures come together to form one community.
“I believe it’s important that people in New York from all over come and share their culture. They share dances, songs, their languages; events of that type are really beautiful. You see people of all ages are here,” Ilona Blank of Sheepshead Bay, a mother of three, said. “This is a sense of community. It’s amazing for kids to know and to learn. I always bring my kids here for different events, and I’m really grateful for the time we spend here.”
