I am writing this first DanceWatch of the New Year from the beautiful Diggi Palace, a heritage property in Jaipur, India. Built in the 1860s, it was and is the home of the noble Diggi Family, who transformed it into a boutique hotel in the early 1990s. The palace showcases traditional Rajput and Mughal architectural styles, complete with scalloped archways, frescos, carved pillars, marble-tiled courtyards, fountains, and gardens home to wild monkeys, peacocks, and green parrots.
Diggi Palace is also known for hosting the Jaipur Literature Festival, one of the largest literary festivals in the world. My room has inset scalloped framed walls filled with flowery frescoes and antique furniture, and opens onto a rooftop veranda tiled in marble surrounded by the tops of fluffy trees and yellow flowers. It also has a swing with green velvet cushions that I plan to enjoy fully during my stay. And from my rooftop, I can hear all the sounds of Jaipur all at once.
I arrived in Jaipur this afternoon after completing an intense eight-day coast-to-coast dance tour of India. I performed a variety of dances from the Odissi repertoire with Odissi Dance Company, directed by my teacher’s teacher, Dr. Aparupa Chatterjee. My dance teacher in Portland is Yashaswini Raghuram, a member of the Odissi Dance Company. We, her students, were guest dancers with the company on this trip. Our performances took us to Nashik, known as the Wine Capital of India on the West Coast, or Grape Country as it is locally known; Bhubaneswar, a tropical oasis in Odisha where my friend says that the mosquito is the state bird, and where Odissi originates; and the densely populated, bustling cosmopolitan city of Kolkata in West Bengal. We traveled by plane, train, bus, car, and rickshaw, immersing ourselves in a thousand years of living history.
Our tour began at the Mumbai train station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, at 7:30 a.m. on December 22 — a low-lit cavernous building filled with many sleepy travelers. An hour later, we boarded a second-class AC car on the Pushpak Express, which runs between Mumbai and Lucknow Junction in Uttar Pradesh. The train is named after the flying chariot of the demon king Ravana, the main antagonist in the Hindu epic the Ramayana.
It also shares a name with a movie I saw in the theater the first time I came to India, in 1987. It is an award-winning dark comedy directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao that features no dialogue and gained popularity throughout India as it was universally understood. The story revolves around an unemployed man struggling to make ends meet. He dreams of a luxurious life and envies the rich. One day, he encounters an inebriated millionaire collapsed on the street. Sensing an opportunity, he kidnaps the man and assumes his identity at a fancy hotel called the Pushpak. There is love, a hitman, and an unraveling identity. Eventually, he realizes he can’t sustain the lie, releases the millionaire, and says goodbye to the love interest. You can check it out on YouTube—no need to worry about subtitles.
Our train was fitted with private compartments featuring four bunk beds made of blue vinyl. The top two beds can be folded and pushed up against the wall until it’s time to sleep, and each bunk came with sealed brown paper packages with a print that read “Welcome, N.E. Railway, Lucknow Division, Happy Journey by Mechanized Laundry, Coaching Depot, Lucknow,” and contained freshly laundered sheets and wool blankets. The berths also had floor-to-ceiling curtains that could be drawn for privacy.
Throughout the 3.5-hour journey, food attendants walked up and down the aisles, calling out the names of various dishes they were offering. Even if you weren’t hungry, their repeated announcements over the course of four hours could easily tempt you. I ended up purchasing Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars, dehydrated tomato soup that was revived with boiling water, and a chai. A bizarre but tasty combination. I was especially excited to ride the trains in India because my reading companion on this journey was Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh. A witty and colorful personal take on her experience.
Sponsor
In Nasik, we were warmly met by the members of the Nasik Rotary Club who sponsored this leg of our trip. We were then ferried off comfortably in a coach through the countryside to lunch at a the beautiful Grape County Resort and then to Gurudakshina Auditorium in Nasik, for a quick stage rehearsal and performance.
After the performance the Nasik Rotary Club presented our director and us awards and gifts of thanks for performing. This is a common occurrence after most Indian dance performances. Usually, we receive certificates acknowledging our participation; sometimes we are given shawls, and this time we were awarded trophies. Afterwards we took tons of photos with our host and the enthusiastic audience members. After, we quickly changed, enjoyed a lovely dinner, and then fell into bed exhausted at our hotel. Early the next morning, before breakfast, our coach drove us back to Mumbai, where we caught a flight to Bhubaneswar for our next performance.
As soon as we arrived in Bhubaneswar, we dropped off our luggage at Hotel Pal Heights and headed out to shop at Market Building. There, we visited Sweety Alankar silver shop, where some of us had our dance jewelry repaired, while others replaced parts of their collections with real silver. We also explored numerous saree shops and picked out new sarees to be made into dance costumes. After a busy day, we returned to our hotel for dinner and rest. Late that evening our tailor came to the hotel to take measurement and pick up our sarees and chat.
After breakfast the next day we rehearsed in our hotel, then got ready for our evening performances. Getting ready as a classical Indian dancer can take hours. This trip has definitely helped me speed up my getting-ready process. That evening, part of our group performed at Sanjog by Jyoti Kala Mandir, and all of us met up later and performed at Odissi International Festival at Bhanja Kala Mandap. It was fun to see other Odissi dance styles and their different styles of dress. Aside from my small Odissi family in the U.S., I rarely get to witness dancers from other parts of the world. As a dancer, watching other dancers is a big part of the education. You learn so much just from watching.
This was Christmas Eve, and my homesickness started to kick in. There were Christmas decorations all over, a Christmas tree in our hotel, and people wishing us Merry Christmas and even Christmas parties, but it still didn’t feel like Christmas at home, and I missed my family and our rituals and traditions a lot. I grew up Hindu but have always celebrated Christian holidays, lately begrudgingly. So I was surprised that I cared so much.
The next day, on Christmas morning, we were up at 4:30 a.m., getting back into costumes and makeup for a photo shoot at Brahmeswara Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Bhubaneswar. It was built at the end of the 9th century CE and is richly carved inside and out. It rained on and off all day, making our photo shoot challenging. One of the best things about India is the chai, which is available anywhere and at any time—you can practically summon a chai wallah out of thin air. While we waited for the rain to subside inside our bus, we enjoyed some comforting hot chai to help warm us up.
On Christmas night, we kept our makeup and hair ornaments on, dressed in fancy sarees and attend the final night of the three-day Odissi International Festival at Bhanja Kala Mantap. There, we watched my teacher’s teacher’s teacher, Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, the son of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the reviver of our dance style, perform a beautiful solo called “Shabari,” about a woman who finally meets Lord Rama after a lifetime of waiting. After the performance we had dinner, but I was feeling exhausted and cranky about missing Christmas with my family so I only ate Christmas cookies for dinner in protest.
Sponsor
On the 27th we flew to Kolkata. That evening we performed at Shree Radhika festival by Shibaranjani at G. D. Birla Sabhaghar, a festival at a theater connected to the Laxminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple dedicated to Radha and Krishna, Durga, and Shiva. It’s a modern-day temple made of white marble built to look like ancient temples with big domes and intricate carvings all around. The temple construction began in 1970 and took 26 years to complete. Sadly, I only saw the outside at night, lit up by ground lighting, displaying its grandeur.
For this performance, we paid for professional makeup artists to do our makeup, which made a huge difference. Their work looked amazing and was a great relief for me, allowing me more time to warm up, practice, and socialize with all the new dancers we met backstage.
The next day, we played tourists and explored Kolkata, the childhood home of the director of the Odissi Dance Company. We shopped furiously, dined at Flurys, a tea room and pastry shop, and enjoyed Indo-Chinese food before heading to bed.
While this may sound like a simple day, maneuvering around a busy Indian city during the holidays is no small feat, especially when crossing streets without traffic lights. I ended up buying so many things that I had to purchase a suitcase to carry everything back to the U.S. Now, I’m kicking myself because I’ll have to pay extra baggage fees on all of my flights!
Then it was over. One final breakfast together, hugs, and kisses, then everyone was off to their places of origin around India to visit with family, and now I am on my own. I will spend the next two weeks traveling by myself throughout Rajasthan.
I have experienced the best hospitality I have ever encountered anywhere on this trip, and met the most adoring and enthusiastic audiences. It’s for sure a self-esteem booster to have dozens of people line up after a show to have their photos taken with you while thanking you for your performance and welcoming you to India.
My biggest realization so far comes from observing the traffic. Signals, road signs, and lanes seem to be just suggestions here—though I say that somewhat in jest. Somehow, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, people, cats, dogs, and cows all manage to flow and move together in a chaotic yet functional way. You can’t try to control anything; you have to let go and go with the flow. It’s a “let go and let God” kind of situation. If you force your own agenda in this sea of beings, you are bound to be frustrated or get seriously injured. 2025, for me, will be about surrender and more adventures far and wide. Happy New Year!
Sponsor
January Dance Performance
A Woman’s Song for Peace
Dance Brigade, artistic director Krissy Keefer
7:30 p.m. January 9, Hult Center, 1 Eugene Center, Eugene
7:30 p.m. January 10, Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, Portland
6:00 p.m. January 11, WOW Hall Fundraiser, 291 W. 8th Ave, Eugene
5:00 p.m. January 12, Craterian Theater at the Collier Center, 23 S. Central, Medford
A Woman’s Song for Peace is a performance seeking to inspire collective healing and highlight our shared humanity, with guest appearances by American singer-songwriter and activist Holly Near and Canadian singer-songwriter and poet Ferron. The tour will also include a revival of Defiance, a 1977 sign language dance by the Wallflower Order Dance Collective about finding and speaking your truth.
***
SMALLER | Tribute of Small Dance
Featuring Karen Nelson, Nica Portavia, and Evan Strauss
7:30 p.m. January 17
Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., Portland
The event, which takes its name from dancer Steve Paxton’s Small Dance query, “Can it be smaller?,” will feature visiting artists Karen Nelson and Nica Portavia, who, in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Evan Strauss, will seek to answer this question in a live contact improvisation.
***
Dark Side: A Piece For Assorted Lunatics
B. presents
January 17-18
Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE. .Alberta St., Portland
Sponsor
Portland’s all-star rock band Love Gigantic will perform Pink Floyd’s cerebral soundscape “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety, accompanied by aerial performer Brandy Guthery. Guthery was the co-director and founder of Portland’s AWOL Dance Collective and now directs her company, B. Movement Project. The band features Sarah King, Arthur Parker, and David Langenes (Nowhere Band), Chet Lyster and Joe Mengis (Eels), Jenny Conlee-Drizos (The Decemberists), Michael Nelson (Climber), and Kristi Evans and Jon VanCura (Marchfourth).
***
Martha Graham Dance Company
Presented by White Bird
7:30 p.m. January 22
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway, Portland
5-6 p.m. Pre-show talk, 900 S.W. Fifth Avenue
6 p.m. January 21, Martha Graham dance technique class, BodyVox
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the iconic Martha Graham Dance Company will perform “Errand into the Maze” and a suite of dances from “Appalachian Spring” for one night only. The evening will also include newly commissioned contemporary works, including “We The People” by choreographer Jamar Roberts and “CAVE,” a new piece by Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.
Founded in 1926 by modern dance pioneer Martha Graham, this historic company, under the artistic direction of Janet Eilber since 2005, continues to honor Graham’s legacy while pushing the boundaries of modern dance.
***
Open Ended
Open Space and Outrun The Bear
Jan 23-26
Open Space’s Creative Container, 8371 N Interstate Ave., Portland
Sponsor
Open Space welcomes Outrun the Bear, a collaborative dance project based in Los Angeles, for the 2025 edition of Open Ended. Founded in 2021 by Megan Doheny (USA) and Ilya Nikurov (Russia), Outrun the Bear will create a new work for the company and perform selections from their repertoire in this highly anticipated show.
***
PASTfuture Longform Archival Conversations
Linda K. Johnson with Jeff Forbes
11 a.m.-1 p.m. January 26
Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., Portland
The first of six new public interviews with Portland’s dance elders in Linda K. Johnson’s PASTfuture Long-Form Archival Conversation Series will feature Performance Works NW director and lighting designer Jeff Forbes.
The PASTfuture Long-Form Archival Conversation Series is part of Mycelium Dreams, an ongoing dance cartography and interview project initiated in 2022 by Portland dance and interdisciplinary artist Linda K. Johnson. This archival project invites dance artists to reflect on their artistic journeys and hand-drawn maps inspired by mycelium networks’ connectivity, reciprocity, and relational quality. Continuing the interconnectivity theme, the interview component, PASTfuture, seeks to create an inclusive oral record of the stories of dancers in the Portland community.
***
Image courtesy of Performance Works NW.
workshop #3
Works by Seth Nehil, Cat Ross, and Anthony J. Stillabower
7:30 p.m. February 1
Performance Works NW, 4625 S.E. 67th Ave, Portland
Sponsor
Supporting experimentation, improvisation, composed sound and noise, and maybe even songs, “Workshop” is a series for musicians and sound artists to present new and in-progress works and compositions in an informal setting. Workshop #3 features new and in-process sound works by Seth Nehil, Cat Ross, and Anthony J. Stillabower.
Conversation