After being sick in bed for three full days here in Bangladesh, I pulled myself out of my hotel room this morning and came down to Shilpakla Academy with the company. I still feel pretty yucky, and am having a hard time even just sitting in a chair in the corner, but I'm so glad I came. There is something so inspiring about watching people dance. Especially when they are experiencing something for the first time, or learning something different from what they innately know.
Shadou and Donald Jones have been teaching this Jazz class for 5 days now. There are about 15 students here today, men and women. All of them auditioned for this workshop, and a few are dancers from the Shadhona dance company, our local partner. Their feet are mostly flexed, and their knees are mostly bent, and it's obvious our Western ways haven't sunk in yet…and probably won't in our short time here. But it's actually kinda great to see them follow the Spectrum dancers in a drag turn, and turn it into something completely different. Make it entirely their own. These kids are dancers. Different and unique in their technique and experience, with a refreshing sense of enthusiasm and energy for trying something new. And man do they LIVE in this Jazz stuff. :)
There's one young man, Hanif, who I find particularly adorable. Imagine a Bangladeshi Fred Astaire. All the poise and grace of someone who has been dancing far beyond his years. And he's just so cute! I will mention Fred to him and tell him I expect to see him in America someday.
What a great day in Dhaka. I can tell that this part of the trip is going to be much more about the people we meet than the places we go or the stuff we do outside of the program.
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