Natya Leela

Fall 2020 will continue to present most of us with extended computer screen time... So Natya Leela Artistic Director, Subashini Ganesan, thought it might be helpful to share a few eye exercises that many Classical Indian Dancers use in their daily practice & in performances.

Suba decided to be as casual as possible, so you know it doesn't take much preparation. Basically, sit comfortably, with your spine straight and your feet planted on the ground. Keep your chin parallel to the ground (not leaning forward) and open your eyes as wide as possible, throughout the entire session. Do not move your eyeballs too fast. Start slow… The aim here is to move your eyeballs independently of your neck muscles and that takes time. Sometimes it helps to video-tape yourself doing this OR have someone watch you because it is hard at the beginning to instinctively feel when we are connecting neck muscle movement with our eyes.

Here we go:-
There is NO VOCAL instructions in the video. Four eyeball movements are shown. For each movement, Suba demonstrates the direction first and then follows that up with 4 repetitions. Below are the four directions shown in the video:-
First movement – side to side.
Second movement – up and down
Third movement – Diagonal (one direction)
Fourth movement – Diagonal (the other direction)

On Wednesday we will post 4 curvy eyeball movements for practice. Meanwhile, let’s keep our eyes healthy and safe, along with all the other health precautions we are taking. AND do comment with comments/questions if you have any.

"Tracing the Essence" performed at 2018 JAW Big Weekend of Free Staged Readings and Other Fun Stuff. Thank you to Portland Center Stage at The Armory for inviting Natya Leela's Artistic Director, Subashini Ganesan, to present a Contemporary Bharatanatyam performance. "Tracing the Essence" explores relationships between multi-regional dance genres of the Indian Subcontinent. We draw from the strengths of Bharathanatyam, Kathak, and Garba, and connect deeply with the "Rasa" (essence OR core of emotions) philosophy that tends to be the underlying principal of many Indian dance forms. My concept and choreography was brought to life through collaborating with Nayantara Arora (Rajinder Arora), Sitara Razaqi Lones, Sruti Raghavan, and Priti Shah. Video Credit: Scott H. Forbes