A huge Indian dance lesson in Paris !

[by Marion Rivolier from Paris, France]

The Urban Sketchers Paris group was invited by an Indian Dance Company to draw during a free lesson. We were in a gymnasium in the 19th borough of Paris.
It’s hard to say how many people were there: girls, boys, mothers, retired people, kids… the gymnasium was full!

We were sitting in the bleachers, barefoot (to feel the energy of the dancing). For three hours, we tried to capture the gestures, the energy and the incredible good feeling of the Indian dance.
It is very difficult to capture the movement, the speed, the different bodies of the dancers. We really got out our comfort zone with these kinds of exercises !

Some girls wore Indian-style dresses, colorful and beautiful. In Indian dance, each movement has a meaning, a significance. When you dance, you tell a real story.
Thank you to the Triwat compagny and Megha Jagawat, choreographer and teacher of Indian Dance to have welcomed us so warmly.