Hello, everyone! I'm very excited to be running this blog as part of my college World Politics course. Since my blog could be about anything, I decided to focus on dance, which has always been a big part of my life. From ballroom when I was little, to ballet, pointe, modern, and jazz as I got older, dance held a continuous presence in who I am.
What I love about dance is that it's universal: you don't need to speak a certain language or be from any specific part of the world to understand and appreciate it. Take the ballet La Bayadere as an example. La Bayadere, set in India, focuses on the love story of Nikiya, a beautiful young temple dancer, and Solor, a great warrior (check out this plot summary from American Ballet Theatre’s website if you’d like greater detail). As in any great love story, Nikiya and Solor face powerful opposition to their happiness. Eventually, this opposition leads Nikiya’s murder, and Solor, forced to marry another woman, Gamzatti, by his slain lover’s murderer, is anguished. He dreams of Nikiya one night before his marriage to Gamzatti, and the two lovers dance. The emotion between them in this pas de deux easily transcends time, language, and culture: the poignant dance reveals their innermost emotions without the need for words.
The universality of La Bayadere is obvious just by researching where it has been performed. This story, which reflects Indian culture, is performed across the globe by such companies as ABT in the United Sates as well as by Ballet Manila in the Philippines. The concept and story are powerful in any location because they are communicated through the fundamentally human form of dance, a relatable and timeless art form.
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