Opening Night at NAATF 09

At Theater for the New City.

The Box Office.

Some of the Opening Night crowd in the Lobby.

Saw Bahu-Beti-Biwi. This is an Indian solo performance piece by Sheetal Gandhi, strongly rooted in dance, using Indian music (I'm told this was traditional north Indian folk music, but this isn't something I'm particularly knowledgeable about). There is an infusion of modern sensibility and humor into the piece, but being ignorant of the cultural milleu (which makes me equivalent to your typical white person), I can only react to the aesthetic value of the piece--which were quite considerable. I was still carrying the after-effects of the overnight flight, but I was mesmerized by the fluid dance work and the sense of how each individual movement fit into the work as a whole (even though I wasn't catching 40% of the meaning, I knew the other 60% quite well and enjoyed it). Well worth seeing.