First Day at Kalamandalam

Kerala, India’s temperature for today: 90?. Hotel room temperatures: 22 degrees celsius. The temperature of the pool? Dancing gracefully around perfect. I don’t doubt for a second what the man sitting in Air India’s 18C said; visiting any other part of India is a huge step down after one has made his or her way to Kerala (I don’t even have HBO at home.)

Well I suppose I’ll contrast that last paragraph with one that won’t make my father cringe. The wonders of switching time zones had most of us up at about seven, which wasn’t so bad as breakfast was at eight. We were greeted with an interesting collection of eggs, toast, dahl, and pineapple. The pineapple was so good I, as a strict non-pineapple eater, ate about 30 pieces. We left the hotel at about 9:15 and, in the safest way possible, drove like a New York City cab driver on steroids to Kerala Kalamandalam.

Upon arrival we toured the every kind of drumming, dancing and acting class, allowing us to then chose our main art to focus on. While most of the girls are doing Katakari dance, the boys and I are studying the Chenda drum, Shauna, Devon, and Juliet are singing, and Julian is courageously feeling his way around acting. Although I can speak only for the Chenda class, judging by the way everyone turned into first graders describing their first day of school, each class was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience. It is truly special to have the chance to experience the kind of talent and culture blending that took place today.

As we all end the day drained of energy, we all look forward to tomorrow’s morning and afternoon classes, possible ayurverdic massages, and shopping for traditional garb. I hope all of you parents out there are prepared for your sons to start wearing skirts.


-Abby Collier