Arangetram Part 1 - The best bits: everything that happened before I even stepped on stage.

It's over. But well before it was over, well before I even stepped on stage, a lot of preparation went into creating my arangetram. Apart from the year of dance preparation, this (and the next five posts) describe what happened the day before and day of the event. It was probably the most fun I have ever had.

The arangetram took place on August 30th, 2008 at the Littleton High School Center for the Performing Arts. The day before, we had driven there and I had a small stage rehearsal with Jothi Aunty (my dance teacher), Venu Uncle, and NS Uncle (two of the musicians). We insisted that we do a sound check...just so there would be no surprises the next day. Being on stage during the rehearsal really spiked my tension levels, as it finally hit me how close the real thing was. After my rehearsal, we started on the decorations in the lobby and on the stage. I was politely asked to go home and relax, but there was no way I was leaving without poking my nose in all the preparations. Several family members and friends had come to help us and the place started to look fabulous. I pranced around nervously for a little while, swapping photographs of myself here and there, adjusting lamps, adding extra safety pins...just being my usually nitpicky self. After being yelled at by several people, I went home, ate a few plates of pasta, and jumped into bed. Thanks to the excessive panicking and jitteriness of that day, I was pretty tired and didn't take a long time to drift off.

When I awoke that Saturday, I immediately looked out the window. It was uniquely gorgeous: There were clouds, but the sun was streaming right through them and everything was kind of glowy and nice. It was kind of early, and I wished I could have slept longer, but I knew that I would never be able to go back to sleep. I ate Honey Nut Cheerios, showered, remembered to put on a button-down shirt and spandex, and applied red Sharpie to my feet with painstaking precision. Traditionally, dancers wear this stuff called Paarani to color their toes and fingers red, but its easier to use red marker. After a few weeks of coloring everybody else's feet for their performances, I had become an expert. I was really OCD about it. Later, my mom forced me to eat some yogurt rice, and we left to the auditorium at about 1 o'clock. I listened to my iPod during the ride, desperately trying to relax.

I was sitting in the dressing room at about 1:30, repeatedly burning myself with my hair straightener when Praneetha, Harita, and Sanjana showed up to the rescue. They almost finished straightening my hair...I just had the top layer left...when Jothi Aunty entered and cast aside the straightener (being my perfectionist self, I started freaking out, but my protests were ignored).


She started on my makeup. I had some newly purchased toner, foundation, mascara, and eyeliner but that lay forgotten on the side as she whipped out her case of 1960's dance makeup (which was probably better anyway). "Old is Gold," she said. "This stuff will make you look gorgeous on stage." And then Nisha said, "Well, we're going to need a LOTS of it." Nisha was standing too far away to be kicked, so I settled for a few degrading comments about her intelligence. JA applied this red stuff that initially made my face look like it was hemorrhaged (it was scary up front, but ended up looking good onstage).


Of course, Sanj had to take a picture of this. After evening out the red stuff, JA applied pan-cake foundation (it has to be mixed with water to be applied so it cakes onto your skin when it dries) that makes your complexion very light. I freaked out when I looked in the mirror and couldn't find my eyebrows or lips--they were the same color as the rest of my face. JA told me to calm down and proceeded to go over my eyebrows with pencil. She lined my eyes with kohl and we didn't need eyemakeup remover even once (unlike at my photoshoot)! Then, she started with my hair. Despite the layer of unstraightened hair at the top, she tamed it and weaved everything into a nice braid, along with the fake hair and ornaments. She's just got some awesome skills.


After JA left for her sound check, I kicked everyone out of the dressing room while Harita stayed to help me into my first costume. I was soo glad that I had practiced putting on my costumes so many times beforehand because they have so many parts and it's easy to put them on incorrectly. Then, we let everybody in again and they (Manasa, her mom, Jyoti, Nisha, Mamtha, her mom, Praneetha, Sanjana, Pranathi) proceeded to finish my makeup and adorn me with temple jewelry and flowers. JA sewed all the flowers, jewelry, and everything together nice and tight with her needle and thread (of course, I was terrified of being stabbed, but I forgot she was an expert) and everybody else stuck bobby pins at every empty space of hair they could find. My scalp was in so much pain when they were done, but it all numbed away soon.


I am so glad that I've been wearing Indian earrings, with the Bombay-style screw, for all of my life. Because of them, I have huge ear holes. They've always kind of grossed me out, but I was thankful today because the temple earrings fit in painlessly and bloodlessly.


So, we eventually managed to get me all dressed up, ready, and relatively presentable for the stage. Almost. Except for the nose ring. See, there's this tiny piece that fits right between both my nostrils and hangs down to my upper lip, like what bulls wear. It's rather annoying and during my photoshoot closeups, I ditched it entirely, but they didn't let me do that here. The only way it stays on is if you pinch it in REALLY hard until your eyes water. I believe it is humanly impossible for anyone to intentionally cause themselves that much pain. After several failed attempts, sneezes, and panicked screeches, Mamtha agreed to stick her fingers up my nose and pinched till my eyes watered...and it was finally in. After that spectacle, Praneetha/Sanjana/Nisha were able to color my fingertips with red Sharpie. I jumped around a little to make sure I could move with everything on.


The jewelry and hair was pretty heavy, but my adrenaline was ready to handle even forty extra pounds. I stretched out a little, admired myself in that long mirror, tried to do some warmups, and evaded people they tried to give me liquids. Here I am pulling on my padded ankle socks while everyone stands around, looking beautiful.


I was finally dragged onto the sidestage, where some girls were loitering around as my dad was finished up the introductory speech. Mamtha fed me a slice of mango pie so I wouldn't have to touch anything with my Sharpied hands.


And then, most of the girls left to grab their front seats but Jyoti and Nisha stood by, armed with Gatorade (and straws), Vaseline, a towel, and lipstick that would have to be periodically reapplied. Jothi Aunty went onto to give her speech on the introduction to Bharatanatyam and then called me on to bow to the statue of Nataraja and take my bells. After I touched her feet and went to the sidestage, the Prayer Song began and Jyoti and Nisha rushed to buckle my bells. The Prayer Song seemed to last FOREVER, and I almost got lost in Geetha Aunty's voice, but it actually did end. She started singing my familiar Pushpanjali and I positioned myself behind the curtain, waiting for NS Uncle's mridangam beats to signal my entrance. My mind seemed to go blank for a few seconds, but I managed to gather myself together and took my first steps into the blinding light.

Continued in Part 2: The light really was blinding