Gowri's+Dance

Performance Pedagogy - An Alternative to Traditional Curriculum Indian classical dance called Bharatanatyam and classical music called Carnatic music are informal learning platforms that help second generation Indians learn about their culture, heritage, and background. It is performance pedagogy that entertains multicultural audiences along with engaging their minds. It becomes the obligation of Indians living in the US to impart this rich age old culture to their children, and the best way to teach the children is through public pedagogy. Slattery (2006) defines "Public Pedagogy [as] a theoretical construct focusing on various forms and sites of education and learning occurring beyond formal schooling practices; in institutions other than schools, such as museums, zoos, libraries, [theaters] and public parks; in informal educational sites such as popular culture, media, commercial spaces, and the internet; and in/through the figures of activism, including public intellectuals, grassroots social activism, and various social movements" (p. 16).

Bharatanatyam as a popular cultural practice in Indians living in the USA. This particular clip is an example how we learn the consequences of betrayal, a demonic trait: [|Mohini Bharmasura]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIahJ21fN_c (Geetha Chandran) - Indian Dance is interdisciplinary learning...

"Hasta Mudras" (hand gestures) in Bharatanatyam - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0y-e1eA3R0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbbzXu4jmwQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss2f8tabH0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BABH99IR--0 (Hema Malini)

Carnatic Music as an educational tool: According to Gershon (2010) "Musician are public intellectuals because they are a part of our everyday lives..., making music is a public act..., and music contains knowledge" (p. 628): Mohan, Gowri, and Kalpana Iyengar at the "Ramanavami" festival in Austin.

Iyengar Wedding: "If there is little contact with the culture of origin, however, then all of the 'culture lessons' fall upon the shoulders of the parents to teach" (Suarez-Orozco, p. 179). This clip shows how I got married and all the Iyengars follow the same guidelines. [|Iyengar Wedding]

Folklore is an integral part of our lives in India and we try to expose our children to this age old art of oral story telling. This is a famous story performed even today in the state of Karnataka, where I am from. The mother cow is attacked by a tiger who wants to eat her. The mother cow begs the tiger to give her about an hour so that she can feed her calf and then get back to the tiger. The tiger laughs at this request and doubts the cow's sincerity initially, but lets her go eventually. The mother cow goes to her calf, feeds it, and tells everone in her herd about the tiger and his plan. Although the calf laments wondering whose milk should he drink from then on, who should he sleep with, and who are his friends from that day etc, the mother says that she has to keep her word because it is not ethical to go back on her word. When the cow returns to the tiger, the tiger is so ashamed of the truthful ways of Punyakoti that the tiger jumps off a cliff and kills himself. I directed this play in Kannada Sangha function where my son was the tiger and my daughter was one of the animals. [|Folk Tale]

The mother-in-law plays an integral role in our lives. In this clip, the daughters-in-law thank their m-i-l for the wonderful husbands they have because of her. [|Mother-in-law]

My family is a cohesive unit and I want my children to have one just like mine. [|Family]

[America|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQR9M8nrF8U]

I spoke to you all about the caste system that was practiced in India long ago. We only see remnants of that social injustice in certain pockets of our society now. This is a song in Kannada where an untouchable devotee is ostracized for entering the temple. However, the devotee prays for enlightenment for everyone. People believe him after the Lord turns around so that the untouchable devotee could have a view or darshan. I take my children to this temple in Udupi in Karnataka every time we go home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYiV-RyyUUE[|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYiV-RyyUUE]