Day Three

Well, I think I'm over my jet-lag, although there are points in the day when David and I have been working so enthusiastically that we crash hard. The beds in the room are really comfortable, so waking up is difficult.... however, there is no cold water at all in my shower, so I wake up quickly.

The shots of the dancers are from this school were they were rehearsing for the day. They all fit into this great concrete building and we managed to have a production meeting in the middle of them all. The dancers are the most disciplined performers I've ever encountered, it's fantastic.

I visited the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre where the show is being held for the first time and was blown away. First of all, it takes an hour to get there, on a good day. I hear that 2 hours is an average travel time. However such a long time spent in the car allows for good opportunities to take some pictures. We saw this billboard for the show with Shiamak that's below. There are 16 across the city. The first 2 nights are sold out already.

These pictures on the water were taken at sunset just outside the theatre, it's going to be a great place to be working every day. And the blue one with the guy walking in the bottom left corner was snapped in a split second from the car before a line of traffic drove by. I love how well it came out for not aiming.

First Day

Good lord, that was the longest damn day I've ever had..... and it was the closest I've ever been to Osama Bin Laden, flying over the Middle East and all. It took about 20 hours to get here, and I was awake for a total of about 40. However long, it was pretty easy, and it's amazing having actually made it here. I was picked up at the airport and driven to my hotel at 2:00am. This place is great, the room is clean and everybody is so nice. I don't know what it
is, but everybody aims to please. The heat isn't too bad, and this city is insane too! There are people, cars, mutts, goats, oxen, and motor rickshaws all over the place. David told me that nobody has to pass a test to get a license here, you just start driving, which becomes a big problem for anyone who goes to a different country and drives. Walking down the street to the electronics store to get an adapter was seriously one of the top 5 most sensational experiences of my life, in the sense that my eyes, ears, nose, etc. were absolutely overwhelmed with information. I was stunned. While to the rehearsal hall we saw a guy just sauntering down the middle of the highway, just walking between the 2nd and 3rd lanes. No one pays attention to the lines and I'm amazed I haven't seen an accident in the short time I've been here.

The first rehearsal on this show I attended was even more astounding than the city. There are 240 dancers in this show, from the age of 12 to 28 and they're all amazing. It's unbelievable how disciplined everyone of them is, and how much they care about what they do. They LOVE Shiamak, too. They hang on his every word, even if he's telling them that they just danced horribly. Once he met me, we spoke for a while and he arranged for one of the members of his company to escort me around the city to some appealing places when time allows. He couldn't have been nicer, and more modest about his work. Truly awesome.

Departure

I'm 6 hours away from leaving and I'm about to go nuts. I'm not sure about this blogging thing, Carleton, but I'll try.