On Thursday Nov. 19th, along with a number of the students from our cohort, I attended the India Masala event celebrating International Education Week 2009. While initially nervous for the evening, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. As mentioned previously, the event was advertised as a movie screening of "Dor" as well as food and performances by student groups I had not heard of. From the beginning, I was engrossed in the film. I'm currently taking two courses that center on India and Post Colonialism and was surprised to realize how much I could connect them to the event. The film itself paralleled two women's story's and their journey to basically finding what the wanted in life, one her husbands freedom, and one her own freedom. I'd never seen an Indian film, and could tell that some of the more social comic aspects were lost to me, I didn't fail to grasp the overall meaning of the movie.
However my absolute favorite part of the night was all the performances. I had never even before heard of these student dance troupes, and couldn't have been more impressed. (And am now a HUGE fan.) The students across the board performed a clash of culture pieces including traditional Indian dance styles with more modern, even "American," songs and dance moves.
As a (hopefully) soon-to-be-teacher, I couldn't help but realize that myself as a student in classes about India wasn't enough. This production helped me to realize that the things I'm learning in my own classes, can be brought to life in other ways, whether through film or performance, I was able to more concretely understand and experience a culture I had previously been unfamiliar with. It really enforced what it means to bring learning to life.
It sounds like this was a great night for you! The fact that you were able to connect the event to your own classes must have been a powerful experience, especially considering, as future educators, we want to help our students to create those connections. I would have loved to see the dances because the combination of traditional Indian dance with "American" songs must have been amazing to see. Hopefully you can take this experience with you into the classroom and give this opportunity to your own students in some way, connecting what they are learning to music, dance and traditions.
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