#natyamnaatak – “Are You Obsessed with Food or Something?”
“Are you obsessed with food, or something?”
I received this gem of a comment from some of my young students. While I’m not obsessed with eating food, I do use a lot of food metaphors in teaching.
When I talk about showing CONTRAST between things (like softness in a movement, accentuated with a punch) – it’s like eating something sweet and spicy, or sweet and sour.
When I add things STEP-BY-STEP – it’s like making cupcakes. You don’t frost first! Cupcakes need
🧁 Right ingredients
🧁 Added in the right order
🧁 With the right amount of mixing
🧁 Baked at the right temperature
🧁 For the right amount of time
🧁 Cooled before frosting
🧁 Frosting then sprinkles
When I talk about adding JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT of something- it’s like nutmeg The ingredient you shouldn’t notice by itself, but notice if it is missing.
When I talk about SMOOTHNESS and SHARPNESS, fluidity and staccato – it’s like smooth vs. chunky peanut butter. Both are tasty. Everyone has a preference. You can enjoy each more when you contrast with the other. Take the same starting point (peanuts), and make it look (and taste) different based on what you do with them.
When I DON’T SEE ENOUGH “LIFE” in their dancing, I’ll say “Dancing without joy is like eating food without salt… flat, tasteless, and missing something.”
When they want to JUMP to the “EXCITING” stuff – I’ll say, you can’t add the masala (spice) first!
