0 0 0 0 0 0 p 6B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 17, 2005 The Michigan' T F I INDflN CIASSICAL NUSICiND DANCE By Christine Beamer * Daily Arts Writer '4 I AGKENTIN 'L By) he musicians sit cross-legged in a circle, keeping the beat on their legs as a singer recites foreign words to the tune of a drone and two small drums. If you close your eyes, it no longer feels like you are in Ann Arbor but instead in the heart of India thousands of years ago. In reality it is just another rehearsal of the University's Indian Clas- sical Music and Dance group. According to Ashish Deshpande, an Engineering graduate student and leader of the group, ICMD branched out from the Indian Student Association in 2003. A few musicians had played popular Indian music for several years for the ISA, but as Deshpande said, "We found there was an interest in classical Indian music and dance as well." The music and dances were origi- nally religious compositions designed to be performed at temples and tell the stories of religious figures or events. Now, as group member Arun Rajageo- palan said, it is "a way to experience your roots again." The atmosphere in the 25 to 30-person organization is informal; there is no sense of perfor- mance but rather a warm camaraderie that emanates from the group. The music Performers of classical Indian music are formally trained, just as classical Western musicians are. That, however, is where the similarities end, for the music and instruments are vastly different from a New York Philharmonic concert. Indi- an music has "a lot more improvisation than Western music," said group mem- ber Prashanth Gururaja, an Engineering junior. "It's nothing like anything else." According to the ICMD website, any piece of classical Indian music is struc- tured around a melody, called a raga, and a rhythm, called a taal. The ragas, which may be up to 3,000 years old, are usually only about a minute long, and the music truly begins when the artist begins to improvise on the raga, still keeping its structure but adding their own interpretations. "You have a small set of rules," Deshpande explained, "and great artists can perform the same raga for 45 minutes." When Indian students are trained in classical music, their teachers have them memorize the minute-long ragas, which are not learned from sheet music. In fact, Deshpande said, "the teachers all teach them a little differently." Musicians then get together and play from this common learned "list" of ragas. To make it more complicated, there are two distinct types of classical Indian music, North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indi- an (Carnatic). The two types are sung in different languages, and, in addition, the instruments, the structure and the mood of the styles are all different. According to Deshpande, most Hindustani groups use one vocalist, and four or five instru- mentalists to play the tabla, sitar, tambura, harmonium and occasionally a bamboo flute. The tabla is a percussion instrument similar to the bongos, a sitar is similar to a lute, a tambura is an instrument that plays a drone and the harmonium looks like a box with keys and a bellow similar to an accordion. In contrast, Carnatic groups use a vocalist, a violinist, a mridangum (a double-sided drum) and a ghatum (a clay pot) for percussion. The real difference though, is in the sound. "It's sort of a feel you get," Deshpande said. According to other members of the group, Hindustani music is more tune-oriented, while Carnatic music is more oriented around words. "Carnatic music is very rigid in the composition," said Business School sophomore Suneeta Tatapudy, "and North Indian music is a lot more free-flowing." The dancing The group also puts on dance shows with Hindustani and Carnatic dances. The different dance styles, like the differ- ent musical styles, create similar moods.. And like the music, dances have a basic structure that has been passed down for thousands of years. According to Deshpande, though dancers can choreograph within that structure, "it is not their complete free 0O f it weren't for the all-too- familiar glow of fluorescent lights radiating off the bare linoleum floor, the exotic Latin music emanating from the room may have very well fooled will" that deter- mines the dance structure. The emphasis in the dancing is on the facial expressions, which tell about the traditional Hindi stories that the dances depict. A dancers wear brigh ored costumes thatf traditional Indian< "Each style of danc a particular costume own," said Deshpand Classical Indianr and dance is not the popular music in right now accordin Deshpande. "It is k like classical music there is a certain who listen to it and it," he said. However 3l the this ro t col- nos A follow in Mia dress. room e has the ba of its Hall, le. studen music and th most memb India Argent ng to founde ind of ago, it here; Wit group the sL watch ited to any unsuspect- ing visitor into believing he or she was enter- ing a dance hall thousands of miles south of Michigan. However, om is not in Bue- ires; it isn't even ami. It is, however, G115, located in sement of Angell and to Rackham t Ramu Pyreddy e 100 or so loyal ers of the Michigan tine Tango Club he ed over three years 's good enough. h his exposure to ultry dance lim- a viewing of the "Tango," Pyreddy most movie Ft i tH bHUI ~ I I INI LC " Lu iiy Engineering junior Prashanth Gururaja practices in the Michigan Union. people in India are involved in some kind of classical music training. Hence, ICMD is not a training-based organization. All the instrumentalists and dancers have been trained either in India or in schools around the United States. However, ICMD works closely with Saadhanai, a group on cam- pus that provides lessons for beginners in Indian Classical music. Although the members of the group are dedicated, the main purpose of the ICMD is merely "to have meetings where people come together and just play," Deshpande said. Moreover, the group is extremely diverse. "I think there is someone from every school except the School of Music," Deshpande said with a laugh. Though Deshpande is half a world away from his native India, he still plays the tabla, which he started in high school. "For me, (Indian music) is more melodi- ous than other styles," he said, adding that "there is a math behind it, and I like it." On the other hand, for Srilakshmi Bhagavathula, Rackham student, the opportunity to create this music results in an important spiritual and musical feeling. "Each song talks about a divine feeling. We understand more and more each time we sing it. This is essential for all humankind." The next concert for the instru- mentalists is tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the U-Club of the Michigan Union. Admission is free. The next classical dance concert is March 26. set off to South America in April 2000 with the sole intention of visiting a friend. However, after-randomly trying out some tango dance moves, Pyreddy - growing more and more tired of ballroom dancing - was hooked. "I was just doing tango during the day and during the night," he said. "I was pretty pathetic - it takes many years before you can get good - but I still persisted." Pyreddy, originally from Kurnool, India, founded the club with seven of his friends in the fall of 2001, follow- ing a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, the site of the dance's founding and worldwide recognition. Since then, the club has grown expo- nentially, and not just among University students; Pyreddy estimates that around 40 percent of the club's members are from the Ann Arbor community. In addition to providing tango enthusiasts with a venue to practice their moves, the club offers lessons for every ability level. Kurt Wheelock, a 76-year-old busi- ness owner from Stockbridge, says he drives 35 minutes each week just to practice the South American dance with his girlfriend. Wheelock, who has been taking les- sons since last November, assertively praises the dance for providing him a break. In a word, he characterizes the dance as "satisfying." The intensity and subtle passion that underlie the dance may be the main reason for the Michigan Argentine Tango Club's popularity. "It's a beautiful dance, a nice way to connect to people," Rackham student Olivier Poudou said. And "connect" is exactly what mem- bers have done. Over the years, sev- eral romances have developed between members of the club, Pyreddy said. This comes as little surprise, consid- ering the intimacy and sexuality of the dance - in most cases, partners stand barely more than inches apart, arms wrapped around, facing eye to eye. However, it is not uncommon to observe pairs seeking an even closer connection by dancing the tango chest-to-chest. Developed in Buenos Aires in the late 1800's, tango, an extremely inti- mate and improvisational type of dance, was originally practiced almost exclusively by the lower-classes, par- ticularly among prostitutes. Although the dance eventually worked its way up through the main- stream and is now accepted by the upper class, Pyreddy said that the ambiguous attitude by Argentinians towards the dance over the years has contributed to a sort of "tango subculture" throughout Buenos Aires. "There is almost a seedy side to it," he explained. Club member Stacy Frigerio, an LSA freshman of Argentinean descent, enjoys her participation in the club so much that when she visited Buenos Aires over winter break, she had to see the dance performed live. In fact, she even purchased a pair of authentic tango shoes to wear on Wednesday nights. Frigerio said that the dancing being practiced in Ann Arbor is not so differ- ent from the dancing that is practiced in Argentina, despite the distance. "The tango (in Ann Arbor) is very similar to how it's danced over there, but there's a different feeling. It's just the matter of getting to know the music," she said. In many ways, the descriptions often reserved to describe the dance by members could similarly be used to depict the Michigan Argentine Tango Club itself: exciting, spontaneous and varied. The heterogeneity of the group is one of its most conspicuous aspects - at any meeting, it is not at all sur- prising to see people of all ages and nationalities. All pretensions are cast aside in Angell Hall room G115, where young students wearing T-shirts share the dance floor with middle-aged men sporting ties. The intensity with which the mem- bers express their passion for the dance and the club appears to be quite indica- tive of the Michigan Argentine Tango Club's popularity. To Pyreddy, this comes as no surprise. "Many times when you're dancing - and it happens a lot - you're free in the music, just living in the present. We call this the 'tango trance,' " he says. "It's almost bliss." The Michigan Argentine Tango Club meets at G115 in Angell Hall on Wednesdays from 8 to 9:30 p.m., and is open to anyone. The cost of mem- bership is $10 for seven weeks of les- sons. For more information, visit www. umich.edu/-umtango. "Many times when you're dancing - and it hap- pens a lot - you're free in the music, just living in the present. We call this the 'tango trance.' - Ramu Pyreddy Founder, Argentine Tango C lub =- - The Argentine Tango Club meets i John Churchville practices drums for the Indian Classical Music and Dance Group Saturday. Linda Wojewuczki and Corinne Shurma receive beginner tango instructic