By TOMAS URIBE, 8/22/2014. Our visit to the Govandi music centre was very productive and proactive. We met with the dance tutor, Sachin and witnessed a remarkable dance session with the children. Having experienced yesterday the Dahihandi festival (or Govinda sport) in the streets of the Mahalaxmi area, it is clear that dance and music is key to their cultural development and traditions, both individually and collectively. The Dahihandi festival celebrates the story of Krishna, trying to reach the top shelves of the house and eat a bowl full of buttermilk. Numerous groups of children (both girls and boys) team up and strategize to build human pyramids, resembling Krishna’s effort to reach the top. It consists of an entire day of festivities, where multiple politicians and their political parties support financially the festival.
Similar to the music heard at Dahihandi, children at the music centre were dancing to Bollywood item numbers, contemporary music, hip hop, and dub step beats with carefully selected choreographies taught by Sachin, their music tutor. Their energetic faces and bodies make them seem as truly professional dancers and artists. We started the interviewing process for the documentary with a 10 year-old girl named Nida. She lives only 4 blocks away from the music centre in the middle of Govandi. We had a very interesting conversation, facilitated by Astrid and Sachin (serving as translators), about her talent as a dancer, what her thoughts for the future were, and her experience at the Maharashtra dance competition where she participated. We continued with Sachin. He talked more in depth about his dance expertise, his background, and how he plans to have his own dance academy for the community. He stressed the fact that he likes to send a message with his choreographies, considering the social problems they face both as a community and as a country.
Mewsic has several advantages in the community. Many people have been following their activities and concerts, which is why they have several collaborators and mobilizers. The mobilisers help to spread the word about music classes and programming around the community, while also bonding with the children’s parents and families. Thanks to one of the mobilisers, we met Nadi’s family. We visited their home and spoke to her for a while. She stated she likes to see her daughter dance (Nida’s oldest sister also danced at Mewsic, and now she attends college for a BA in Commerce). Even though Muslim families have different perspectives about artistic and musical endeavours, Nida’s mom is a complete fan of her daughter’s dance skills, and supports her as long as she goes to school and remains with good grades. All in all, great footage and a truly enlightening day. Tomorrow, we’ll speak to other students at Dharavi music center.