Dance is Divine

I love being in India, because I had the good fortune to meet one of the world’s top Tabla composers/players in the world, Pandit Divyang Vakil, who produced groups like Talavya and Taan.  It was a profound experience, and I am so thankful I got to meet this amazing individual.

We talked about a lot of things, but the thing that really stuck with me was his explanation of dance and music, and what place it has in the world.  We as humans are ruled by 3 main arenas: The head, the heart, and experience (that which we cannot explain).  He said that the mind needs math, science, business, and those things of this world.  That is pretty straightforward.  Experience: Now when you bite into your favorite dessert, how do you describe that experience or that taste or how you feel when that happens?  You can’t right?  Well you can, but it would be incredibly difficult.  The best way to explain it to someone is to have them do it.

Now what about the heart? Dance and music is our way of expressing that which we cannot explain, and trying to commune with the divine.  It is one of the few instances in the world where our mind is not connected to our actions, and during that time, we are freed from worldly constraints.  Words wouldn’t be able to describe these feelings, because again, these experiences transcend words.  It is nourishment for the soul.

I’ve always felt that way about dance, but I was never able to explain it logically, and now I guess I know why.  Because when it comes to matters of the heart, there are no words to adequately describe these experiences