Heart’s Home Charitable performance - Chennai, South India

On the evening of June 12^th, the first ever Heart’s Home char­i­table per­for­mance and dinner was held in Chennai, India! Renée K., a Heart’s Home American vol­un­teer et dancer, and Lakshmi, a French-Indian bharata natyam dancer, col­lab­o­rated, cre­ating a dia­logue between cul­tures and tra­di­tions through their dance. The per­for­mance took place in the front garden of the Honorary French Counsul. Old and new friends gath­ered to sup­port the Irudaya Niketan Trust, which sup­ports the edu­ca­tion of eight chil­dren living at the Garden of Mercy, another Heart’s Home com­mu­nity.

“It was an event like no other; a beau­tiful oppor­tu­nity for me to touch more deeply and live more fully the truth of why I dance. Making a reality, an expe­ri­ence of, what it means for dance to con­nect hearts and create cul­tural bridges. How at the heart of each artist is one desire… to com­mu­ni­cate the mys­tery of their being, whether they are fully aware of that desire or not… it burns so deeply that we have to create! We have to be!

In preparing for this per­for­mance, Lakshmi and I were posed many ques­tions in order to go fur­ther in our dia­logue and pro­voke a dia­logue with those who would be attending. Why do we need art? Why does our world need artists? Dance, why? Purely enter­tain­ment… or is there some­thing more? A deeper truth? This wasn’t the first time I was reflecting on these ques­tions, but it was the first time for me to fully commit and iden­tify myself with my answers. Lakshmi and I had only one goal… to trans­form and change souls, that they may walk away from the per­for­mance more human, more pre­sent to the beauty and life right before their eyes.

When I entered this life in India, I had no idea how it would con­nect directly to my artistic life. Now I am dis­cov­ering that there is no sep­a­ra­tion. Through my expe­ri­ence so far (nine months!) I am arriving at a new cer­ti­tude of my being… of why I am here. That cer­ti­tude is bringing a new found calm and con­fi­dence in my dance. My dancing is truly becoming my own… a beauty I can trust in. Believing in myself as an artist, not trying to live up to anyone else’s expec­ta­tions or ideals, is so freeing. Not dancing for any other reason than to reveal the truth of the human being. Desiring only to enter the mys­tery and draw those wit­nessing in with me.”

To read more, visit Renee’s web­site