Charya Dance in Kathmandu with Prajwal

Karen Greenspan, one of our east coast dancer has been traveling in Kathmandu with our Charya Dancer friend teacher, Prajwal. She wrote to me….”

I had set up a meeting with 3 nuns from Thrangu Tara Abbey because I had seen a video of them dancing a Dakini Cham at the 2014 Kagyu Monlam. After we discussed that Cham and the circumstances around their performance, they mentioned that they also had done a Tara Dance. As I tried to ascertain if it was your Tara Dance, I got up and performed the opening section. Just as I was about to dance the mantra refrain, one of the nuns shouted out, “Om Tare!” with the same exact vocal inflection that you use in the recording. It was amazing! They mentioned that one of your students who lives in Kathmandu arranged their Tibetan version for them to perform. Can you tell me who that was?

I put her in touch with  Andrea Abinanti who taught the nuns

And the story gets better! Later, when I asked them why they were chosen to learn and perform the Cham for the Monlam (only 4 nuns from Thangu were picked), they all agreed it was because they were known for their public performances of the Tara Dance.