Tour Post Final

We just came back from a Holi festival at the local temple. Holi is the Hindu festival of colours, happening in the Springtime.
There are, from what I am told, 16 Indian families totaling 65 Indian people in Fredericton, and they are all very close. They all showed up to this party, which included performances of dancing and lip-synching to Bollywood hits by the tween girls, songs from older gentlemen and an impromptu song performed by one of the girls I was there with.

The girls - the Bharatanatyam dancers - were treated like royalty. Menaka ji was treated with the utmost respect and all of them had many people kiss their feet (which I am learning is a sign of respect). It is wonderful to see Dancers treated in this way - they were described as Goddesses and given every kindness the community could afford. There is nothing like this in Western culture - a Ballerina might be revered somewhat, and certainly a prima would have people ask questions and demand a level of respect should it become known, but if she walked into a room full of people she didn't know and was introduced as "The Ballerina," it is unlikely she would have people treat her as a special part of society.
Contemporary dancer? Even less likely.

I wonder what it is about North America that puts our artists in this strange place in society. Simultaneously the creators of everything that eventually becomes popular, from neighbourhoods that we inhabit going from slums to hot tickets, thrift store clothing being put on racks for $200, any means of the things artists do (usually out of necessity) becoming hugely popular. And yet it is still not a real career over here - not in the way getting a job in a bank is.

Whatever it is, it certainly does not make me a Goddess.

We leave to go back home tomorrow. I crave my bed, my community and a very expensive, very strong Americano from my cafe.