I mentioned a few posts ago what I call the "new human beings," people who transition from one culture into another and yet seem free and independent of both. Due to the paucity of my own international experience, I have mostly met or become aware of people who either border my own culture, or have moved into it in some way or another.
But of course, that is a door that can swing both ways. Here is the story of a woman who went from the West to the East, drawn to a tribe in Rajasthan, to their experience of life, to one of their most vital art forms, dance, and who not so much made that form her own, as gave herself and her life to that form as a part of her own spiritual quest.
Art in the West has for centuries had a quasi-religious or spiritual component invested into it by both proponents and critics. But in the East, there is nothing "quasi" about this: each form of artistic expression is devotional by its very nature.
This is an example of someone who has made their life and energy an act of spiritual devotion. It really is the highest expression of any given form of art. I'm not sure I could do this myself, but I honor and admire someone who is capable of such commitment.
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