All posts in the ‘ Dance ’ Category

Hello, all. I got some lovely comments on the post about my mom dancing. Thank you so much! It’s great to hear from you. I can’t resist putting up a couple more photos of my mom in performance. These were taken in New Delhi in 1960. My mom is shown with American dancer Richard Maitland, who had taken off from his Broadway career to see the world, fallen in love with India, and decided to stay for a …Read More

My mother, Ruth Woodman, had studied ballet in New York City before marrying my dad, Everett Woodman. By the time they reached Madras (now Chennai), India, she had two little girls and was about to give birth to a third, and the dance career had been put aside. But, as luck would have it, our family happened to move in next door to a family of dancers. The three daughters—Padmini, Lalitha, and Ragini—were known as the Travancore Sisters …Read More

“Write about something different next week,” my sister Lee suggested. Okay, I won’t write about Mr. Patch this time, although I haven’t abandoned him. Here’s another elderly Indian gentleman—and teacher—who was hiding in my files: On the back of this photo, I had written “Guru Pillai,” and the names of the four students, including me, far right. I didn’t date the picture, but the year was 1959. These days, if you know just a little about someone, you …Read More