India tour – Varanasi week 1

Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend.

And here we are. In Banares.
The great Hindu city that stretches along the Mother Ganges.

It is Sunday evening and the team is a mixture of taking in the local music and Shivaratri preparations, sick in bed, practicing workshop choreography and singing Kirtan.

We have had such a wonderfully full first week here in Varanasi! So great to be in full swing of delivering workshops and performing outreach shows.

With a mix of after school workshops at Asha Deep, (our longest standing PWB partner!), two shows, (one at Asha Deep and another at a tiny school with lots of pupils on the other side of town), getting to know our ways around this maze of a city and arrive into the unique rhythm of its waves, we are wide eyed and energised for a new week to come.

A standard day in the life of PWB India;
Pre-breakfast activity (a mixture of yoga, dreaming and walking)
Hop on bikes to Duniya Education and work with 66 young people on the ghats. I have genuinely never seen such a big circle of smiling faces.
Share lunch at Duniya.
River walk.
After-school session at Asha Deep, til sunset.
Pootle home via chai.
Lovely home cooked food.

So much happens each day, making time stretch and morph.

There is chai.
There is singing.
There is laughing.
There is stillness.
There is practice.
There is play.
There are bikes.

This week, my favourite moments include:
Looking over the playground to an entirely engaged team of volunteers, Emily with all the hoops in action, each being wiggled, twirled and spun by a whole range of ages, Magnus’ contact ball circles, Mark’s total commitment to making silly faces through the Iso-hoop, Lillians experimental soundscapes, Avi’s eternal energy to share skills inside, outside, right side, left side, park side and Mika’s new juggling show about time.

WHAT A CREW! It is such a joy to be sharing our practice with each other, the children and now young adults from the Nagwa community in Varanasi.

Well – that’s about time for me.

Big up the work – teaching skills and creating space to play.

Tour-bob-co.
Chez*xx
Tour Co-ordinator