Dancing To The Flute

Masterfully evoking the breathtaking beauty of India, Amin's lyrical debut novel follows a young boy whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is sent to live with a reclusive but renowned musician.

"What strikes everyone on their first encounter with India and its art is the pervasiveness of music and dance everywhere at all times - India itself is a total experience in which music and dance are embedded as a dominant element within the overwhelming racial, linguistic and cultural variety. Central to religious worship, to love, to the expression of every spiritual and emotional nuance possible, music and dance permeate Indian life."--GoogleBooks.

“Kalu picked up the flute by his side and started to play. The sound was deep and full, as if he were translating his thoughts into music. It stayed in the air like dust floating on the sunlight, and each note held the promise of something not quite spoken but maybe heard in the darkness of a dream.” Abandoned as a young child, Kalu, a cheeky street kid, has carved out a life for himself in rural India. In the quiet village of Hastinapore, Kalu has also found friends: Bal, the solitary boy who tends the local buffaloes, and Malti, a gentle servant girl, who with her mistress, Ganga Ba, has watched over Kalu since he first wandered into the small town. One day, perched high in the branches of a banyan tree, Kalu chooses a leaf, rolls it tightly, and as he’s done for as long as he can remember, blows through it. His pure, simple notes dance through the air and attract a traveling healer, whose interest will change Kalu’s life forever, setting him on a path he would never have dreamt possible and testing his belief in himself and his sense of identity. Rich in texture and atmosphere, Dancing to the Flute is a heartwarming story of a community’s joys and sorrows, the transformative powers of music, the many faces of friendship, and a boy’s journey, against all odds, to become a man.

Abandoned as a young child, Kalu, a cheeky street kid, has against all odds carved out a life for himself in rural India. In the quiet village of Hastinapore, Kalu makes friends: Bal, the solitary buffalo boy, and Malti, a gentle servant girl, who, with her mistress, Ganga Ba, has watched out for Kalu from the first day. Perched high in the branches of a banyan tree, Kalu chooses a leaf, rolls it tightly and, doing what he's done for as long as he can remember, blows through it. His pure simple notes dance through the air attracting a travelling healer whose interest will change Kalu's life forever, setting him on a path he would never have dreamed possible, testing his self-belief and his friendships. With all the energy and colour of India and its people, this book is a magical, heart-warming story of this community's joys and sorrows, the nature of friendship and the astonishing transformative powers of music.

This is a collection of progressive studies for unaccompanied flute. The studies aim to explore different aspects of the flautist's technique through the grades and include a mix of articulations, speeds, time signatures and rhythms to provide a varied repertoire. Book 1 contains 30 studies.

With the moose on the cell and the deer on the violin, the woodland dance is about to to begin.