Step Up: Dancing All the Way

I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance. ~Friedrich Nietzsche~

It’s been only four months since I have been learning Street Jazz with Ashley Lobo, but it had been a long time since I realized that dancing comes naturally to me. After going through various stage performances, choreographing numerous dance shows and winning accolades and prizes in scores of competitions in school and college, I always knew at the back of my head that dance was special to me. Unfortunately, none of this - prizes and praise mattered to me because it wasn’t enough for me. That’s because I wanted to do more; it’s like the saying, “Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another.” I was relentless and desperate to learn more that would make me happy.

Years ago, I had joined Bharatnayam. One day, there was this Annual Day where I had performed on stage (I can’t remember the song, but it was surely some bird dance that I had to perform on). That’s when my father felt that I had something in me and should move further to improve. That’s when he made me join Bharatnayam. I learnt a lot of stuff from this classical dance like making movements with my eyes, hands and head. Another thing that I imbibed while learning Bharatnayam was the importance of having grace as one of the basic foundation required to be a good dancer. Sadly, I couldn’t continue with it. My father was transferred from Mumbai to Jammu. After that, I never had the chance to go back to Bharatnayam.

Now that I have joined street jazz classes that has a bit of hip- hop and other crazy moves, those Bharatnayam movements and all that grace that I had learnt during those days wouldn’t easily be forgotten. It’s a lesson that I’ll treasure it for long. However, dancing in the Danceworx (Ashley Lobo) is a lot more fun than learning Bharatnayam.

My dance instructor is really supportive. I remember this one time where she had spent a good 15 minutes talking to me after our stage performance got over. She was pretty much pleased by the way I had danced that day on the stage in the group choreography, except that I wasn’t going easy on myself. She even mentioned to me that it’s not necessary to perfect each step. Messing up the steps looks cooler and hip. What’s more important is to remember to keep up with the attitude, because that’ll grasp the audience’s attention more than anything else. Face expression, eye movements, grace, attitude etc are some of the secret ingredients that’ll surely help enhance my dance. It is extremely important to be in the zone than go off the beat and dance like a stupid person.

When I see films like Save the Last Dance I & II, Centre Stage, Honey and other films, it gives me an inner sense of encouragement and inspires me to do more and excel in it. It’s like how Constanze puts it, “Dancing is like dreaming with your feet”. The song “What a Feeling” from the film Flashdance says it all, when passion and dance mingles; it gives an amazing sense of being yourself.

What a feeling.

Bein's believin'.

I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life.
Take your passion

and make it happen.

Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life.