What does dance mean to me? To
anybody unacquainted with it, dance would be nothing but moving rhythmically to
music typically following a set sequence of steps. But to a dancer, it is much
more. Dance to me is a conversation between the body and the soul. It is an
expression of all that humanity was, is and aspires to be. It helps one elevate
beyond the ordinary garb of everyday existence.
I started learning dance early on
and have enjoyed passionately the joy it brings to me. I started training at
LOKA since 8 months. The experience was unique and my learning takeaway
immense. Being a dancer, I came here with certain dance forms in my portfolio –
I’d already worked with. Here, we started with the fundamentals relooking at
not just the form of the body – in terms of posture; but holistically looking
at the muscles involved in each and every step. It opened up avenues hitherto
unknown –enabling harnessing the full potential of the human body and mind. It
simplified the entire learning process by understanding what contours the body
could potentially take in every action. The better you know and understand –
the simpler becomes the concept was truly demonstrated during our sessions.
Working as a Professional dancer
for VNDC...
Choreography was another key
factor that helped set my experiences here apart from whatever I’ve done prior.
What sets a remarkable dancer apart from the ordinary would be the sequence
presentation. It continues to awe me how simple steps fluidically come together
seamlessly creating a piece of visual delight. The body is the medium through
which dance communicates the concept – the stage sets the boundaries for the
conversation.
At VNDC – I was able
to harness the vertical space transcending the limits of the horizontal sphere
through Vishwa sir’s sessions – the challenges were overcome and the benefits
such as a full body workout building the core strength of the body, agility
development and most importantly harnessing proper breathing techniques. The
learnings here when applied back on stage helped build endurance and posture
duration. It’s essence could be captured in the fact that the workout and
training that I’d received during aerial training helped strengthen even my
fingers – something that is typically not even paid attention to elsewhere –
which helped my movements in a subsequent performance.
Fitness I think is essential to every dancer – only when you are in
control of your body can we unlock its potential. The warmup sessions are
conducted probably at every studio worth its name – but how can that be used to
set the context for all the varied steps that will be used later during the
session was again very different. It’s difficult to express in words how this
was very unique here – it’s more of an experiential learning.
PYRE in the Dancer’s Belly..
The PYRE session was a
transformational choreography where everyone took away highly differentiated learnings.
Personally, to me, it signified the lives we all lead unique and different yet
beginning and eventually ending – transcending out of this world. Destiny
brings the threads of our tales together intertwining them in mysterious ways
and moving on further away later. I still get the goosebumps when I recollect
creation of dance movements to depict the experience of walking on live burning
coals was literally an out of the world experience for me – how exactly does
one overcome the challenge of pieces of coal stuck onto your feet while walking
over it and keep a focused approach unaffected by the stimuli overcoming the
natural reaction of the body to run away. The body on the pyre was a medium for
a soul which has since moved on. The concept of bringing this ethereal notion
and expressing the same – involving the entire audience into the sequence makes
it an experience that none forgets. Justice to this piece could be delivered
only by surrendering oneself truly and wholly into the nuances that was
demanded.
On the whole summing it up, the
experiences at LOKA – new world of dance are truly transformational, As
Basavanna said - Dehave degula - my body
is my temple, training my body to dance and keeping it fit – with guidance
from Vishwa sir is helping me to grow as a dancer.
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