“Dance pe Chance”
The only way to dance well is to not care if you dance well or not. I resumed dance just last month following a very long sabbatical and performed at The Diwali festival on November 2nd. If I do say so myself I believe I performed decently considering it was my first performance in ten years.
Our dance performance was comprised of medley of three Bollywood numbers "Apna time Ayega" from Gully Boy, "Psycho" from the movie Saho and Jai Shiv Shankar from War; all very popular Bollywood songs. Jai Shivashankar was a group favorite, partly because it featured Hrithik Roshan. Hrithik Roshan most certainly has his fair share of fans in our group.
Initially, the choreography seemed daunting and impossible to realize. I remember thinking "how am I going to this, I can barely stand on my heel". Nevertheless I practiced simply because our instructor Priya said we could do this dance and we ultimately achieved an extraordinary degree of success that would have been unimaginable to me when I first saw the choreography. When I first started dance I could barely get down on my knees or stand up without the use of my hands. However, in the span of one month of dance practice I could slide across the entire stage on my knees and actually dance in a squatting position.
I am not very lyrically inclined. I could not even sing Happy Birthday from memory, I still cannot. But in order to dance well you need to feel the music, live in the music and by the time of the performance I could probably hum along the lyrics of my song in my sleep.
When I actually went up on stage, my mind was blank.
I can barely remember anything that happened onstage, other than the slightly botched finale movement which ultimately did come together in the end. So, I had to content myself with the fact that I did not fall on stage or completely forget the choreography, because I would have most definitely remembered that. I am not a proficient dancer by any means, but I can definitely dance. To dance well means to let go and simply express yourself which I can. After all, dancing is simply emotion in motion set against a background of music. Through dance, I learned that I am more flexible, more musically inclined, and more persistent than I would have previously thought. Dance above all else has taught me to never limit myself.
