Dance has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. At the age of 3, I went to the Ganpati Pandal in my locality and what blew me away more than the large Ganpati statue were the dancers participating in the dance competition. Watching them move to the songs that played on TV made me want to go dance with them. Well, not exactly dance, but jump with them, as that was all I could do back then. My dream did come true the next year, when I went on stage with a routine of my own, with one of my friends. In my red pants and white shirt, and with loads of people cooing over me, I moved to the rhythm of the music as best as I could. Dance, to me, is first and foremost, that memory.
Dance is also the first thing I loved doing, and the first thing genuinely saw myself wanting to do again and again. I performed at that Ganpati Pandal every year before I moved, and at that point, it was a given that if there was a dance competition, I would perform. There were no Pandals at my new home, but there was a New Year’s Eve Celebration which also had a dance competition, and the cycle continued. This was also shortly after I’d started Bharatanatyam classes, so I was dancing more than ever and loving every second of it.
After this period came board exams, and my bond with dance broke for a bit, while I tended to my academic responsibilities. That period of my life was pretty bleak, and I’m not sure if it was due to the lack of dancing or due to the stress that I had all of a sudden been subjected to. But then came college, and multiple opportunities when I got to dance, and I felt my love for dance awaken again. The chance to audition for Dance Club came, and I was again on stage after many, many years, feeling like I had gone back to being that kid in the red pants and white shirt. I messed up my auditions a little, but I came back to my hostel room feeling an adrenaline rush like never before. Dance, hence, was also my escape from the stress of those past few years.
I made it through to Dance Club, and my oh my, how different it was here! My introverted self made friends, learned new things everyday, and learned how to keep herself busy. Here, dance acted as my mentor, guiding me through my days, pulling me out of my slumps, and giving me reasons to look forward to the future. Even during this lockdown, I’ve had more time to spend with myself and I’ve had quite a lot of time spent dancing, and I have genuinely felt myself evolve into a more confident, expressive person.
Dance has given me so much, and I could not be more thankful to it. It has been such a huge part of me throughout, and I honestly don’t think I could go even one day without tapping my foot to a random song playing in my head, or walking to my classes (soon, hopefully) to the beat of the song playing in my ears. As I end this article, I am sure that I want dance to be a part of my future as well, and I shall strive to have it by my side for as long as I can.
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