Its World Dance Day today and you can let your body speak for yourself. Swing your body, tap your feet and do it anyway you can. Just hit the floor and ensure that you put your heart into your movements.
Umpteen performances have been organised across the City to celebrate the day. Dance is all about letting one's hair down and letting the body move without being curbed
Apart from being a stress buster and an excellent therapy by itself, dancers say that with every performance they get more involved with the form.
With loads of experimentation, exploration, mix and match happening, dance forms be it Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Odissi or even salsa and Latin dance still retain their original form while carefully incorporating the new and the modern.
Danseuse Lakshmi Gopalaswamy believes that one needs to celebrate the spirit of dance. “Dance is a form of divinity. Bharatanatyam is a time-tested art form and those who perform it are passionate about it. It helps release feelings and pent up emotions imprisoned within the body. It is a beautiful manifestation of the self,” she says.
Another danseuse Vani Ganapathy says that classical dance forms remain untouched despite the onset of technology. There’s so much of music being blared by Bollywood and TV channels, but dance forms continue to exist, grow and are appreciated by a large audience. “It has such a strong background and cultural element and it still attracts people,” Vani says and adds, “dance for me, is a passion, it’s almost like breathing.”
It was only five years ago that Lourd Vijay came to know that World Dance Day actually existed. He says that dance is the best form of self-expression; it boosts one’s confidence and helps one develop a healthy and respectful relationship with one’s dance partner. “Today, people want a lot more than just work, home and family; they focus on quality living,” he says.
He also reasons that the instruction of dance forms have improved a great deal. Bangalore, he says, has among the best dance instructors.