Dance to express

Articulating movements

A dancer is someone who is sleek and cool, creative beyond boundaries, strong yet flexible, focussed yet free. While many understand the term ‘dance’ as a movement with one’s hands and feet, it’s also about expressing feelings and emotions through these movements. And as years have passed by, dance lovers have witnessed various productions that not only represent a great performance but also a message.

Madhu Nataraj, the founder of ‘STEM Dance Kampni’, says, “Since its inception, dance has always been meaningful. While dance has added elements that are directly connected to the divine, it’s evolved into various art forms that talk about the current political conditions. And over the years, dance has constantly evolved to suit the times and speak about what the dancer wants to convey.” 

However, it’s not just the performance that’s made a change in the world but also the portrayal of the story that it represents. “Artistes these days have turned into presenters and performers for a better way to tell their story. We’ve participated in various outreach programmes in the public domain,” she says.

   For the kathak and contemporary dancer, it’s been about the journey throughout the years that’s made a difference. She adds, “When I started dancing years ago, dance had a different outlook. Now, it’s moved to a place where one’s dance can explore issues related to insecurities, drug abuse, and other similar issues.”

Content is the key ingredient for a particular production. Manognya Balaraju, artistic director at Aayana Dance Company, believes that in today’s world, one can choose to talk about anything. He says, “There’s space for everybody these days.

While there are different ways in which the different genres perceive things, in the form of Indian Contemporary dance, the content comes in the form of the dance we represent. We have the freedom to play around with the dance vocabulary and improvise depending on what the content is.”

While dance has moved to being a representative of the current issues, Manognya says there’s no pressure for it. “Art inspires a lot of people but it’s not necessary that every art form has to only focus on the issues of today. If pressurised so much, there might not even be any fun to dancing then.”

Belly dancing is one such form that focusses on feeling the music than to giving out a message. Sanaz Bakhtiari of Sanaz Dance Studio says, “There’s no particular issue that belly dancers try to tackle when we dance but try to interpret the music with the different parts of the body. However, there have been other dancers from across the world who have told a story through this form. The story of ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Mata Hari’ are a few to have adopted that approach.”

Sanaz feels that if that concept is tried here, it might not be well-received.

“I had a project in mind — to tell the story of ‘Layla and Majnun’ through belly dancing, but it couldn’t be completed. It’s important that the audience already know the story or they might not understand. But given the fact that most of those who come to watch the performance are engrossed in their smartphones, it makes it difficult for us to do the same anyway.”

But for John Anthony, the director of Latino Rhythms Dance Academy, Latin dance music has changed the world tremendously.

He says, “The dance form has transformed the dancers today and they want to try some new techniques. The dance form has become so famous that it helps build careers and goes beyond the world of just being a hobby. And even with these movements and techniques, there have been many story telling performances as well. This weekend, we’re doing a production called ‘The Jungle Book’ which will have characters and artistes performing around the theme.”

With the various dance genres representing their forms the way they want, it surely seems like the dance to express and not just to impress.