Small flutters in my tummy...knees going jell-o, a sudden total dysfunction of memory cells... Everything- even the audience's chatter- has an effect on you , the dancer waiting nervously in the wings. "Will I get all my moves right or will I just blank out in the middle of my performance ?!!" a panicked me asks myself. All unnecessarily of course. For I've gone over these routines thousands of times before. During rehearsals. "So relax!" A strong voice thankfully takes control in my head. One set of nerves is at least quashed. Next: Oh God, what if the music stops halfway? What if I trip? What if this…what if that?…Worst case scenarios pop in & out of my head. "STOP!!" shouts the voice again. Giving way to voice of reason then, I start instead, focusing on the stage layout & making quick mental notes on other points. Only when I have gone through all this that I start allowing the full impact of the excitement-tinged atmosphere to sink in, and to enjoy the feeling of power I'm about to experience, the power to 'wow' the audience. The Voice again, very emphatic, "Now GO, get 'em girl!". Gathering this scant ammo, me & teammates leap from the wings and into the thick of things, a la Billy Elliott, as he executes 'Swan Lake' at the end of the movie! Dancing, swirling, twisting and tumbling, all the nerves settle, one by one, till there's only euphoria. We look into our audience's eyes and ..LOVE what we see there! Memory goes into autopilot as miraculously, every single move is recalled. The audience's enthusiasm feeds the adrenalin rushing in our bodies and vice versa. We feel the electricity created by our own movements- Smiling, pirouetting, sashaying, we're making them scream for more…...
Memories from a dancer's diary!
I can still recall vividly those moments. How everyone present was always catapulted into another realm altogether! For a few moments on stage, we dancers became the stars of this other-worldly galaxy created by our shimmering bodies. We were the ones on whom every eye was riveted. Many a shake, spin and shimmy later, finally, as the music reached its crescendo and each performance came to an end, I recall, how we, striking our last impact pose amidst the crowd's exuberant applause, felt a huge relief from the knowledge that a demanding task was finally over. But more than that, the joy of having met that challenge and from a job well done, further brought an exhilaration not quite experienced with anything else. And then, the many raves and kudos's after the show, plus the after-parties where we laughed at our goofs and basked in our successes!.
No feeling comes close! :-)
One sees a lot of show dancing these days. During the last decade, although it had almost faded into oblivion, it is now back with a vengeance. Just check out one of the episodes on TV of 'So you think you can Dance?" or 'Dancing with the Stars' to know what I mean. And of course not to be left behind, are local festivals promoting dance of all genres, including Bollywood, here in Atlanta too. Whether its hiphop, tango, or any other style, people are taking to dance again, for many reasons: entertainment, fitness or competitiveness. Dance sport is suddenly back into fashion. It is invigorating to see the revival of public interest in performance dancing. But its not just what you see in front, the glamour and glory. Behind all that is the sheer grit and grind, so when you ask a performer: "Is it worth it?" The answer you're likely to get is : "You bet!" And this, despite all the pressure in the desire for extraordinary creativity, where each dancer tries to surpass others in originality, presentation and skill. Aside from the enormous physical demands, there are also mental faculties at task, when performers need to memorize so many variations. So what does the future hold for them? Riches? Untold success? Not always! Depending on where you reside, it’s hard to make a living off dancing; the pay is often not great, and one always worries where the next performance is going to come from. Then, there is the risk of injury coupled with body image issues. At times one wonders what keeps dancers going. Most show dancers retire early on, in their mid-thirties/ early forties- they move into teaching and mentoring students rather than actively performing. Sadly, there are also cases where unsuccessful dancers due to shortage of paid work, fall victim to addictions, and anorexia/bulimia disorders.
But 'Have the Passion, Will Dance ' is the mantra of most dedicated dancers. Dancing is a great fitness measure if dancers lead a disciplined lifestyle, and nurture life-long healthy habits. They can definitely keep shaking a leg well into their golden years. Dance enthusiasts should keep at it for the sheer joy it brings and enjoy every moment of it, because, Dance is truly “Living Life in the Moment”
And these by far, are no ordinary moments.
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Priya Chellani has been a Fusion dancer-choreographer-tutor from the early nineties in Mumbai, (India), Dubai, (United Arab Emrates) Auckland & Wellington (New Zealand) before finally making Atlanta,U.S.A her home. Priya has a rich dance background & teaching/performing experience spanning two decades in three continents, her career starting in 1984-'85, when she twice won runner up at India's Duet Show Dancing Championships in SeaRock Sheraton Mumbai, with contemporaries like Farah Khan(now famous Bollywood Director), Ravi Behl and Naved Jaffry (producers: Boogie Woogie & Kaboom Dance Contests on Sony TV) etc. Still actively performing, she also tutors others. In between working in her day job as an accountant, and coaching dance/rehearsals, she writes for her first fiction novel, 'The Restless Sole' .
