I still remember walking in through the yellow door- nervous and excited- into the dance studio of my dance institute for the first time. It was the first class of the new batch and our instructor put all of us at ease by asking us about our hobbies, interests, etc. Post the interactive session, she started by briefing us about the origin of the Jazz dance style and then moved on to explain the basics of the form. The format of the Jazz class in that particular dance academy in Delhiwas such that we began with warming-up exercises, followed by stretching, and the latter half of the class was dedicated full-on dancing.
She told us very frankly that it was okay if we didn’t understand much in the first class as we would eventually get better. The simple warm-up exercises like roll-downs, isolations, spotting etc. looked pretty easy, but we soon realised that they were pretty hard to grasp. While all of us followed the instructor, we found it hard to get it right. International dance forms like Jazz, Ballet, Modern contemporary can seem intimidating as there is still not enough awareness about these dance forms in India. If you go abroad, you would see little children as young as 2-year olds doing ballet like professionals. It’s a culture there!
My instructor cited her first experience and said that she too felt just as lost when she started dancing. Perseverance is the key to mastering any activity. She said if we came regularly to the dance institute in Delhi without missing classes, watched dance videos and movies, and practiced the routine at home, we soon would get better. And wasn’t she right? Within three months of assiduous efforts, I was offered to join the institute as a professional dancer. Obviously, they trained me for many months before they actually gave me any serious responsibility or sent me on stage. The journey was far from smooth; every day I came back home bruised- physically and emotionally- as I thought I wasn’t growing much. However, I never gave up and continued until one day the same instructor acknowledged my perseverance and told me how much I had grown from when I had joined first. You cannot expect to master the art without perseverance. The process is painful, frustrating, and challenging- yet if you do not give up, you would be greeted with extraordinary results. Just be patient!
My instructor cited her first experience and said that she too felt just as lost when she started dancing. Perseverance is the key to mastering any activity. She said if we came regularly to the dance institute in Delhi without missing classes, watched dance videos and movies, and practiced the routine at home, we soon would get better. And wasn’t she right? Within three months of assiduous efforts, I was offered to join the institute as a professional dancer. Obviously, they trained me for many months before they actually gave me any serious responsibility or sent me on stage. The journey was far from smooth; every day I came back home bruised- physically and emotionally- as I thought I wasn’t growing much. However, I never gave up and continued until one day the same instructor acknowledged my perseverance and told me how much I had grown from when I had joined first. You cannot expect to master the art without perseverance. The process is painful, frustrating, and challenging- yet if you do not give up, you would be greeted with extraordinary results. Just be patient!