Gurgaon’s got groove

GURGAON: With summer vacations around the corner, Gurgaonites are all set to join dance workshops and camps that are going to be held across the city during the holiday season. From jazz, contemporary and Bollywood to hip-hop, salsa and belly dancing, people of Gurgaon have a wide range to choose from, this summer.
Nineteen-year-old Rohini Sakar, a resident of Sushant Lok, says, “My college will close for the summer holidays after the first week of May and I plan to join belly dancing classes.Dance is a beautiful art form and a wonderful way of remaining fit. I feel bored in the gym, and the idea doesn’t appeal to me especially during the hot months.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Umang, a first-year college student from Gurgaon, says, “Dance provides the perfect platform to vent out one’s feelings and do what one loves.” And while the daily hustle bustle of life and a busy schedule don’t allow many people to take up dancing classes during regular times, the summer holidays are a perfect time for them to take out their dancing shoes and groove to their favourite tunes. But it’s not only the students or the youngsters who are keen to take up dance this season. People from all age groups, be it professionals or home makers, joining a dance class that suits their taste seems to be the latest fad in Gurgaon. As some trainers in dance institutes in Gurgaon point out, many young mothers have enrolled for dance classes along with their kids.
Many of these women are housewives and usually find it difficult to find time to pursue their hobby. “So it is convenient for them to take up dance lessons along with their children and this makes for a session of complete recreation, which is both relaxing and stimulating,” says a dance trainer. Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar, who has a dance institute in Gurgaon, says, “In case of the homemakers, I have seen dance giving them a lot of self-confidence and it makes them feel independent. Most of them dance extremely well and through the classes they get to live their passion of dancing again.” Danceworx Academy, located in Sector 28 in Gurgaon, organizes “summer workshops” which always garner good response. Pooja Uberoi, dance instructor with Danceworx, says “Western dance forms are now very much in demand. People seem to have picked up a liking for street jazz while Bollywood dancing, another very popular dance form, hasn’t lost its sheen yet.”
Summer camps are also being organized by another Gurgaon-based institute, Dance Planet, which has seen a lot of participation from the citizens in the recent years. Meanwhile, even though Gurgaon is opening itself to the idea of not only women but also men taking up dance classes, the number of male dancers still remains low. As Gurgaon resident, Kuljot, an architect by profession, says, “At times, in a class of 35 students, I’m the only guy and sometimes I get lucky when one or two school boys join the class.” However, the founder of Danceworx, well-known choreographer, Ashley lobo says, “It’s a myth that men don’t dance. In fact, in the professional world there are lots of male dancers and choreographers. It is only in the beginner’s levels that men are hesitant to join because of a pre-conceived notion.” But as experts point out, this is changing fast. Swati Mohan, founder and director of Danza Performing Arts in Gurgaon, says, “The beauty, growth and discovery one experiences while exploring an art form like dance cannot be explained in words. It's simply great.”