Will dancing make me slimmer?

Learning dance has always been one joy ride for me but teaching on the other hand has shown me some scarily weird sides of my students. Now, what students ask during sessions or how they behave is totally a different topic and will soon write an article about it. But, before joining the dance class people come up with some stupid and sometimes annoyingly pathetic questions like …

-   I have never danced before, but I want to perform 'gracefully' at New Year's party [which is just 5 days away]… Can u help me with it?

-   I have tried many things to lose weight but nothing helped. Will dancing make me slimmer?

And so on…

Let's talk practically.

a)  Grace is a god's gift. (End of discussion)… wait… what if we try hard, practice a lot… grrr … i repeat , Grace is a god's gift . (End of discussion)

b)  Oooohh, and will dancing make u slim…??? Ummm … let me think…. NO…!!! Dancing never made ME slim, how will it then make YOU slim…!!!??? 

Isn't it a very disappointing and rude answer? (Hahahahahaa… devilish laugh) Well… Truth is always bitter. 

Let's have a reality check. When you come to me to learn dance, I have no clue whether you do any other physical activity such as sports, gym, and aerobics, as I am not a fitness trainer. I have no clue about your daily routine. Similarly, I also don’t know what you eat, how and when, as I am not a nutritionist. Post dance class you must be hogging on junk food. Who knows? [ I have done that manyyyy times :( ]

There are many dance academies who claim that they can make you lose some weight with dancing. Well, thumbs up to them. I think one has to be very particular and disciplined about ones fitness and eating habits. To be able to dance you have to have a fit and healthy body as well as mind. This keeps you away from thinking about anything but dance.

When people ask me if they'll lose weight by joining my dance class, I say, NO. This simple 'NO' is always demoralizing for them. I ask them to join a gym or aerobics class and keep control on food intake, for the simple reason that 'I am a Dance teacher,' neither a fitness instructor nor a nutritionist. I teach dance, how to dance, what to dance, and blah blah blah. Dance is first and foremost an art form. It's an insult to me and to my art if you ask such silly questions as the purpose of it is to emote, express and entertain. AND NOT TO LOSE YOUR WEIGHT.

But, it is also true that with proper workout tips and healthy diet, you may lose some weight with dance, as dancing is a vigorous physical activity. But that shouldn't be your motive if you are going for dance lessons. Dance is a beautiful art form. Learn it; for it is an art which will mesmerize you, enrich you; not as a tool to make u slimmer. I hope to see more 'dance enthusiast and less fitness freaks' in future, not just in my dance class but at every passionate dance teacher's doorstep.

But again, why am I sharing all this? Dance is not something just to talk about. Dance is to dance. So get up and dance and you'll know the reason behind my smile: D (haha...) Trust me, dancing will surely make you happier.

Keep smiling and keep dancing

She .. Me .. and Shimmy ....

 Dancing has always been a wonderful, joyful part of my life. Dancing makes me feel more energetic, vibrant, happy, full of life and most importantly 'complete.' Well, anything that is related to dance inspires me, my teachers, students, the artists, performers, choreography, stage craft, costumes, props. Everything…!!! Life of a dancer is so colorful, from outside as well as inside. Dancing is such an enriching experience. The graceful movements, the sharp looks, colorful costumes and props, great music and filling up the space with ones own pace… And all this I experienced when I first met my "Belly Dance teacher"… Oh yes. I was entering into a different world all together...

It was around 5 years back, when I was completely into jazz, hip hop, ballroom dancing, salsa and of course classical dancing, where I had, then thought that I have learnt all important dance styles. I was just concentrating on my teaching part. I had almost then decided that with these dance styles I can call myself 'a versatile dancer' and then… One fine day, a close friend introduced me to this beautiful German lady… vibrant, tall with chiseled body, sparkling smile and most importantly a professional belly dancer - teacher. She had come to India to learn few Indian dances and mainly bollywood dancing. She had attended few dance lessons at some 'Leading dance schools of India/Mumbai ' but wasn’t happy with it. So my friend arranged for our meeting.

 Zeyna - My belly dance Teacher

www.zeyna.com

She seemed totally enthu about learning Indian dance styles and her face lit up with a smile when I ensured that I can help her with it. Then we proceeded to money matters, i.e. my fees. With having brief info about her belly dancing which I got from my friend, I immediately exclaimed, " I wont be charging you for it… just teach me belly dancing !!"  To which she agreed happily. Wow…!!! What made me say that??? No fees…!!! ???

I could sense my hunger for learning a new dance style, yet again. This lady in her late twenties had come from Zurich to Mumbai to learn different Indian dance styles. What an idiot i was !! [Yes, a complete idiot to think that I am 'versatile enough' to know those 'few' dance styles!!!] It's never enough. Thankfully, I understood it at a very early stage / age. And then, our dance sessions started the very next day of our meeting. She was completely in awe of our folk and classical dances and I got a chance to learn Raqs Sharqi aka Belly Dance and many things related to it, which otherwise was not even in my THEN "to-do list"

www.zeyna.com

A dance form like belly dancing needs utmost control on your body and at the same time you need to be very graceful. Though it can be stylized by any individual, there are some techniques that you need to master to perform or teach. Some of my favorite steps are Snake arms, undulations, choo choo, grapevine, Egyptian twist and of course the Shimmy. And the shimmy looks awesome with Kuchi coin belts aka belly dance belts. The costumes are bright, colorful and enhance belly, chest and hip portion mostly with kuchi coins. The props like veils, swords, finger cymbals add extra spark in the performance. Though it is mostly popular with girls performing it, there are some countries where they promote male belly dancers too…!!

It is strange that despite knowing this beautiful, graceful dance style for centuries, we, the Indians, never accepted it as a respectable dance style which can be taught and performed publicly. But, thanks to the Colombian pop star-singer, whose song and video, in which she belly danced, got very popular worldwide and finally this dance style was appreciated and accepted in most parts of India.

Learning belly dance not only made me more open minded but also enriched me as an artist. This 'barter exchange' of dance styles proved to be one of the best things that happened to us. She started teaching Indian styles in her dance school at Zurich and I started teaching belly dancing here, in India.

But again, why am I sharing all this? Dance is not something just to talk about. Dance is to dance. So get up and dance and you'll know the reason behind my smile: D (haha...) Trust me, dancing will surely make you happier.

Keep smiling and keep dancing