#WorldDanceDay: From aerial dance, to Afro Jazz and contemporary, TV celebs reminisce how they aced the most challenging dance forms

With time everything evolves and the same stands true when it comes to various dance forms. Dance has always been an integral part of cultures across the globe and has often been used as a tool for expressing emotions, folklores and much more. From classical, western to contemporary and fusion, with time the variations, intensity, and difficulty levels have also changed. On World Dance Day today, these TV celebs open about a dance form that challenged them and the road to nailing it like a boss!

Aerial dance has been one of the most challenging yet satisfying dance forms that I have learned and it took me two years to train myself. Balancing yourself in the air just using the aerial silk cloth is tough and anything which is anti-gravity becomes strenuous. So it took me 5-6 months to get the groundwork right, which helped me in building my stamina to hold myself up in the air for longer. I even sustained a shoulder injury that lasted for 2-3 months. But the joy I felt after every session remains unmatched. Although I haven’t been able to practice it lately, I’m hoping to begin again soon.

I’m a trained Kathak dancer and I started my training for the same at a very young age. Apart from learning the dance form, it also includes practical and theory exams and I remember prepping for it would always make me very nervous. Knee rolls are a pivotal part of this dance form, and often I would come back home with scraped knees. Before coming to Mumbai I also used to teach dancing to younger kids. I believe that dancing has helped me become a better actor as it has taught me to deal with varied emotions effectively. Also, it's a great way to stay fit and beat stress.

During our school days, I and my sister would win almost every dance competition. While I enjoy Bollywood freestyle, I took formal training in contemporary dance form and it isn’t as easy as one thinks. You need a lot of flexibility and work a lot on your body in terms of workouts, warm-up, and cool-down sessions before you begin practising it. I was learning splits and that has been the most painful experience so far. But now it all seems worth all the sweat and pain. I have even got a small tattoo of this dance form on my wrist.

Being a classical dancer, I have always been a huge fan of this dance form. However, for me learning Kathak was quite challenging. As the dance focuses a lot on impeccable spins, footwork, and nuanced expressions, one can’t go wrong. From swollen feet to muscle spasms I have injured myself often. But I feel that nothing good comes easy and every injury is always worth it in the end. However, due to my hectic schedule, I don’t get enough time to practice but I was able to catch up on it during the lockdown. Next, I want to learn belly dancing.

If there’s one dance form that has been a challenge for me then it has to be Afro-Jazz as this style of jazz combines the rhythmic traditions of the traditional Afro-Cuban music with the progressive harmonies and improvisation of American jazz music. It took me around three years to learn and thankfully I never got any injuries. As I have been busy shooting Ranju Ki Betiyaan, I have not been able to practice it often but whenever I feel sad dance has always helped me to stay energetic, at peace and happy.

I’m a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and it will always hold a very special place in my life. When you are performing on stage it sure looks flawless but the truth behind it is long hours of practice and an endless number of injuries. Bharatnatyam focuses more on mudras (hand gestures), drishti bhedas (the eye movements), natya vardhini (facial expressions), and flawless foot movements. As all these aspects go hand-in-hand, it requires a lot of focused practice and I’ve injured myself umpteen times in the process. Since I started acting I didn’t get enough time to practice it but would love to get back to it soon. Currently, I’m keen on learning belly dancing, pole dancing, and Bollywood style hip-hop.

While I have aced the robotic and locking and popping dance form, contemporary has always been a challenge for me. Along with your flexibility, contemporary also helps you to understand your body movements better and how to work around tough moves. Along with being a good way to stay fit, dance also works great to build your confidence, body posture and as a stress buster. Injuries are an integral part when learning any freestyle dance forms (laughs) and I too have been through many such injuries. Since I have started shooting for Hamari Wali Good News, I didn't get enough time to get back to dancing.

Since childhood, I have always enjoyed grooving to Bollywood style dance but as I grew up, contemporary dance fascinated me. Contemporary majorly consists of fluid dance movements and to get a hang of it one must be consistent in practice. While I won’t say I have aced it but have become much better at it. Secondly, as many moves include jumping and spinning I have often injured my ankles and toes. As an actor dancing has helped me to express myself gracefully onscreen as I can easily switch emotions.