International Dance Day

Do you remember when we were kids and the moment any music used to start to play, we used to just dance wholeheartedly, not caring about who was looking, what the situation was, what type the music was, or what steps should've been taken? We just used to dance, not thinking about any negative possibility that would stop us from dancing and eventually stop us from being happy. Now, in this age, if any music starts to play, whether it may be the most dance-prone music like 'Naatu Naatu' or 'Shake it Off', that even motivates the listeners to dance by their lyrics, we will still think a thousand times before dancing, and eventually most of us won't dance even if we want to. This is just because we don't want to get into a situation where we will be judged by people for not dancing correctly, getting awkward in a group of talented dancers, and adding another moment to the 'embarrassing moments list'. But somewhere in these thoughts, we forget the fact that basically 'Dance' is an open art that is not designed to be perfect. It keeps getting better and better with practice. But these negative thoughts are keeping us away from the beautiful art of 'Dance'. These thoughts tend to change our mindset, and we start thinking that 'we can't dance, and dance is not our thing!' We start criticizing ourselves with that art, and we start avoiding the art.

Dance is an art that beautifully conveys a person's emotions, using different steps that involve the whole body and create a wonderful picture showing the amazing coordination between our mind, soul, emotions, legs, hands, brain, and complete body. Dance is an activity that can just take us out of our real-life stress for a while and make us enjoy the moment. Dance teaches us to live in the moment. And if we keep thinking about ifs and buts before expressing ourselves through this lively activity, then ultimately, we will keep getting more and more away from this art. Even if lots of us can't dance properly and accurately, we shouldn't directly stop performing this art. Dance is not limited to perfection; imperfection in dance can also be amazing because the ultimate reason for dance is the happiness 'we' get from performing it. That dance doesn't need to always aim for the attention or entertainment of the audience. Dance can also be a self-entertaining activity. It doesn't need to be presentable or loved by others. It's just the expression of a person in an art form. We should practice this art form for ourselves. We should consider dance as a self-activity and do it without caring about others' opinions on that, and believe me, we'll start enjoying dance henceforth. Dance is not only limited to performing it, but we can also enjoy, feel, have fun, experience its vibe, and completely live the art form to its fullest. And when we start to live and enjoy dance wholeheartedly, we'll also see its positive effects on our body, our health, and our mind! Because, after all, dance is also an exercise. And we don't overthink exercise much because it is beneficial for us and our mental and physical health. In the same way, exercise works, dance. Do it for yourself. Martha Graham says, "Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion." Dance gives us happiness, motivates us, and clears our minds from the web of negative thoughts and stress, indirectly helping us to find solutions. James Brown says, "Dance and you'll feel better." Dance is a therapy that heals us! This therapy is more effective with the help of music!

Dance adds a different vibe of emotions and meaning to the music or song. It gives music a new shape and defines it differently. Dance brings grace to the music and enhances its scope. This relationship between dance and music is evergreen, and they will keep on growing together by complimenting each other with different styles as the eras change. As we see, the music of the 1950s and 1960s is completely different from the music of today. In the same way, we can also observe the differences between the dances of these eras. This shows how music and dance are changing together with the changes over the generations. The platforms for the presentation of dance forms have also changed. It was performed only on the stage platform earlier, and now platforms like social media and television are also providing huge scope for the dance forms along with the stage performances. Even if this art of dance has adapted to lots of changes, it has not disturbed its lively vibe. Still, we experience the same positive effects of dance. The changes in dance have not changed the art at all! The dance is still therapy and will remain forever! So let us not keep ourselves away from this therapy of dance!

- Shravani Rajguru