International Dance Day: Dance kept us going, say choreographers

The last two years were tough for artistes across the world. While the world had come to a standstill during the pandemic, dance proved to be therapeutic for some. On International Dance Day today, we speak to choreographers to understand what role dance played in keeping them mentally and physically healthy.

Shakti Mohan

Dance helped me the most during the lockdown. I would play Bollywood songs loudly in my room and dance for hours. My family used to think that I’ve gone mad, but it was the happiest thing I did and it is still the most wonderful memory. Besides keeping you fit, dance also helps you stay mentally happy and sane. It is therapeutic. I spent about two hours dancing or working out daily during the lockdown.

Rahul Shetty

Usually, I have a hectic travel and work schedule. But the last two years, especially the lockdown phase, made us homebound. While TV, OTT, films gave us solace for a couple of months, the only thing that kept me going post that was dance. I feel ever since I’ve started dancing professionally (as a choreographer), I realised that there hasn’t been a lot of room for me to learn new things or grow in my craft. So the pandemic gave me a chance to train and take workshops online. I learnt a lot of new things and also conducted classes online. Dance was my saviour. I spent two-three hours dancing every day. It helped me stay fit – both physically and mentally.

Kunwar Amar

When things went down for the whole world in 2020, I, too, was dealing with a lot of things and the anxiety was on the rise. There was no way to know what would happen next. But, like always, dance was my saviour and healer. It was the reason I could fight. It helped me stay mentally and financially stable. I feel blessed that God has given me the ability to excel in the art. I want to be a successful actor, and I have a feeling that my dancing skills will play a massive role in it.

Melvin Louis

I barely got to dance while I was home. There was so much stress because of the sad, untimely and unfortunate situation (pandemic and lockdown) that I just wanted the world to heal first. I wasn’t able to gather the courage to dance at home when the world was suffering. I did a few online workshops to brighten people up. It’s tough for an artiste to get creative in distressful situations. But I did finish my promised assignments from home.