Dance Is A Performing Art

An article by Smt. Arjika Ghosh

Dance is a way of moving that uses the body as an instrument of expression and communication. There are many kinds of dances, and every human society has its own dances.

According to me ‘DANCE’ stands for- Discipline Attitude New Confidence Expression. Since the earliest times of our existence, for before the creation of the first modern civilization, dance served as an irreplaceable way of expressing human thoughts and emotions.

Importance of dance:

Dancing improves brain functions and boosts memory. Through dance, students learn teamwork, focus and improvisational skills. Dance awakens new perceptions in children which help them learn and think in new ways.
Dance is a mental and physical therapy. It reduces stress, anxiety, depression. Through dance one can increase muscular strength, coordination, mobility and decrease muscular tension.

Life of a dancer according to my opinion:

Life of a dancer is not a bed of roses. It is full of commitment to meet expectations of the people. As it is a form of art it is associated with the culture of a nation. Dancers have to travel at every moment to preserve the heritage of art and culture.
Dancers have to sacrifice in many ways to fulfill the commitment of dancers.

His/her personal life is not important when he/she acts as a performing dancer. His/her social or personal feelings should be kept in suppression while he/she is performing on stage. Only his/her prime aim is to please the audience before his/her. In that case the audience before him/her. In that case he/she has to scope to rectify him/herself the mistakes while performing on the stage.
A dancer has to devote himself or herself towards the art form. He/she should be a devotee while performing any dance. And this is not easy as it is thought to be. He/she who can overcome all the hurdles only he/she succeed in this form of art.

Guru shishya parampara:

“Gu” means dark and “ru” means light. So “Guru” can be roughly translated as darkness to light, or possibly one who leads from darkness to light.
Guru shishya parampara has been an inevitable part of education in Indian culture. This involved the transition of a living and learning relationship between the Guru and student(shisha) signifying the emotional, intellectual and spiritual bonding between them. The Guru-Shishya parampara rests on one simple principle: for a disciple, the Guru is the last word on the subject of dance.
Guru’s personality develops in the disciple and reflects the sign of guru, which distinguishes him/her from the disciples of other gurus.
Nowadays the modern generation of parents and students are not willing to invest time and effort into learning a classical art form.
Everything needs to be fast learning, performing on a stage, accomplishment of name, fame, awards. That’s why basic knowledge of a student for learning classical dance or any other art form remains incomplete.

One thing I must say if you are not dedicated to what you are doing, you will not do anything significant in your life.
However , the journey of a classical dancer is towards salvation, to liberate the soul and reach the parabrahman( the ultimate entity).

Arjika Ghosh is a Bharatanatyam and creative performer and a teacher. She is the disciple of Guru Smt. Sangeeta Aich Bhowmick and guru Shri Kohinoor Sen Barat. Arjika have completed her master’s in Economics. She performed in many prestigious festival in India and abroad like uttarapara sangeet Chakra dance festival, Rudradhara dance festival, Puri beach festival, Bhopal utsav, cuttack mohotsav, Udayshankar nrityo utsav, Paradweep festival, International dance festival in Malaysia, Haldia utsav, Rourkella Mohotsav and many more. She received Nrityo siromoni, Nataraj nrityo sanman, Saraswati sanman, nrityo yuva Pratibha puraskar, Nrityo jyoti sanman and many more. She took part in Doordarshan, Etv bangla, Tara music. She is running her own institution Ghungur successfully.