Bellydancing made me respect my body: Sanjana Sharma

When did you fall in love with Belly dancingI was a 17 year old girl with typical tomboy features and at that age being in college every girl would want to look all sexy and explore their desirable self With that reason I joined Bellydance classes so that even I could slay by looking all pretty and sexyBut then when I first started learning Bellydance I started respecting my own body Bellydance is a very vast art form and is also considered to a classical art formDuring the class we were asked to roll our tops up It wasnrsquot a compulsion but I did it to overcome my hesitation Eventually the more I got involved in it the more confident I felt confident about myself as a woman and got to explore my feminine side So I continued learning the dance form and now itrsquos been 8 12 years since Irsquove been learning and teaching Bellydance because learning is something that never endsBelly dance isnt a wellaccepted dance form in India Whats your take on thatAs we all know in our Indian societyculture as girls we are always asked to cover ourselves our chest belly hips especially 8frac12 years ago when I started learning belly dance at that time there wasnrsquot much awareness about the dance form and it wasnrsquot expected either But today I think India Belly Dance is an accepted dance form Every week I teach 100200 students from various professional backgrounds like pilots IT media and entertainment etc alongside motherdaughter duos and fathers who enthusiastically enroll their children for class So I believe we have grown and become aware about the dance form Recently I auditioned for lsquoIndiarsquos Best Dancerrsquo a reality television show and I think being on national television helps create the necessary awareness about Belly Dance So of course India is embracing the art form and appreciating it There are still some places or people who arenrsquot aware of this dance form and find it difficult to normalise it Even today Irsquom sure there are people who do not consider Belly dance to be a viable career option But keeping all of it aside the dnace style is gaining popularity not just in Mumbai but also Delhi Pune Nashik Bangalore Odisha My colleaguesworkmate also learn and teach Belly dance across the country People are now embracing and accepting the styleYou were recently discovered as one of the top 10 belly dancers in 2020 How does it make you feelI was definitely ecstatic about the being on the Top 10 Belly Dancers list The list consists of people Belly dancers whorsquove trained me those I follow and those who inspire me with their dance These are the dancers Irsquove admired whose videos have moved me to learn Belly Dance in more depth So being on that list was the best thing to happen to me It really feels good it feels like yoursquove achieved a little success which brings huge amount of happiness at that momentIrsquove been working hard to bring up the art form and it really feels good to see the work being appreciated through things like theseAnother reason for me to feel awestruck about featuring on the list is that being an Indian Irsquom able to reach out to the rest of the audience across the world If you go to Egypt itrsquos a complete folkloric dance form there are various styles of Belly Dance such as Raqs Sharki Oriental Baladi etc apart from the modern version like drum solo tribal fusion and other variations Bellydancers in Egypt have it in their culture and late Mahmood Reda was the one who introduced Belly Dance in theatrical form So today when someone hears of the dance form it is considered to be and recognized as a middleeastern dance form So as an Indian Belly Dancer if Irsquom reaching across the world including the Indian audience I think itrsquos a great achievement for me as well as the countryWhat is that one tip you would give to every aspiring Belly DancerFor all the aspiring dancers belly dancers firstly I would like to tell them that you should always learn learning is something that should never end and learning itself can open a lot of doors in life I am constantly in the process of learning too Second stay consistent A lot of people keep changing their art forms or dance styles but staying consistent with practice it very important For example I am learning jazz hiphop whacking Kathak and other folkloric styles of dance too but Belly Dance is a constant for meThird you need to stay strong stay on your feet stay stable stay positive not only in dance but in life too You need to be patient about seeing results keep doing it for yourself and keep embracing your work and progressLastly and most importantly for those who may or may not be my students who come in to learn the dance form practice for 2 years or more and wish to pursue Belly Dancing professionally donrsquot leave your jobs instantly A lot of hard work goes into pursuing dance as a profession financial issues being one of them So only when you think you are financially stable should you pursue professional dance as a source of incomeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever