Dance

Dance was just a hobby when I was a kid. I didn’t know anything about dance. My parents wanted me to explore dance and enrolled me in Barathanatyam class at the age of 3 with the thoughts of filling my pass time, meeting new friends and of course to learn some cultural, rituals and ceremonies. Due to transportation issues and other factors, I had to keep changing teachers. Completed Salanggai Pooja at the age of 12. At the age of 18, Master Ramli Ibrahim introduced me to Odissi.

Dancing makes me happy and I was very active in school and college shows. I loved getting cheers, applause, motivational advises, positive and negative feedbacks which allowed me to grow myself even better. At one point, I realised that I was still not good in avoiding myself from getting bullied by my seniors. I had some uncomfortable experiences with some dancing schools, teachers and dance mates; I decided to quit classical dance and started to explore in learning the other forms of dance.

With my past ghostly experiences, I decided to open up a studio and recruit professional instructors and give a pleasant space for ladies and kids just to make them explore dance with full heartedly. And I wanted them to sense the rhythm, balance, coordination and be part of me in spreading positivity and the love of being a dancer by passion.

Dance is a form of art which allows a person to express their emotions through their movements and the rhythm of music. Dance has a magical power which has a hidden language of soul and it is not just a jumping, balancing and a tool of entertainment. Dance can allow a person to have a high self-esteem, confident and be a powerful tool and personality in a society. There is no age limitation, sex discriminations in dance. Every soul in this earth can explore just like Yoga; with a positive mindset of learning and practice.

Dance engages the entire body as well as mind. People can burn up to 300 – 500 calories from a fast beat dance routine. It helps people to stay fit, in shape and improves body and mental health. At the current era, our lifestyle changed with our daily activities, food intakes and mechanical working lifestyle. Dance allows a person to socialize and develop creative and physical skills. It reduces stress level and improves relaxation. This caught my attention and I decided to introduce dance fitness to working ladies; especially who are married to give themselves a “Me Time’ by dancing out their sorrows, stress, depressions and some other health issues.

Dance has also moulded me to be a good leader, business owner with higher level of confidence in speaking up and taking charge in whatever, I do. I strongly believe, dance is not only for entertainment purpose. Dance allow you to explore your own-self and develop you into a professional personal and  guide you to be successful in any field you are.

By Malathi Thangavelu