Raising and educating a child is no child's play. We try to make it better for parents and teachers to help their young ones find it fun and interesting to know and grow.
When I was very young, around 7 – 8 years, my dad used to go to Mumbai often for office tours. And every time he came back, I would sit in front of him watching him unpack with big expectant eyes waiting patiently for what he has got for me from his tour. Most of the times it would be small stationary items and they usually included nice stickers.One such sticker had a boy and girl dancing and it said “Dancing and Singing and Off Your Blues”.
I still remember that sticker out of all the other because it kept reminding me to dance and shake it off whenever I was upset or felt dejected. And that I did... and still do sometimes. Particularly in this lockdown when things are getting monotonous or I am sick of staying home, all I do is put on some music and dance, my daughter Hiya following suit.
Of late, I’ve been dancing to RabindraSangeet more often, thanks to Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020, where most of the semi classical entries were Rabindrik dance presented by little girls.
Thankfully I was not one of the judges, I loved each and every dance videos and could not tell which is better. I also tried to do the steps (Hiya in tow) as we saw most of the videos together repeatedly, especially the entries from participants in Kerala. I must say I am awestruck by the way the little ones in that part of the country dance – so professional, so talented, such perfectionists!
After conducting Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020, I saw many other institutes having online dance competitions, some started before and some after our competition. With so many online dance competitions mushrooming everywhere, it made me realise one thing – that corona virus cannot keep our spirits down. Despite a thousand locks and preventions, the human mind has a wonderful way to beat the blues and that is through dance.
One of the judges Ms Aishee Ganguly of Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020 shares her feeling about online dance competitions, “A healthy competition always helps to motivate everyone to work harder, be better and learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. It provides an opportunity to be creative as well, which was an important part of the "Crayonsler" dance competition. It provided a platform to a varied age group, and enthusiastic participants to showcase their artistic abilities and talent. It was a wonderful experience to see such zeal and precision even amongst the tiny toddlers.”
Dance is actually more than just a physical expression of music, it is therapeutic in nature. According to a dear didi of mine, Ms Beau Dutta, Founder of Nakhshatra Dance Group and teacher in Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Memorial Society (Delhi), whose students have participated and won prizes in the Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020, “Dance does play an important role in a student's life apart from studies, usually when someone faces any problem, they can easily spend their time in this. This is a good stress buster. Also their mind gets refreshed. So as a hobby or a break, dance is really helpful.
Another favourite person of mine, Ms Smita Chakraborty, Director of Shinjan Dance Academy, whose students have given some award winning performances in the Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020 says, “Dance is an activity which helps in emotional and physiological growth. It boosts confidence. With this confidence, learners can perform in front of large audiences. Classical dance helps to increase devotional faith. Here we teach them different Vandanas. With chanting of Vandanas, it brings lots of peace. Guru-Shisshya Parampara teaches them how to respect elders.
You can witness some of her students of classical dance in the following video:
Ms Shayomita Dasgupta, Odissi Dancer and Founder, Director at Pragyadyuti, (and yes another lovely dance teacher I got in touch with during Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020) said, “Children nowadays suffer from obesity because of lack of physical activity and dance can be beneficial in solving this problem and improving physical fitness in the child. Another major problem children face nowadays is lack of concentration both in studies as well as in other activities. Dance has this unique capability of improving the concentration level of children due to its stringent mental warm-up and Pranayams prior to the start of the dance session.”
Dance works both on a physical and a mental level. It has so many benefits that it can actually alleviate a lot of mental problems like frustration, depression, dismay. I have noticed that those who dance regularly even look beautiful, perhaps due to all the physical and emotional outpouring that dance allows you to. I strongly feel that it should be given a solid place in primary education and not just a co-curricular addition. Even Shayomita di agrees with me as she believes, “Dance should be given a major place in school curriculum keeping in view the fact that school life is the building block in a child’s life. It imparts self-esteem, confidence and a strong socializing bond which goes a long way in shaping a child’s character and personality. Dance has the unique feature of developing both physical and mental attributes of a child. The creative movements of a dance number help children develop skills and understanding about the varied aspects of life.”
The modern day parents understand the importance and benefits of dance in their children’s life. And therefore as school education is going online, so is dance education. I have heard many children are doing dance classes online – what a marvelous concept! With dance classes going online, now distance is no longer a problem if you wish to get trained by your favorite dance trainer. But online dance class also has its share of problems. According to Beau di, “online dance classes are good, but it gets difficult when I try to explain a particular dance step or an exercise. It takes time to explain, without music then with music. It gets lengthy. Also internet connection plays an important role. There must be a good connection else we do face challenges at times.”
Classes conducted online by Beau di
Classes conducted online by Beau di
However, despite these little hiccups, I think online dance classes are a very good opportunity to get physically active and to overcome any sort of depressing thoughts or bad mood. If you want to feel upbeat again, then dance is a sure-shot quick fix while at the same time you get creative too. So it’s really a win-win situation. I wish I could enroll myself or my little one in one of these classes, but alas I have no time as I am busy with Crayonsler Singing Contest 2020 now and also preparing for my next FB Live and little Hiya is too young to understand any instructions from anyone at all. So we would have to suffice with YouTube playlist of Crayonsler Online Dance Competition 2020 at the moment.
