Let me tell you a story. There was a demure little girl,
Rhea. She was considered to be a very polite, well behaved and smart kid who
made her parents proud with her achievements. Be it topping her class, a
brilliant elocution, debate, sports or a quiz. Life seemed great… but if there
are no challenges thrown, something is definitely fishy. Rhea faced her first mountain
in the form of dance. She had to participate in an annual dance at school. Being
a shy kid who was probably not very open and free, she couldn’t match the grace
and style of others in her class. Her teacher was probably exasperated of
having somebody with stiff robotic movements on stage to represent the school!
She would bring down the style and the flow of the entire choreography!
Frustrations were thrown out freely. "Rhea! What’s wrong with you. Show some
grace and expression. Don’t be like a zombie!"
This pushed Rhea into a shell.
Dance is meant to flow through you with the feeling and connection of an
expression. Rhea’s emotions to dance were now all about the fear of messing up
the teacher’s show. She became an easy target for "harmless fun". She endured
lot of insults, taunts and mockery for her zombie-like dance.
She went through all of this and somehow went on stage and finished
her show. But something died within Rhea and she decided that dance was not for
her. It was one of those situations where a bad experience makes someone bottle
up those feelings, label the entire experience as horrible, and bury it deep
underground.
10 years later… This incident was long forgotten in Rhea’s
conscious memory. She grew up to be a wonderful and happy person with a great
family and awesome friends. But without realizing, a part of her was frozen. It
was almost like she took an oath to never dance in her life again. But how can
you stop yourself from dancing? You listen to a good song and beat, your body
naturally moves to it. Even if you don’t move physically, I am sure you are
dancing in your head. But Rhea denied it and it made herself seem more stiff
and stoic.
She was looking out for a new fun fitness regime when she
came across Zumba. She was told that "It is more of a workout than a dance
form. You just listen to the music and copy the instructor. You can do aerobics
no? same thing. Just try". So she decided to give Zumba a try. Her initial day was so
awkward. She felt cheated for having being told that it is not a dance, and
just a workout. She considered quitting just because she couldn’t face the ghosts
of her past. She was scared of being made fun of.
But in that studio, she realized that nobody was even
looking at her. Everybody were just enjoying the music, following the instructor
and doing their dance. It was not about precision and movements. Some were
doing their move in the left, some on the right. It did not matter. Another
girl moved in the wrong direction and crashed into the nearby person. But
nobody glared, instead everybody just gave a cheerful grin and just continued
their dance! The pace picked up and everyone just kept, jumping, grooving,
shaking, kicking.
The physical challenge of Zumba was starting to manifest. People
started sweating and gasping for breath. But what was remarkable is that, the energy
levels seemed to just increase with the rise in perspiration. Rhea was clumsily
trying to match the class in the last row.
Her teacher happily came later with
a smiling face and asked "how was the class?". No more of "Rhea, you need to improve this step, show some
life, no grace, bad posture", but rather, "How was class? Did you like it?" was
such a refreshing shift. Rhea couldn’t deny the fun she had. She went the next
day as well. And the next day… and the day after… Until she caught the steps
and was now one with the class. There was something electrifying about looking
at the entire class in the mirror of the studio, dancing with their hearts,
with their movements in tune with the beat, the energy of the class was one.
Nobody cared if Rhea’s elbow was at 90 degrees instead of 45, or if she did
have the grace if a "dancer". Rhea just
let the music and movements flow through her and was eventually in tune.
Perfection happens after comfort. She was now at a stage
where she was comfortable enough to correct her own movements and crunch, or
jump, or squat or throw out her hands. The only comments her teacher passed in
class was "Smile! Enjoy!"
The dance. It hurt. It made her arms ache. Legs to cramp up.
A persistent body ache. But strangely, all this was something Rhea looked
forward to. It made her feel fresh and vibrant! A day felt incomplete without her dance/workout. The best of
relationships are made when you connect over some shared interest. She made
great friends at her class who just encouraged her to dance rather than make
fun of her for it!
You know the best part… Rhea suddenly got reminded of that
box with painful memories buried underground and realized that it was dug out
open, and that spirit within her was set free already! Her teacher, her dance
friends had changed the world for Rhea by indirectly helping her get over the past.
It was probably not even intentional, and they may not even realize that life
turned around for that little girl who is now busy shaking a leg… "Shake it off…
Shake it off"
PS: This post is a work of fiction and mostly a tribute to
my new found joy in the form of dance and Zumba. Names, characters, situation,
events and incidents are merely my imagination or used to convey a message. Any
resemblance to people, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
However, I most certainly want to thank my Zumba teacher: Mr Leo Talstoy for making
my day through his Zumba class. I am certainly not a perfect dancer, but I have
been Zumbafied!
