Gurgaon twirls, sways and glides in celebration

Dancers from across the NCR gathered at

Cyber Hub

on Thursday to celebrate

World Dance Day

. From Kathak and ballet to jazz funk and hip hop – the

dance

festival, organized by the NGO Friends Of Art, had it all. The event began with a Kathak performance by Minhaz Khan and Anukriti Vishwakarma of the Lucknow gharana. The amazing performance got not just applause but also quite a few seetis from the crowd. Their performance was followed by a children’s ballet recital, and their poise got many awwws from the audience.

Pursuing your passion
Nidhi, a corporate employee who was present at the event, said, “Events like these showcase NCR’s talent. I was here to just unwind after a hectic day at work, and watching these dancers was just so impressive and rejuvenating. I have always enjoyed dancing and now I feel the urge to enroll in a dance class.”

Shohini Dutta, who belongs to Friends Of Art, said, “Cyber Hub is an excellent venue because people from all walks of life come here. There are so many corporate employees who come here to hang out, and there are many who are in a corporate job but are not necessarily liking it. We wanted to reach out to those people and inspire them to realise their true calling. This is such a big platform for these young performers. The setting is unlike an auditorium, where one has to be quiet. Here, people can praise the dancers the way they want to.”

Dancing their heart out
Himanshu Kataria from Trikona Dance Community said, “What we performed here is a dance form called jazz funk. In India, there’s no culture of this form. Whatever we know, we’ve learnt by watching YouTube videos. Unlike other dance forms, we don’t have a detailed terminology for our moves, and we want people to know more about this dance form.”

Even though there are many dance reality shows, some performers told us that their families are still not quite supportive. A performer from Urshilla Dance Academy told us, “Perceptions have changed and there are some parents who support their kids, but there’s still a long way to go before dance is accepted as a career option. There are many performers in our academy who’re pursuing dance against their parents’ wishes.”