#InternationalDanceDay Shantanu Maheshwari: Dance is an art form of celebration - Exclusive

‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ fame actor Shantanu Maheshwari sat for a cup of candid conversation with ETimes on the special occasion of International Dance Day. He spoke about how the art has evolved with time, a dance style he had a hard time learning, the Bollywood stars he admire as dancers, and much more!

The excerpts from the interview are below:

“Dance has evolved tremendously and I am so happy that I was part of ‘Dil Dosti Dance’ which created that push and was responsible in a certain way for this change to happen. It's amazing to see the kind of career opportunities that have opened up for dancers out there. Earlier it was very difficult for aspirants to convince their parents and family members to allow the pursuit of dance as a career but now it is a lot easier and parents embraced it as a career option. It is lovely to see how dance has evolved so much through the years, especially in India. Not just India but the world is seeing and recognizing India's dancing talent and they're wanting to see more from India and Indian dancers. So it's a big achievement for all the dancers in the country.”

I am not a trained dancer and I'm self-taught. I began learning dancing and though it was Bollywood, it was called the Western style of dancing but that was the only thing I have learned and I love the Bollywood style of dancing. The most difficult style which I felt and tried to learn was tap dancing for me. It requires certain kinds of basics which need to be clear and it needs proper training I felt like learning by just watching the tutorials and performances was difficult. I am still not very good at it and I find it very difficult to learn.

All my most loved dance performances keep changing from time to time. But if I had to pick one, I will say World of Dance performances because they all have a very different story behind those choreographies and performances. Those performances are very emotional but as I said these keep on changing.

Govinda sir, Prabhu Deva sir, Javed Jaffrey sir, Shami sir, and Hrithik Roshan are a few Bollywood stars I've admired as dancers. They own their moves and it is a treat to watch them perform. I think everyone has the potential to be a great dancer. It's an art form that can be learned and excelled at so I don't want to drop any names but everyone has potential and everyone is trying to do their best. It's an art form of celebration. One is supposed to enjoy and not feel scared about it and that's the beauty of any art form.

Pic Courtesy: Instagram