Dancing into hearts and lives

The four-handed brass statue of Nataraja, the Indian deity of dance sitting in an eternal pose on the reception desk of a studio in New Jersey, has an underlying message for Megha Kalia: “Practice hard and success is guaranteed.”

Nataraja has been inspiring dancers in India for more than 1,000 years and big names owe their success to his blessing. Far away from India, Kalia, 32, seems blessed, as her dance has made a niche in an alien land too.

The NYC Bhangra School of Dance is brimming with eager students from all over the world. Kalia doesn’t stop at the reception desk-cum-office for long and soon sprints to her favourite place; a swanky dance floor behind Nataraja. Her diverse group of students line up in excitement, the music volume is increased and the practice begins. A number of dance forms are taught here, but as its name suggests, the school has become famous for the North Indian dance of Bhangra.

Kalia who, following Nataraja’s motto, dances up to nine hours a day, says: “This dance used to be my hobby, now a profession, passion, dream, career and my life.”

Kalia came from India to pursue a masters degree in tourism at Purdue University in 2000. She later started a travel business that went bust due to the recession. Luckily, this dance enthusiast was regularly holding free Bhangra sessions, which she organised through meetup.com, as a hobby. On the insistence of friends she changed the New York-based group into a paid one, which hit the bullseye. And NYC Bhangra was born in 2008.

“I started with 20 people and a rented studio,” said Kalia, who has a degree in performing arts from International Dance School in Punjab, India. “Recently we finished training our 250th person at our second studio in New Jersey.”

Diversity is key at NYC Bhangra as the school gets students from non-Indian communities too. Some term its machismo appealing, others cite its stress-busting joyous nature as alluring, others feel its calorie-consuming workout is way to control weight. It is not rare to see German, Australian or Israeli taking a lead over Indians at either of her studios. Bhangra, often known as a male dance, involves high-energy steps, jumps and moves that can leave one sweating within five minutes.

“Other dance forms are too feminine, but Bhangra is raw and manly,” said Haggai Vardi 29, a software consultant from Israel working in New York. “At least there is a dance form meant for men too, where we too can bare our chests,” he smiles as he catches his breath after a 20-minute session at Jersey City studio. There are usually ten to 15 people in each session, which usually starts with simple steps and culminates in rigorous and complex steps accompanied by popular Bollywood songs or Punjabi folk.

For Bhangra music, the singers have to sing fiercely in high, energetic tone and with great pride. To make it more informal, singers often yell nonsensical random phrases. During a session dancers yell phrases such as balle, balle, hoi, hoi, haripa timed with particular steps such as raising both hands and the right leg. Another step involves the left leg, swirling and then jumping in the air with an awkward-looking position as legs are four feet apart from each other. But with a smile hesitation fades and everything becomes fun after the first few minutes. In some acts, a long stick becomes a sort of third leg, making an extra thump during a jump.

Often in the front row of a Bhangra practice, one can find Edwina Saddington, an Australian in her early thirties. Her flawless moves guarantee her the spotlight. Soft-spoken Saddington is trained in other dance forms too, but Bhangra is an altogether different experience for her. “Other dance forms such as ballet are too formal, but Bhangra is just informal,” said Saddington, who works with a non-profit organisation. “You can start it anytime, anywhere, without the usual formality and shyness of other dances.”

Saddington recently completed her eight-week programme, starting from basic to complex steps. Picking up quickly, Saddington mastered everything much earlier than others. A regular at NYC Bhangra functions, she often gets flattering comments for her moves.

The school has trained students from communities hailing from Nigeria, the Philippines, Australia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Pakistan and even China. At present it caters to almost 85 students with 40 per cent of them non-Indians — sometimes that increases to even 70 per cent.

Be it Vardi or Saddington, everybody attributes their success to Kalia, whose skilful teaching turns “a mute spectator into master dancer”.

After a long session, if a new group asks her to join in, she never says no. “She is a great motivator and her smile is infectious,” both students say in unison. Esma Gregor, a German dance aficionado nods in agreement.

For most people Bhangra looks difficult to master but students have been giving Kalia credit for making it simple. “Megha is great at breaking down difficult movements. I had a one-on-one class with her last year and I suddenly felt that I had ‘understood’ Bhangra,” says Gregor.

For most students Bhangra has spillover effects. Some found it to be a way to burn calories while others use it as a way to interact socially.

“At times a person gets lonely in New York, as nobody has time for others. The same happened with me,” said Esma, a freelance translator who unsuccessfully tried to make friends during the first two years of her career. “Bhangra helped me here, as I made a lot of friends and became socially active.”

NYC Bhangra club also performs as a group with its best dancers, with Kalia in a lead. With increasing popularity, they have been getting invitations to perform all over the country. To date the group has performed at high-end events at the United Nations, National Dance Week, Sikh Heritage Awards Gala, New York India Pop Festival, Javits Centre Travel Show, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Festival and the Sony Music Awards. The events are followed by huge applause and more invitations. Last year the New York Times praised the group for their performance. The annual Holi function draws thousands of people from varied backgrounds. A group trained at NYC Bhangra has also auditioned for America’s Got Talent.

Kalia too has her share of life-changing memories. For her, Bhangra is more about bringing happiness into people’s lives than just mere dance. Getting philosophical, Kalia says her soul feels content with this work. “There was one woman in my class, who was married at 21 and divorced at 26. She was a case of extreme depression,” Kalia says. Bhangra helped the woman to recover from the trauma. “I felt overwhelmed when she thanked me and said that it was due to my dance that she had started living again.”

Haroon Mirani is a writer based in Srinagar