Dancing

(BDM #1: 4-6 minutes)

(Opening Dance): ± 30 seconds
Yamuna ki tatapare,
Nacatta kanayya,
That-that-thay..ya
Bajette payale chum
Na na na na na na na
A thei thet, tha thei thet, a thei thet
Tha tha thei, that ha thei, tha the tha!

Jane Austin, a British novelist and writer, said:
“To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.”

Maybe that’s why I love to dance so much…

Dancing for me is one of my passions in life.
Although my profession is a researcher in a marketing research company (and you must as well see that I don’t do it that often… :P ), I always consider my self as a dancer.
Dancing is already carved in my bones, and runs in my blood…

It was all started when I was a kid.. maybe in my first year of elementary school or so…
I still remember one time I cried the whole day asking my parents to make me able to join a traditional Jaipong dance class in my neighborhood. (Jaipong is the West Javanese dance, by the way…)
They only allowed kids of RT/RW staffs to join the class, because it is a program of the Kelurahan. Fortunately, I was finally able to join and be the member.

It was really exciting to be able to perform in a lot of places… Taman Mini, Jakarta Fair, Taman Ria Senayan, and some other places I couldn’t remember…
and for a kid who seldom go anywhere, it was like having recreation as well.

And it is also quite nice to get some awards from dancing competitions…

But these dancing and performing activities didn’t last that long, because the area where I grew up in Kuningan was already aimed for this big project of Rasuna Apartment – now is Rasuna Epicentrum.
Everybody went to different places, and the group was dismissed.

After that, there weren’t many chances for me to learn or to perform any dance; except few times in the 17th August Independence Day celebrations.

You can imagine how I miss dancing…

The chance to learn dance came several years after that, when I was in my final year of my college.
I got to know this place called Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center in Jalan Imam Bonjol, and they teach Indian dance.
And so I joined.

And you know what…?
When I first touched the dance floor, when I first heard the music, and saw the movements of the teacher and the students…
I realized that it still lived in me…
The excitement is still there… the passion is still there… and the happiness is still there.
I felt home; a place where I belong.

Indian dance is very interesting because it has many ways to express and communicate your feeling.
It’s not only using body movements; but also using facial expressions:
You can be shy (with movement), in love (with movement), in pain (with movement), angry (with movement), seducing (with movement), or happy (with movement).

After all, a dance, (as well as other kinds of arts) is the way of artists to communicate and to express something.
And a dancer needs to be able to convey well on what the song and the choreography trying to communicate.
You need to dance not only with your body,
but also with your heart, with your soul.

Dancing for me now is more about personal indulgence, a practice of meditation.
So although I couldn’t learn to dance formally again, I can still learn how to dance from the great youtube.

My dream is to learn various types of dances: Javanese, Sumatrans, Chinese, or other types of dances.
Not ballet, though… Let’s say I’m just being… realistic… :P

And later on, when I got settled with my own family, I would make ‘art’ performances special for my future husband and kids.
Complete with a VIP invitation.
It’s going to be more like a drama with dances and dialogues, as well as relevant costume performed solo by me.

It can be a tale of Ramayana / Mahabharata from India, Nawang Wulan of Java, or Sam Pek Eng Tay from China.
Not the story of Princess Aurora, though… because I will only sleep during the whole time…

So, what do you call a person like me?
Romantic?
Poetic?
Artistic?
Loonatic? :P

Angela Monet said:
“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.”

So you can call me anything you want;
I’m just going to be keep on dancing…

Anyone feels like dancing with me?