Celebrating Dance With The Floor Dance A'Fair
- 29 Apr 2016
- Fathima AbdulKader
- Features
“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free."
- Rumi
The Floor was created by people who truly embody this quote. It is one of the first dance schools in Kochi attempting to bring dance to people of all ages. For those at The Floor, dance is not just a form of entertainment or hobby but it is a lifelong passion. The floor was in fact created with the aim to promote dance as an art, beyond perceptions of it being just another form of entertainment or a way to burn a few calories.
The Floor is the joint venture of Arunima Gupta and Maria Roy. Arunima Gupta was brought up in Calcutta where dance is an indispensable cultural affair. Arunima studied in Nava Nritya School of contemporary dance in Calcutta. She opened her dance school Aangik in Hyderabad before she came to Kochi. Maria Joy won bagged the role in the Malayalam movie Notebook from among 5,000 contestants but her heart longed to dance. She has studied under Martha Graham in New York, Shyamala Surendran of Dharani School in Kochi, and later did a three year degree in contemporary dance and theatre from Winchester, England. After a few chance meetings at Dance recitals within the city, the duo decided to start a studio where Indian and western elements of dance could be fused together and promoted.
Dance A’ Fair, the annual event of the floor is the result of year-long preparation and the final performance of those that took part in the workshops that they held during summer 2016. The event is to be held at Kerala museum of art and the venue is open air to signify open-mindedness. There will also be an art bazaar selling food, crafts, books knick knacks and such. The floor has tried to make Dance A’ Fair not just another performance, but a day long dance carnival. The performances include “Peacocks of the earth” a ballet performance by Paris Laxmi and her ballet students, “Peacock Serenade” by Arunima Gupta and Govind Krishna, “Poetry Embodied” by Arunima Gupta, Sanjay MJ in Hip Hop and Latin. The event starts off at 10AM in Kerala Museum of Art with HIPHOP JAM called the South side movement Vol 2.
For Arunima Gupta, one of the minds behind The Floor, dance is not something one takes up on a whim; it is something that happens to you. The seeds of dance don’t necessarily start in a studio it starts from a single thought. Arunima’s contemporary dance “Poems Embodied” was created initially when she was stuck in bed with chicken pox. She has always been a lover of poetry and the choreography was half done in her mind when she was bedridden.
The floor currently hosts classes on Ballet, Contemporary dance, Hip Hop, Salsa, Zumba and Theatre workshops. But according to those at The Floor, Kochiites are open to more artistic experiences right now but there is a lack of social dancing. Social dances are those categories of dance which have a social context. It is generally intended more for participations rather than performance. They are generally couple dances like salsa, tango, waltz etc. but also include circle dances and line dances. The taboo that it may involve dancing with strangers seem to hold Kochiites back but when It is taken into consideration that it doubles as a social therapy- a way to meet new people, build better social skills or increase relationship bonds if you participate as couples, it is a necessity.
The Floor has opened up avenues to many budding dancers. D3 participants like Krishnadas was a part of The Floor. They aim to show people that dance can be a great career choice in current times. For instance, Nidhi Suresh, an old student of The Floor went on to study at Aaatakalari, Bangalore and is currently working as a dance critic.
Dance A’ fair is necessarily a way The Floor finds each year to show the public all that dance can be. They show the passion and dedication that dance requires, the beauty of technique-based dance forms like contemporary dance and ballet, and to highlight the theatrical elements of dance and that it can be interpreted in more ways than one.
Words: Fathima Abdul Khader
Photo: The Floor
