Health Topics
-
Healthy Living
-
|
|
July 2012
|
| Sporting The Dancer’s Spirit! |
| Shiamak Davar |
| |
 |
The biggest sporting event that binds the entire world together, the Olympics, are back again this year to celebrate fitness, gamesmanship and team spirit. Dance today is in fact considered akin to sport; it is passion that drive sportspersons and dancers alike. |
I’ve been closely associated with sporting events for the last two decades, choreographing the opening and closing ceremonies of some major events. From the Asian Track and Field Awards way back in 1989, National Games in 1994, Commonwealth Games (Melbourne, 2006 and New Delhi, 2010) to the Indian Premier League this year, I’ve witnessed the hard work, grit and perseverance that each athlete/ sportsperson maintains to achieve victory. Even though there is tremendous competition between teams and nations, eventually, these sporting events signify unity.They bring together people with common interests and dreams on the same platform.
Power Of Your Gift & Belief In Your Ability
People, who follow their passion and do something out of the ordinary, always have a story; a journey or a struggle that has reached them where they are today. Between one sportsperson’s joyous tears of victory and a counterpart’s agony of loss, is the flash of all the years of dedication boiling down to that one specific sporting moment. But the person who is true to his/her art would get up and start again.
Sports and dance, both physical activities, demand extensive care of one’s body; one injury can halt a career. This is where one must realize the power of their gift and the belief in their ability. Lance Armstrong’s battle against cancer made him stronger and he reached out to people not only through his career, but through his struggle as well. Injuries are a part of life and in cricket Sachin Tendulkar showed this by coming out strong, post his struggle with a tennis elbow. Through their talent and gift, sportspersons, like dancers have the ability to positively impact the lives of people who keenly follow them.
Dance is also often a part of a sportsperson’s training. It is almost like free weight exercise. It releases stress and relaxes the mind. Dancers do a lot of core training, strengthening exercises for the quadriceps and stretches for flexibility. These are the pillars of fitness in most sports and this dance training makes them agile and light on their feet. Dance for me is playing a non-competitive sport to music! Any movement is dance, whether it is a swift tackle in football, a leap in high jump and more obviously the synchrony in gymnastics. In fact, I teach a style called Aqua Jazz to my dance certification students. It involves jazz technique and movement done against the resistance of water in a swimming pool.
And as the Olympic flame reaches London, where the games are being held, each country awaits its own victory dance, to celebrate the passion for sport, the dedication to the art and the zest for life. Personally, for me, London also is where I started my journey in dance. On that note, good luck to the spirit of the Games!
Dance for me is playing a non-competitive sport to music! Any movement is dance, whether it is a swift tackle in football, a leap in high jump and more obviously, the synchrony in gymnastics
|
 |
Shiamak Davar is Choreographer And Founder,Artistic Director,Shiamak Davar International,Mumbai. |
|
|