This is the end of our 3-part series in which we explore the mysterious lives of our first-year classmates. To conclude this series, let us join our friend, Samya Jain, for a dance! As we welcome the new year of 2021, we will showcase Samya’s exciting and dazzling dancer life.
It all began with a spark, which we often find at incredible places and times. Once it appears, it blinds us with its magnificence. For Samya, her spark for dance manifested itself in the form of a celebrity role model, who stunned her with the beauty of Kathak dance. From that moment she was enchanted!
“I was 8 years old when my parents took me to Birju Maharaj’s (a famous Kathak dancer) dance performance. Pandit Birju Maharaj in the middle, along with his team of dancers, performed beautiful dance moves in perfect synchronization, giving truly phenomenal expressions, and catching the rhythm so unbelievably. I was mesmerized. I wanted to be a Kathak dancer, exactly as efficiently as he did. But, the challenge wasn’t a simplistic binary. It wasn’t exactly black and white. It required me to efficiently execute each and every step, it was a journey of bushes and thorns. At 9 years of age, I started taking Kathak classes.”
However, at times, the pursuit of passion is not without moments of dreariness. We may suffer from a lack of motivation for things that normally bring us much joy. According to Samya, the best way to overcome this is to acknowledge all the progress from the start and celebrate even the smallest of triumphs.
“I sometimes feel unmotivated to dance because of laziness. But then I think about my journey and how I reached this stage, it gives me motivation. I think about the struggles that I faced and how I overcame those.”
In moments of stress (as student life is often challenging), it is important to allocate time for happiness, even if it is brief. Time and inspiration may be hard to find, but Samya always tries to make the most of it with dedication and love.
“Time was not an issue for me when I was in high school. Since I have started university, I am not able to dedicate the proper time to dance. Most of my time goes into finishing assignments and projects or attending lectures. Attending university online from a different time zone also poses difficulties to put aside proper time for my hobbies. But I try my best to at least have 1 hour every day for dance.”
Stage and home are two of the same for Samya. Although it would be amazing to perform on a stage, in our current quarantine state, a home will have to make do to fulfill a dancer’s needs. Samya never misses an opportunity to learn and is excited for more adventures she will soon take on with her dance!
“I currently dance at my house. I keep learning new songs to dance on. I want to perform a dance in an auditorium with the actual audience to see my dance. A stage where people would come to see my dance and appreciate my skill will be the most inspiring place for me no matter which country it is located in.”
Although Samya’s dance talent deserves to be showcased, content creating can often be more tiring than dancing itself! It may divert your passion from your hobby. If it does not make you happy, it is arguably no longer a hobby. So it is important to follow your own path to realize your utmost fulfillment.
“I would love to promote my dance on social networking sites like Instagram and Facebook. The main reason I still have not done that is because I do not think I will be able to keep up with it. Creating content for Instagram and constantly uploading is time-consuming. Another reason is that being kind of introverted, I am shy to post and I keep overthinking about what people would think.”
A hobby can always just be a hobby! Samya does not lose sight of her passion for dance. Although she is uncertain what the future holds for her dance, it will surely be an exciting journey to have.
“I have not really thought about it. But 5 years from now, I would [like] to perform professionally and host dance shows and events.”
Dance is for all! No matter who you are or where you are, Samya believes if you have the passion, anyone can be an excellent dancer. Put the music on and do not hold yourself back!
“If someone wants to start dancing, I will just tell [them] to open up and enjoy. If dance is your passion and something that you love to do, then you just need to play a song and it will come to you naturally.”
We hope we have inspired you to go out and try something new!
LL x PP, signing off.
Leave a Reply