The man who alters the ‘belly dancing’ stigma
If you thought belly dancing was just for women, think again! Blessed with grace and confidence, Dharmesh Naik from Mangueshi, Ponda is Asia’s best belly dancer, who’s had an interesting journey so far. Having performed at the recently concluded Goa Food and Cultural Festival, Café catches up with the dancer to learn about his art
Belly
dance is an Arabic expressive dance that originated in Egypt, emphasising on complex movements of the
torso. It has evolved to take many different forms, depending on the country
and region, both in costume and dance style. However, belly dancing is often
seen as an erotic and undeniably feminine act that has created gender
boundaries. Male belly dancing is maybe hardly a new phenomenon, but in some
places, people are yet to accept it in a broader term.
Amidst the wild, blooms a rose, changing
many mindsets and rigid thinkers into believing that belly dance cannot be
stereotyped. Dharmesh Naik, a member of The Beaumont Company, has learnt and
trained himself in the art of belly dancing through various techniques. He has
performed in many places, and is proud to be a Goan representing the state at
many events and competitions.
Being an all-round dancer, Dharmesh does
not discriminate between dance styles. He has never restricted himself to any
particular dance form; in fact, he wanted to discover more. That’s when he
began learning and training in belly dancing. “To me, belly dancing is not ‘the
dance’; it is one of the expressions of dance,” explains Dharmesh.
While learning different dance styles, he came across belly
dancing through the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ music video of singer Shakira and his
heart skipped a beat. His innocent encounter with the dance form gave him a
head start. “I didn’t know what belly dancing was,” claims Dharmesh, though he
was inspired to take up the challenge of learning the moves.
He admits that initially it was difficult to learn the dance and
also faced a lot of objections. “They thought belly dancing was only for girls,
but from the moment I started, I never let anything deter me from pursuing what
I truly wanted to learn. Now I feel India is ready for me.”
He states that while belly dancing may seem easy enough to pick
up, it requires hard work, dedication and focus to master this dance form made
up of elegant curves, swaying movements and body control. Focus is very
important and must be consumed by a belly dancer before imbibing the skill of
belly dancing. “Focusing on the softness and the shapes of the movements, belly
movements will start to feel right and make sense,” he encourages.
Dharmesh
is soon planning on taking the initiative of changing people’s mindsets by
teaching belly dancing
- | 13 Feb, 2019, 05:12AM