Friends know about my madness for dance. When the music starts, no pain in the world can stop me from shaking a leg. It's the only thing as stirring for me, personally, as writing. I'm sure there's something physiological that induces such joy when I dance, but I never bothered to find out. And probably never will, or the magic of it might end.
I always wished I could have pursued it in a semi-professional capacity, but dance requires your body to be agile, nimble. Something that I think, unlike working with your voice, takes a little more physical doing than you could be willing to attempt with a full workload. Plus, if you're really passionate about it, you want to learn from the best, because then, it's not just about the steps, the form, the training. It's about the consistent challenge. And I've always felt that the timing of finding the right teacher and my being ready might not work out. Which is probably why I loved Richard Gere's character in Shall We Dance? so much. For one, it gives me hope that someday, however grey my hair gets, I'll have dance in my life in a more consistent way. Another, that movie did a lovely job portraying how dancing breathes life into people. Physiological, like I said, but oh! what I would give to feel that way.
Until then, I have So You Think You Can Dance. For the unacquainted, check out this show on Fox TV. I’ve been watching re-runs of Season 5 on AXN, and the sixth season ended two months back. I liked several people, rooted for several through the last three seasons, but this season I had one favourite from the very beginning. This guy is a Contemporary dancer, and I love watching him dance. Jakob Karr breathed life every time he moved, and you kept wanting more. I'd lose my voice, my bearings, when I watched. The camera didn't have to make the moves slow, you could see his balance, the waves in his limbs and torso whether he's leaping up into the air or collapsing on the ground. I envy the control he has over his body. While I don't deny there's some credit people should get for effortlessly freestyling, I know how hard it is to control your limbs, how different it is swinging your hips thrice exactly- not one more, not one less- and to the right distance, so you're in tune with the music. Or how just how far is far enough for your leg, so when you're sweeping it back slowly to get theoomph into the dance, you don't lose the steadiness in your upper body under the strain of pulling back with such a slow, exaggerated move. I've performed amalgamations of classical Indian dances like Kathak and Baratnatyam all through school, but the restraint required when you're performing is altogether different because here you'll have to go beyond the style to rake the audience and their votes in. You have to evoke the raw emotions, that perfect style and form can never alone achieve. Frankly, one other dancer, Ellenore, could make you believe that she's freestyling, particularly in her solos, but she's spectacular! Her style is so quirky, frolicsome; both she and this choreographer, Sonja Tayek, seem to be one of those minorities from which Tim Burton emerged. I rooted for her too.
Watch Jakob move in the contemporary genre, and he'd make you feel so much in those few minutes that it's overwhelming. In the final installment of performances, I kept waiting for the guttaral oh! from Jacob that made me fall for his dancing in the first place, and then he delivered in that moment he throws and lifts and throws himself back onto the ground. I just love this guy! Plus, there's something to be said about a Contemporary dancer who does Latin and makes you swoon when he moves his torso! He even did a breathtaking waltz, one that simple dreams are made of.
There was one occasion during the last set of performances when he didn't deliver, and I couldn't help but wonder why I was so disappointed because he still did a stellar job. And while he didn't wind up winning, I think he was the ace all through!
