When you are a dance teacher in a device – The New Indian Express

What can you expect when you are joining online dance classes? A few teachers give us the details
 
Published: 28th January 2021 01:00 AM  |   Last Updated: 28th January 2021 09:48 AM   |  A+A A-
HYDERABAD :  The Covid-19 pandemic made many art forms go online. After going through a lull period, both teachers and students realised that the show must go on, whatever the medium. That is how, online dance classes came into being. We talked to a few experts to understand the dynamics of online dance classes. They talk about their journey and the challenges of working in the digital sphere.
Tejaswitha Donepudi
Kuchipudi exponent, Samskruthi Art Academy
I started requests for online classes after the Covid-19 outbreak. I started learning dance during my childhood from my mother who is a reputed dancer in Warangal. Initially, it was just for fun, but as I grew older, dance became my passion. I participated in several state and national-level competitions and won many awards. I completed a certification course (four years) and diploma course (two years). I also completed my BTech and worked as a software professional. Till this point, dance was a part-time activity for me. After my daughter was born, I left my job as I wanted to spend more time with her. When she started going to school, I had the opportunity to restart my career and I had two options — dance and my regular job as a software engineer. I chose dance.

The online medium gives us a way to reach people from different places and countries. It has enabled many housewives and older women to shed their inhibitions and start dancing as they can do it within the confines of their home. It also saves commute time. However, it is difficult to keep students motivated and focused online. Due to lack of eye contact between the teacher and students, it is difficult to build a teacher-student bond. Technical difficulties and slow internet speed too pose a big challenge. Another unique challenge I am facing is that though parents enrol only one student, they share the recording with other family members and neighbours to learn the dance without my knowledge. In physical classes, the drive to perform better than your peers can push you to be  a better dancer. However, that element too is missing in the digital medium. 
Sravan Telu
Belly dance exponent, RAQSology School of MENA dance movement
I am among the few male belly dancers in India. I am 26 years old and am practising Oriental style of belly dance for the last three and half years. Being a male belly dancer in a country like India isn’t easy. Throughout my childhood in Vijayawada, I was bullied because I was coy and ‘feminine’. My friends, relatives and even my teachers would constantly remind me not to sit, speak or act in a certain manner. They would call me a girl and tell me to ‘man up’. I often wondered if I was doing something wrong. I was taunted for playing female characters or suggested “sex reassignment surgery’, but my family supports me a lot when I face these situations.
I was unaware and naive. I was scared to talk to my mother about how everyone treated me. None of it stopped me from pursuing my interests. People enjoy my performance but would nevertheless make suggestions to try masculine things apart from belly dance. I hate such feedback because dance is a form of expressing emotions and it doesn’t require any gender. In the end, people are going to say what they want. It’s upto us whether we listen to them or change their perceptions.
We started teaching online from April last year. There are so many things to consider when we are using the digital medium. We enrol only six persons per class so that we can monitor every student. Of course, we have a few technical issues, especially network issues. But, with the online classes we have expanded our classes throughout the world. We have students joining from New York, London and various other cities across the world. 
Maithri Rao
Bharatanatyam exponent, Shivansh School of Arts
I started taking online classes in April last year after the lockdown was announced. My students and I were missing classes and hence we went the online route. I started dancing when I was five, but started my training in Bharatanatyam when I was seven. I learnt the dance form for almost 16 years with many renowned teachers. After completing my engineering, I worked as a software engineer for two years and then took up dance full time. While teaching online, it is not possible to physically correct the postures of the dancers. I found out that online Bharatanatyam classes are difficult for young kids who are starting to learn as they do not know most of the vocabulary.
A few of them cannot concentrate well during the classes and and find it difficult to follow me. That is why, I stopped taking online classes for beginners. I often make the students play games and participate in a few dance-based group activities, which is again not possible online. But over a period of around seven months, the students have become used to learning this way. As a teacher, I have been trying to come up with options to make online classes as good as the physical ones. I cannot help but thank technology and internet for keeping us connected and letting us continue our learning even during difficult times.
— Kakoli Mukherjee  kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2
 

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