Dancing the blues away

Twice a week for two hours a day,under the umbrella of Project AHSAS,a group of six aspiring professional dancers devote their time,energy and patience to providing dance therapy lessons to the hearing impaired,the visually impaired and the destitute.

“These teachers are on partial scholarships. The fees for a diploma course in contemporary dance is very high,so we allow them to pay half if they promise to teach these kids twice a week without fail,” said Sumeet Nagdev,owner of the Summet Nagdev Dance Arts (SNDA),who began the project.

“When I was very young,I would see a psychologist at work talking to patients and trying to divert their attention from unpleasant thoughts — that’s when I thought to myself that dance and movement can do that too,” said Nagdev.

Project Ahsas started in 2007,around the time Nagdev’s company was established. “I was asked to teach a batch of students from St. Stephen’s School for the Deaf and Aphasic a dance for their annual day programme. While teaching them,I saw that these children,even though they are hearing impaired,can still feel the movement of music within and so I choreographed them. The audience was wowed by their performance,they couldn’t believe the children couldn’t even hear the music!”

Following the experience,Nagdev sought to train himself professionally in dance therapy and went on to train under movement therapist Tripura Kashyap for a year. He formulated a style and routine unique to his own company,which is now employed to teach regular and special students when they begin their terpsichorean journey.

He emphasised,“We don’t teach these children out of sympathy but because we want to give them something with which they can make something of themselves or simply feel more confident.”

Today,SNDPA teaches around 200 underprivileged children between ages five and 18 across six institutions in the city,with one instructor specifically devoted to each group.

“Earlier we used to teach 20 to 30 children a year,but as we got more teachers and word got around among NGOs,our reach grew. When we began,I taught at a lot of institutes but now we have enough instructors,so I can monitor the full project,” said Nagdev.

The NGOs where SNDA currently teaches include children’s home Bal Anand,Ashray a home for children with AIDS/ HIV+,and orphanage St. Catherine’s Home.

When these children show potential and commitment to dancing,the SNDA also gives them full scholarships for their education in dance. This year,20-year-old Abhijeet,from the organisation Community Outreach Programme (CORP) that works with slumdwellers,is the fourth and latest recipient of the opportunity.

“Abhijeet showed a lot of promise. He has been given the scholarship on the condition that he has to assist our instructor Suresh,who goes to CORP,to teach the other kids twice a week. He has to also work very hard on the diploma,it’s very demanding but this is the career he is sure he wants to pursue,” said Nagdev.

At the end of the dance course,these students perform along with the regular students of SNDA at the bi-annual functions. “Earlier we used to charge the institutes for the costumes and the conveyance of the children for the shows when they perform but later we decided to stop asking for money. Instead,people have begun donating to SNDA so that we can undertake all of it ourselves,” said Nagdev.

Catch the children performing at the Spark event in St. Andrews Auditorium at 6.30 pm on December 8.