People told me that dancing is not for men, that the girls who came to my class would have bad reputations, and no one would marry them. They said that I was taking a big risk…
How did dance happen to you? When you started off, what was the biggest act of faith you received? Who or what did it come from?
If only you dare to dream, a billion possibilities open up to you. I have learnt that you cannot depend on anyone else for your happiness. Every successful venture in my life began with the support of my parents and the love of my spiritual mother, Khorshed Bhavnagri.
When I was younger, I lived in a dream world of music and singing. My dream was to record a music album and act in films, like my grandmother, ‘Nadia Hunterwali’. It was on Khorshed aunty’s persuasion that I began to teach dance. When she told me to start dance classes, I cried, “oh God! I don’t want to be a dance teacher.” She just smiled and asked, “Why not?”
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I found that dance came to me naturally, like flying comes to baby birds. It’s their nature to fly. So it is with me and dance. Every day my experiences tell me that dance is my pathway to God, because it’s all about your soul. It’s about taking what you feel inside and baring it to the world.
You have to follow your heart. So I followed where it led me—to the Pineapple Dance Studios in London, the Guildford School of Acting and Dance, to New York… but my journey really began when I returned to Mumbai in the ‘80s, after training as a dancer.
When did you decide to institutionalize this? Did you try to find out the potential of it as a business before you actually set it up?
In 1985 I started jazz classes with only seven students, most of them my friends. Four years later we formed the Shiamak Davar Dance Company, and in 1992 came Shiamak Davar’s Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA).
Back in the ‘80s, there was just one ballet school and you would see one musical every three or four years. You didn’t hear of the great success of anyone teaching Western dance styles in India. Everyone I spoke to tried to dissuade me from starting classes and even from dancing myself.
So the ‘potential’ of the ‘business’ as others kept telling me, was non-existent. I was just doing something I believed in, building from ground zero, with only my friends, family and God backing me. Meeting Khorshed Bhavnagri helped me renew my belief in myself, and gave me the strength to make a beginning.
What were the difficulties that you faced in rolling out the institutes? What are the difficulties that performers with a desire to open such institutions, would face today?
The biggest challenge was to fight society and what they thought of me. I was hurt when people laughed at my dreams. I never thought my kind of dance would work in India. People told me that dancing is not for men, that the girls who came to my class would have bad reputations, and no one would marry them. They said that I was taking a big risk… there was a lot of opposition, because till then no man had taken that stand to say, I am a passionate dancer and I want to teach others. The idea seemed ridiculous to them.
Today, the difficulties are not in terms of acceptance, financials or marketing, because there is plenty of that available. The challenge is to maintain a level of interest, instruction, fitness, quality and safety for the students. There is a lot of place for growth and dance is finally gaining its due all over. I feel sad when half-baked teachers set up dance schools and impart knowledge that is incorrect or incomplete. If making money is your only motive, that is going to show through in the long run, and you will lose the faith of your students.
You are a great dancer, a great performer – with an essence that people want to learn. How do you ensure that the essence is passed on to every student across all the branches of the institution; especially, when you can’t possibly be there conducting classes at all the places?
My SDIPA family is dedicated in their training and wholehearted in their contribution to the school. My loyal faculty of instructors passes on all that they learn from me, to their students.
We share a common vision, which is to heal through dance. Dance can help you mend a battered body, mind or spirit. My instructors and even my advanced students understand that our mission is to spread joy through the self-awareness and self-expression that dance empowers you with.
What have been the key elements for successfully rolling out such an institution and keep progressing across time?
Well, the first element is that you must have something of true value to offer others. The second is that your offer must deliver a consistent level of quality. The third element is that you must have systems in place so that your work is organized.
Above all, keep your eyes and ears wide open to the people you serve, because they are your partners in success. We all progress together, or not at all. By ‘all’ I mean my administrative staff, my dancers and instructors, my students, their parents, my office boys, my driver.
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written by Abha Mishra, January 10, 2010
written by Sindu LP, September 05, 2008
I dont know if you have ever read Dr. Brian Weiss's books. They are a great source of eye opener and inspiration.
Please do read them whenever it is possible. I promise you will not regret!!!
Best wishes,
Sindu L.P.
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