Bellydancing made me respect my body: Sanjana Sharma

Belly dancer Sanjana Sharma

When did you fall in love with Belly dancing?

I was a 17 year old girl with typical tomboy features, and at that age being in college, every girl would want to look all sexy and explore their desirable self. With that reason I joined Bellydance classes so that even I could slay by looking all pretty and sexy.
But then when I first started learning Bellydance, I started respecting my own body. Bellydance is a very vast art form and is also considered to a classical art form.
During the class we were asked to roll our tops up. It wasn't a compulsion, but I did it to overcome my hesitation. Eventually, the more I got involved in it, the more confident I felt confident about myself as a woman and got to explore my feminine side. So I continued learning the dance form and now it's been 8 1/2 years since I've been learning and teaching Bellydance, because learning is something that never ends.

Belly dance isn't a well-accepted dance form in India, What's your take on that?

As we all know in our Indian society/culture, as girls we are always asked to cover ourselves - our chest, belly, hips especially. 8½ years ago when I started learning belly dance, at that time there wasn't much awareness about the dance form and it wasn't expected either. But today, I think India Belly Dance is an accepted dance form. Every week, I teach 100-200 students from various professional backgrounds like pilots, IT, media and entertainment, etc., alongside mother-daughter duos and fathers who enthusiastically enroll their children for class. So I believe we have grown and become aware about the dance form. Recently, I auditioned for ‘India's Best Dancer', a reality television show, and I think being on national television helps create the necessary awareness about Belly Dance. So of course India is embracing the art form and appreciating it.
There are still some places or people who aren't aware of this dance form and find it difficult to normalise it. Even today, I'm sure there are people who do not consider Belly dance to be a viable career option. But keeping all of it aside, the dnace style is gaining popularity not just in Mumbai but also Delhi, Pune, Nashik, Bangalore, Odisha. My colleagues/workmate also learn and teach Belly dance across the country. People are now embracing and accepting the style.

You were recently discovered as one of the top 10 belly dancers in 2020. How does it make you feel?

I was definitely ecstatic about the being on the Top 10 Belly Dancers list. The list consists of people Belly dancers who've trained me, those I follow and those who inspire me with their dance. These are the dancers I've admired, whose videos have moved me to learn Belly Dance in more depth. So being on that list was the best thing to happen to me. It really feels good, it feels like you've achieved a little success which brings huge amount of happiness at that moment.
I've been working hard to bring up the art form and it really feels good to see the work being appreciated through things like these.
Another reason for me to feel awestruck about featuring on the list is that being an Indian, I'm able to reach out to the rest of the audience across the world. If you go to Egypt, it's a complete folkloric dance form; there are various styles of Belly Dance such as Raqs, Sharki, Oriental, Baladi, etc. apart from the modern version like drum solo, tribal fusion and other variations. Bellydancers in Egypt have it in their culture and late Mahmood Reda was the one who introduced Belly Dance in theatrical form. So today when someone hears of the dance form, it is considered to be and recognized as a middle-eastern dance form.
So as an Indian Belly Dancer, if I'm reaching across the world including the Indian audience, I think it's a great achievement for me as well as the country.

What is that one tip you would give to every aspiring Belly Dancer?

For all the aspiring dancers, belly dancers - firstly I would like to tell them that you should always learn; learning is something that should never end and learning itself can open a lot of doors in life. I am constantly in the process of learning too.
Second, stay consistent. A lot of people keep changing their art forms or dance styles but staying consistent with practice it very important. For example, I am learning jazz, hip-hop, whacking, Kathak and other folkloric styles of dance too, but Belly Dance is a constant for me.
Third, you need to stay strong, stay on your feet, stay stable, stay positive not only in dance but in life too. You need to be patient about seeing results, keep doing it for yourself and keep embracing your work and progress.
Lastly, and most importantly for those who may or may not be my students, who come in to learn the dance form, practice for 2 years or more and wish to pursue Belly Dancing professionally, don't leave your jobs instantly. A lot of hard work goes into pursuing dance as a profession, financial issues being one of them. So only when you think you are financially stable, should you pursue professional dance as a source of income.

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