Why I Dance My Voice by Preethi Sriram Pandemic Ponderings The pandemic time has made me an introspective person. Or maybe I have always been introspective, and pandemic just increased that ability. In this time, I contemplate further why I learn to dance, especially within the Indian Classical arts form. I am older and so no one urges me to learn Indian Classical Dance or the Indian Arts. Sometimes in classes I have been in, people will ask the “youngsters” why they take class. If I was asked as a kid, I would have been unsavvy and answered that “My friends are here.” “We get to hang out after.” Or maybe “There is a soda machine in the break room area” and I want to have a nice cola drink after class. My most unsavvy answer that I probably would have not answered in such a realistic way but would have been thinking as my friends and I would maybe snicker if I were gutsy enough to have said so is “because I have no choice.” But kids these days, they are savvier. Probably more self-actualized than I ever could have been at their age. I could have stopped as a teenager after high school when I had the chance. No one would have stopped me, or to become philosophical, I would have had no other motivation factors to push me to attend any dance classes. Moving to another state and school would have been a great way to end the journey. Job wise, at this time, I probably do not need to have it added to my resume. That went with the wayside after high school and college. These days, kids can add it to their resumes (they probably did back in the day, but prior to social media and mass sharing of information, it was not known at least to me). I don’t think I ever actually had it added as an extracurricular activity to my resume even in school. Today, maybe I could add it to my resume, but being honest, no one really would care (and realistically, for resume purposes in the job market, it would not be beneficial to add it, unless it was a role that I was specifically applying related to dance or something within the given field that would benefit the position directly) or may generate a slight pique of interest and seen as a nice hobby. Maybe it would be seen as a nice workout. A great form of exercise. But that brings me to the present of why dance? continued on page 74
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February 2022
