Choreographer Sandip Soparrkar made his Bollywood debut with Zubaidaa. (Photo: Sandip Soparrkar/Instagram)
Bollywood choreographer Sandip Soparrkar in a Facebook Live from The Indian Express page spoke about the importance of dance in one’s life, and how it is a beautiful form of self expression. He also taught the viewers some Salsa moves they can learn at their homes during the lockdown period due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Encouraging the viewers to dance to feel good during this period of lockdown, Sandip Soparrkar said that there is no set age where people should take up dance or an age where people cannot dance. He said, “People start dancing when they are 3-5 years old, I have got people who have started dance lessons at 70 also, so there is no set age where one should start dancing, age really does not matter. You need to have the fire in your belly, you need to be passionate about dancing.”
Talking about his dance journey, Soparrkar said, “I started dancing when I was 5 years old. My father and grandfather, both were in the army, and we used to have a lot of dance parties over weekends, so I took my first dance step with my grandmother, it was foxtrot.” Since then Soparrkar has not looked back and got his “first break with Shyam Benegal for the Karisma Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee starrer, Zubaidaa, and then my life changed, that’s how my cinema choreography career started.” The film went on to win a lot of critical appreciation.
Encouraging the viewers to keep moving even while they are home, he said, “I would suggest we move around in the house even when we are working from home, it is of utmost importance that we move around to keep our body function normal and feel good. Dance is a really fun activity to do, I guarantee you that if you dance even for a few minutes in the day, you end up feeling good, and active. And if you don’t want to dance, definitely do some exercise and stretching, even if you feel totally exhausted by the end of the day. It will really help you feel fresher and better, you will be rejuvenated and feel happier. Movement generates energy, you will feel more energetic if you move.”
He was then asked if he thinks dance today has become more of a fitness activity and if it is losing the sense of self expression. He said, “Absolutely! Dance is a form of physical fitness, I agree. Everything you do, where you move your body, is a form of fitness. But what is more important is that all these things you do, should make you look within yourself. If you can do that, these activities will not only help you stay fit physically, but also mentally. Fitness is only one branch of dance, dance is spiritual. And to let dance touch your soul, you need to study it’s history and really connect with it.”
He then commented on the dance reality scenario in the Indian entertainment industry. He said, “Dance reality shows have really made international dance forms popular in the country. However these platforms need to also curate and showcase Indian cultural, classical and folk dances as I think we don’t show more of them on TV. India has a rich culture of dancing and we have great dancers in our country, they deserve a platform too.”
Soparrkar has several dancing institutes in the country. He also conducts online dance classes on his YouTube channel and Facebook page for anyone and everyone to learn dancing during the lockdown period.