The Quarantined Dancer

 Get your Ghungroos (ankle bells used in Indian classical dance) from your room—but shh! Not too loudly! Dad’s on a conference call for work. So, go downstairs—as long as virtual schooling hours are over. Tie your Ghungroos on; stand up and do your namaskar. Warm up with some Tatkaar (footwork done in Kathak) exercises, and hit your feet on the ground as hard as you can! But wait, is that your neighbor banging on the ceiling, annoyed at the noise from your footwork? So, you decide to just practice your choreography. You turn on the music (after jingling your way upstairs, warning everyone on conference calls, shutting a bunch of doors to prevent disturbing them, and jingling your way downstairs) and begin to practice. You extend your arms fully to spin, but—ouch! You hit one against the wall, and then you knock over the pot on the stove (you’re in your kitchen, because that’s the only place with hardwood flooring in your apartment).

At least, that’s how it went for me—and I imagine that this must be how it must be going for many of you. My mom was absolutely not pleased when she found me cleaning just about a thousand tea leaves that I had spilled all over the floor while practicing my chakris (pirouettes done in Kathak).  

Being a quarantined dancer is not easy—if we were painters or musicians or professional TV-watchers, this quarantine would not have been a pain in our pursuit of the arts. However, as a dancer (and a fitness enthusiast), the restrictions that have popped up during this quarantine are not always ideal for perfecting this craft—neighbors that are always home, quick to use a broom to bang on their ceiling to interrupt your practice; office calls that absolutely cannot be disturbed by the beautiful (albeit loud) kathak music; confined spaces to practice in (no longer having the luxury of at least once in a while going to a studio to dance). ‘Netflix and chill’ starts to become one of the only options—if I can’t practice Tatkaar, dance to my music, or even go outside for a run, what should I do?

Turns out, after two weeks of struggling with these restrictions, I found some fun ways to deal with these problems. One: ignore your neighbors—as long as you aren’t practicing in insanely early or late hours. Two: if you have a multi-floored house, practice on a different floor than your family. Shoo them all upstairs if you have to. Three: reconcile yourself to possible injury by wall. Its okay—sacrifices can be made for the greater good.

All in all, bruises, bumps, and arguments aside, the last few days have been great—in terms of dance. With all this time, you can practice what you learn in class, but also look up some fun online videos, and see if you can follow along! Whether it be a pumped Matt Steffanina hip-hop choreography that’s insanely hard, or a laid-back BollyX dance fitness video, our corona-cation can turn into a one-man dance party—just turn the music up!

By Mahika Goel