IIM Shillong students Danced Away With Absolute Élan

Yes, we have hectic and jam-packed schedules throughout the day! Yes, we have multiple assignments to submit in a day! Yes, we have numerous competitions, case studies and deadlines to meet! Yes, we have too much on our plate! But that does not stop us from mining out some time, out of nowhere, to splurge it on little happiness of life. In an IIM, of all the things we learn, the most crucial learning of all time is that time is always short in life. So here in an IIM, we never get time but we have to make time. So when the Cultural Committee of our college arranged workshop for us to learn western dance forms, I grabbed the opportunity with open arms. Nothing can satisfy us more than indulging into activities which interest us. So every day, for the next 10 days, I dedicated two hours on learning something which I love- Dancing.

It’s never too late to start something new- This was the spirit with which IIM Shillong commenced the 6^th season of its Annual Dance Workshop-Waltzzz 2014. A trainer-cum-choreographer from the Dance institute ‘The Briz Dance Academy’ of Guwahati was invited to teach us three dance forms- Jazz Ballet, Hip Hop and Ballroom Salsa. Some of us even went on to participate in all the three dance forms!

Let me tell you, learning dance steps is not at all a child’s play. We soon realized that delivering presentations in iron-smoothed suit was much easier than moving our body parts in rhythmic synchronization and that counting sales figure much easier than counting music beats. Even tougher was finding a suitable dance partner for ballroom salsa. So since the day the workshop was announced, the students (read, boys) got busy in finding themselves a suitable dance partner. While some had to face disappointment, some did manage to win over the girls to convince them for Salsa.

But these were not the only challenges we faced! After a few days of practice, the choreographer declared that we have to present a completely choreographed dance to the batch at the end of the workshop. Now that was an almost fatal blow to many who had chosen the workshop as a means to deviate from the usual monotony of life. But once we are in the battle field, there is no stopping us. No impediment or bereavement can sway an IIM Shillong’s student’s determination. With this conviction, we spent the next few days sweating it out; rectifying steps, modifying postures and matching beats with utmost subtlety. You enter the auditorium and it looked like a carnival as you could see girls and boys dancing around and matching steps with each other. The energy was infectious and by the end of the 10 days’ workshop we had more people into it than we had at the beginning. And each one of us ensured that we go an extra mile to deliver the best dance performance our batch had ever seen.

The final day of the performance quickly arrived. Though most of us were reluctant to fight it on the stage, we knew how to beat the jitters. All of us put our dancing shoes on and got dressed in our best attire. Soon the big moment arrived. The lights were put to dim and slowly the music started to play. The crowd started to cheer as we compiled everything that we had learned in the last 10 days into an impressive dance sequence. As the performance drew to a close, the crowd started to applaud. To see our batch mates clap and cheer for us was the best moment for all of us.

With this the workshop came to an end. The workshop was concluded by the Cultural Committee awarding us all with Certificate of Appreciation to mark the enthusiasm and fervor which we all showed to something other than academics. The workshop truly refreshed us perfectly before we started the ride to the next semester!

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Author: Kasturi Guha Thakurta, Second Year PGDM Student, IIM Shillong