Meher Malik, who scorched the small screen with her moves in dance reality shows, speaks to Shrabasti Mallik about how India is gradually accepting belly dancing as a dance form, her initial years of struggle and how she hopes to take her dancing to greater heights with her school Banjara
Twinkle toes
Belly dancing was not an obvious or a natural choice for this seven-year-old who was being trained in Bharatanatyam. “I never wanted to become a belly dancer. I was 13 years old when I decided that I wanted to become a fashion designer,” she says. Her dream of becoming a fashion designer brought her all the way from the Middle East (she had lived in Oman for 17 years) to NIFT in 2006. “Everything and everyone there looked so artificial and that’s when I realised that I did not want this from my life. I approached my parents and told them that I didn’t want to study fashion designing. Dancing had always been a part of my life (as a hobby),” she recalls. In a school trip to Egypt she had the opportunity to come across a belly dancer who had asked her to join in. “Surprisingly I could do it pretty well and that had always stuck with me,” she smiles. She quit NIFT to attend her first belly dancing festival in london and it took her a year of travelling to learn the art.
Roots of belly dance
Even though she herself is not very sure about the exact origin of the dance, she is familiar with historical records. Since belly dance is as old as the Egyptian civilisation, there isn’t adequate theoretical information about the real origin of the dance form. But theorists believe belly dance has its roots in India (Rajasthan), that it originated in among the gypsy community who travelled through the Silk Route. She explains, “We can say this because when the ghawazee or the first belly dancers were described they were believed to have different features as compared to the Egyptians. The Egyptians in turn also quoted them as being people of the East.” Belly dance has the ability to put together all the elements — the fluid soft motion of water, the aggressive muscular movement of fire and there’s an earthy base to it, too. She believes that not many dance forms have all these elements. She says, “Traditional belly dance retains its cultural aspect as compared to many other dancing styles today. It has the ability to empower like no other dance. I’ve experimented with styles but this is where I find true solace.”
Hardships
When she came to India in 2006, she found that the concept of belly dancing was only restricted to Russian dancers. Indians, she says, that time didn’t take it seriously as a professional art. “I had to struggle a lot to establish myself and it was not a cakewalk,” she says. But, as they say, perseverance and hard work ultimately pays off. Meher has not only established herself as one of the best belly dancers but is also striving to take it to further heights.
Dance lessons
She was training in Salsa India when they were looking for a belly dance instructor. With no prior training experience she gave her best shot. “To my disbelief, they actually liked my first demo and that’s how I started teaching,” she reminisces. Her interest started growing and she started travelling. She started her own class at Salsa India and within a year she came across a lot of students who approached her with the urge to learn belly dancing. “It was then that I realised a school was required that just promoted belly dance like it is being promoted across the world. That was how I started Banjara School of belly dancing. And there has been no looking back,” she says.
She strongly believes that belly dancing was actually originated when people from Rajasthan travelled all the way to the Middle East. “On a deeper level, I believe that all artists deep down are lost souls, always searching for something more to satiate their senses. They are all travellers, seekers and gypsies,” she points out. And she considers herself no less, “I’ve always been travelling. I consider myself a nomad. Hence, the name Banjara.”
Jashn-e-Banjara
Jashn-e-Banjara is the annual festival-cum-showcase of Banjara School of Dance which presents international artists, workshops, professional shows and lot more. “The festival this year featured Ebony Qualls from the United States and Tamar Bar-gil from Israel. Over 300 dancers performed during the week-long event,” she says.
She feels that Indians are slowly warming up to this dance form. She recalls that when the trend of belly dancing started, some seven years ago, people had reservations. Society had apprehensions about letting their daughters or wives learn the dance. But today, those same people are encouraging it. Students are fighting family, society and restrictions to learn the art.
“It’s no longer termed ‘vulgar’. If anything, it’s termed ‘cool’. When I began, it was just me against the world. But people now have actually started to accept belly dancing as a serious form of dance,” she rounds off.
photos Nitish Arora