An Enlightening Journey of a Belly Dancer
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An article by JINU SCARIA, A Belly Dance Professional & Influencer
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IN THIS EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE FOR INDIAN SOUNDS & STEPS, JINU SCARIA CITES HER DIFFICULT-TURNED-SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY AS A BELLY DANCER, TO ENCOURAGE PERFORMING ARTS ASPIRANTS TO FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT PEOPLE SAY OR THE FEAR OF FAILURE.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]EDITOR’S NOTE: The author, Jinu Scaria is a professional Belly Dancer and a social media influencer in this dance form. Since 2016, Jinu has been a core team member of the Tarantismo Creative Dance Company, one of the pioneers of Belly Dance in India, and which is also internationally established for the Bollywood, semi-classical, heels and Indian contemporary dance forms. She started to learn Belly Dance way back in 2013, two years after she began her formal training in Bollywood and free style dance forms. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, she has been staying in the USA after her marriage in 2020.
Jinu won the coveted Ms. India DC title for the US state of Washington, D.C. in October 2022.
A Bachelor in Computer Science, she currently works as an operations analyst in a globally prominent IT company.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624010429324{padding-top: 3% !important;padding-bottom: 1% !important;}”][vc_column_text]
THE JINU SCARIA ARTICLE
I grew up in a lower middle-class family, growing up in school I always was fascinated watching others dance. It felt so unreal for me back then when I watched people dance. It felt impossible to me. Being from a middle class family, we could not afford joining a dance school; so my desire to dance was always buried deep within me. When we finally got a television home in 1996, I enjoyed watching this show called Boogie Woogie, a popular dance reality show.
The first salary, and the first steps
When I finally completed my bachelor’s in computer science and found a job. I was finally able to join a dance class with my first salary. I joined a Bollywood dance class which was close to my home. The class was during the weekends. Within 8 months of dancing there I was invited to be part of the crew. As a part of the professional crew, we would perform as back dancers in the Kannada TV industry and Sandalwood. I was in a happy place juggling well between my office work and dance. I also started to take Bollywood dance classes for school kids as a part time.
Bollywood did come to me naturally and I always felt like I needed to do something different, something that stands out. Back in 2010 there was a viral Belly Dance video that was circling around WhatsApp messenger. I remember I showed the video to my friends, expressing my desire to move like that. All my friends at first laughed and said, first of all, you need to have a belly, to do Belly Dance. Moreover, back then Belly Dancing was primarily intended to entertain men. This did stick to my head, and I wanted to prove to myself that I can learn anything if I put my mind into it.
Belly Dance was this ritualized expression, usually performed by women for other women, generally during fertility rites or parties preparing a young woman for marriage. In most cases, the presence of men is not permitted. The dance often focuses on isolating different parts of the body, moving them independently in sensuous patterns, weaving together the entire feminine form.
“Belly Dancing is generally performed barefoot, thought by many to emphasize the intimate physical connection between the dancer, her expression, and Mother Earth”.
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JINU’S SELECT PERFORMANCES
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Performance with the Tarantismo team
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The video that went viral on Instagram
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Jinu’s new YouTube upload
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Winner: Ms. India DC Pageant
In October 2022, Jinu won the coveted Ms. India DC titled for the state of Washington, D.C. She will compete with the title winners from each state at the all-USA event in 2023.
I googled Belly Dance classes near me, and I found this class called Sanaz Studios. I registered myself for this class, while simultaneously doing my Bollywood dance classes. When I started learning Belly Dance it never came naturally to me. I would get home and practice and practice. Slowly this art form started to grow into me, and I was able to understand and make sense of the movements.
Sanaz Studios started getting monotonous and growth was stagnant. During 2017, I joined another dance school called Tarantismo Creative Dance Company, Bengaluru. I joined there as a student and within a few months I got the opportunity to join the main dance team who have performances. We would have our rehearsals every day in the morning from 6:30 am to 9.00 am, by the time I get home it would be 10.00 am, fresh up and head to the office and come back home at 10:30 pm. This was my schedule for a few years. We performed at various events where we showcased this beautiful art form.
“People who used to pull me down for Belly Dancing, started appreciating this art form. I was happy for playing a role in changing people’s minds about this dance form.”
One of the stages we performed was the Indian International Dance Congress (IIDC). There was a lot of learning, teaching and performances. People who used to pull me down back then, started appreciating this art form. I was happy for playing a role in changing people’s minds about this dance form.
In 2020, I got married and had to move to the USA with my husband, leaving everything behind. Once I moved here my schedule of being busy all day even during weekends, came to a standstill and I suddenly had all this free time. I thought my dance journey was over and I was trying to figure things out in the USA. People again started telling me that after marriage, dance ends. You will have different responsibilities and you will have no time; in-laws/ husband will not allow you to Belly Dance after marriage.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1624012669427{padding-top: 3% !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_gallery interval=”5″ images=”12070,12071,12072,12073,12074,12075″ img_size=”360×450″ onclick=”” css_animation=”fadeIn”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Break the stereotype, finally
Again, I wanted to break this stereotype. The Covid situation came as a blessing for me when life shifted to the online platform. Gradually, dance classes started making an online appearance back in India and I was able to renew my connection with the team at Tarantismo. The classes were after 10 pm due to the time difference but that did not stop me from practising this beautiful art form.
In the beginning of 2021, I made my Instagram profile public as I wanted to share this dance form out there. I post videos/reels every week and now in 2022 with over 100K followers have promoted myself into an influencer.
“Start small by investing a little amount of time into doing things you enjoy. Find your inspiration, which will keep you happy in life.”
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]I started off my journey from a time, when people were not supportive and looking down on Belly dancing to now, where people are more accepting of Belly Dance and showing interest to learn and look outside of this as just being an activity of entertainment for men. People are now accepting this as a unique dance form to improve your control over your mind and body; and embracing it whole-heartedly without any negative preconceived notions.
Today I encourage people to follow their dreams at whichever part of life they are at. Start small by investing a little amount of time into doing things you enjoy. Find your inspiration, which will keep you happy in life. If you work towards it anything is possible in whatever you can.
It has been more than 10 years of my journey with dancing and having a job as a techie. No matter what people say, follow your dreams. Be the change, do not be afraid of failure. I am where I am because of certain decisions I took but these chances did not just happen on their own. I made them happen![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624011263768{padding-top: 3% !important;padding-bottom: 3% !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row enable_arrows_animation=”no” css=”.vc_custom_1474355814165{padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
CONNECT WITH JINU SCARIA ON
YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok
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