“I am Carolin. My mom grew up in post-war Germany and as things stood back then, they had so little money that she had the impossible choice between the Ballet class she loved or buying a sweater to stay warm in winter. With resignation, she chose the sweater.
When I came along, my mom signed me up for Ballet lessons when I was very young, wanting me to have the opportunity she missed out on, to dance. While my body structure was perfect for the dance form, I was considered too tall and talented but not enough to become a professional dancer. I eventually stopped lessons. However, my interest in it runs deep to this day- My mom and I travel all over Europe to see great Ballet performances. One of the best ones was in Stuttgart, a homage to John Cranko.
I found my Ballet teacher to be very tough. There was too much pressure, even knowing that I was not going to pursue this dance form as a professional dancer. My love affair with dance was sparked in Ballet class, but it was not a joyful activity for me. At this juncture, Hollywood came to my rescue with Tap dance. When I saw a movie with joyful tap dancing, I knew I had found my bliss!
Considering that I was a kid and had no money of my own, I was lucky to have my parents on my side when I wanted to switch from Ballet to Tap! And, I was even more lucky that in my Tap class, I not only found the joy in dance I was missing earlier, but also my best friend, someone in my life and very dear to me to this day. I kept up with Tap dancing all the way into young adulthood.”
Carolin trained professionally to be a pediatric nurse at the university hospital in Ulm, situated on the banks of the Danube river. The work and training combined made for really long days and a schedule that didn’t leave much room for dancing. After this intense period of study and hands-on experience, Carolin moved to Regensburg and yet another intense and not always pleasant period of work. However, in her new environment, she was able to incorporate Tap dancing back into her life and in Carolin’s own words, dance saved her life!
“My professional life took yet another turn and brought me to live in Switzerland. In Basel, working long hours in my new job, I turned to the one thing I knew would relax me and bring renewal, new friends and joy into my every day life. Flamenco! But, I was working all the time and the demands of the job were my first priority. Dance started falling behind. At one point, I was with a girlfriend, attending a Flamenco gathering in Madrid and I just knew then that this was some kind of turning point for me. Flamenco is serious business. You can’t dip in and out as you wish. It needs to be pursued with much dedication and consistency because if you fall behind, it’s very difficult to catch up. It was sad but clear that I would not be able to keep up with this dance form for much longer. And, then, Bollywood came to my rescue! When Shalini was interviewing me for this article, I verbalized for the first time something that I probably knew all along, how there has been a dance pattern in my life-
Ballet- Serious.
Tap- Hollywood fun!
Flamenco- Serious.
Bollywood- fun!”
Here we are, training in class. Me on the far right.
Ha! there’s me rehearsing for our DanzBollywood showcase with my hair in mid-flight!
There’s me on the far left, posing with the team before we go on stage.
Like Tap, Carolin talks about how Bollywood dance lifts her spirits. She comes to class where there’s just dancing, no judgement. Just a place to exhale. Everyone wants to have fun and dance a bit. Something that rejuvenates and energizes her.
“In my experience, Friday is the day when you crash but coming to class and being with a very high energy instructor makes all the difference between crashing and starting the weekend on a joyful note. The Wednesday after our recent session ended, I was thrilled when I got done with my conference calls in time to make our twice a year ladies’ dinner. Sitting there, laughing and talking and enjoying good Indian food in the company of women I’m getting to know. It was great. What do I want for the future? I want to keep our group and the fun spirit we have going so we can collectively benefit from dance!”
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