Life reflects itself through the things you do, the people you meet as well as in your passions and perseverances, in so many intriguing yet enthralling ways.

One such beautiful reflection I  experienced in my travels earlier in France.

A sense of deja vu, a throwback to the fond memories of teaching dances to people in the different places, all thanks to the Dance & the magic of movements.

While visiting France I met my colleague from the world of dance, Celine Maheo who resides in Rennes
Celine is a practicing clinical psychologist and an Argentine tango dancer.
What’s beautiful is that she is a dedicated professional who uses the dance therapy for helping Parkinson’s patients with their movements through Tango dance sessions.

My interest was piqued, as earlier I had been conducting very similar dance sessions as well, especially remembered our Seniors Dance for Wellness workshops back in India.

So over a beautiful meet and greet sipping cups of hot herbal tea at the Les Grands Gamin at the heart of Rennes, ensued a free flowing conversation where we exchanged notes on each others life. Our passion for dancing was the visible to see as we hardly knew how moments passed by.

To dance is to sense connections beyond the dancing bodies.

To dance is to honour life and its unique expressions in the movements.

Savvy Raj

And when Celine invited me to her next Tango Therapy Workshop, it was an offer I could not refuse. I was actually keen to understand whether and how the cultural differences change the way of conducting and experiencing workshops here.

Dancing can improve the mobility and balance in senior adults.
Adapting the dance to suit the requirements of the group, like simplifying the steps, the placement of the feet, improves their coordination, mobility and balance.

The dance session was deeply engrossing & truly inspiring to witness and participate as well. The music played that day stayed with me well after the session.

So the next step turned out to be me conducting a Cha Cha session for them. The challenges of language barriers were surrmounted easily as Celine offered to translate my teaching from English to French.

Everything fell in place beautifully and voila time flew again.We danced a bit of ChaCha that day and also some more in the next few sessions as well. I was told later by the learners how much they enjoyed it.

It was an amazing experience sharing the joys of movements and I thank Celine for her inclusivity in requesting me to conduct the dance sessions as well. And I deeply appreciate all her beautiful learners that I met,connected and danced with. It was a truly warm and wonderful time spent with them all.

After the sessions we would gather together and discuss, opening many more facets of the learning and imbibing. It was a beautiful way of empathising and understanding each other.

Some of the beautiful souls I got to interact with in the few months I was there.

Dance has a way of soothing your entire being and bringing forth and connecting you with the depth of who you are. That is when dance begins to feel meaningful and transforms life.
The dance connects established  in those sessions is a beautiful memory etched in my heart, that I will cherish forever.

I chanced on these beautiful moments again as I found the photos I clicked back then and I decided to give them a little artistic effect.

All across the world April 29th every year is  celebrated as International Dance Day, although every day is a great day to dance!

I dedicate this post to all my dance friends and colleagues and all the dance educators in the world who are making the world a better place, with every step in time.

Savvy Raj