The story of Ballet education in Nagaland
During the 2014 Hornbill Festival, at Kisama, tourists got more than what they bargained for. After days of watching traditional dance troupes, they never expected to come across Naga ballerinas dancing effortlessly to ‘The Swan Lake’.
Ballet! In Nagaland???
Yes! And it was not just tourists, but a good section of Nagaland who took time to get accustomed to the tutus! Many assumed it was just a passing fancy, you know, one of those new age trends. Little did we know that this was the beginning of Ballet Education in Nagaland.
The story actually took shape in Singapore, when a petite Ballerina by the name of Quine met her husband Razo Vasa from Nagaland. Quine is Malaysian Chinese and a ballet dancer since school. She recounts how sad she felt when she had to pack her ballet shoes to come to Nagaland. But everything changed, when she was introduced to the Director of Hope Centre for Excellence, Zubeno Mozhui (Zuby). Zuby is one of the visionaries behind the music centre which is instrumental and renowned in imparting world-class music training.
~The Inspiration ~
Zuby recounts how the idea of starting Ballet education in Nagaland stayed so strong in her after she met Quine. My daughter was young at that time, and every little girl wants to be a ballerina, so I thought why not explore the concept. Everyone told me I was crazy, she laughs. But my desire to provide little girls the opportunity that one can only dream about really drove me to zero down and make it a reality. People even went to the extent of admonishing her that ‘this is not our culture’, but against all odds she persisted! Today her daughter is a Grade 5 ballerina.
~The Teacher~
Quine shares, “We provide ballet education using the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. The Royal Academy of Dance is one of the most renowned ballet company in the world, established since 1920 and patrons by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Ballet builds up a child’s agility, balance, grace and strength gradually. In the beginner grades, small steps were designed to help develop basic skills and strength. When they reach grade 3 and 4 onwards where basic pointe, demi-pointe, turn out, split, and classical walking are matured. I continue to work on their confidence to perform solo and group dances, on top of that their expressions and pose.
There are two types of ballet shoes. Beginners wear a soft ballet shoe to learn the basic skills, steps and built up strength and technique. Subsequently, Pointe shoes enable the dancer to balance, spin, hop, pounce, slide, and linger on the tips of her toes. A ballerina should be trained for several years in soft shoes before she wears a pointe shoes. No one lacking proper technique and adequate strength should attempt toe-dancing.”
~Not just Entertainment~
Ballet is not like any other dance forms, it has an academic syllabus. It is a serious art and highly skilled dance form. Quine defines Ballet as “graceful strength” and says that it is not just physical training.” It builds a child; they also learn how to accomplish things. All these are good things for children, a lot of people see ballerinas as very frail or soft but we are not like that. In order to achieve a good pose we need a lot of strength,” she adds.
~Ballet Takes Time~
Quine shares, “Trainees and their parents expect to see immediate results. They don’t realize you need time to develop. A lot of parents ask why their kids are not standing on their toes still. The run out of patience and after a year they drop out. This really makes me sad.”
~The future of Ballet~
Quine hopes for a lot more participation in Nagaland, because ballet is not a solo act. There are solo parts for ballerinas, but it is not a solo act. Also, she feels Naga children are so talented and a delight to teach.
On this note, Zuby points out that Ballet is not pursued by many, mainly because it is expensive. We don’t intend to but the costumes and shoes, staging for every ballet show is very specific. She adds, “I have done charitable shows to my best ability but I can’t always ask the teachers and professionals to teach or do shows for free, this is also their livelihood. So, I always think about this- If there could be patrons willing to sponsor talented kids in Nagaland to train in ballet, it would be amazing, don’t you think?
Ballet students at Hope Centre for Excellence, Dimapur have grown from 7 students from year 2009 to more or less 35 students now. It remains the only Centre in North East and East Zone of India which offers ballet education.
