Those who claim they have two left feet should take inspiration from these young autistic kids who are gearing up to set the stage on fire on July 24.
Arts in Motion (AiM), a dance academy, will host its annual event titled, Dance with Joy ’10 — Challenging Differences, Accepting Autism, which will have trainers and autistic students exhibit the triumph of spirit over suffering, of joy over despair, and of mind over matter through the medium of dance.
This year, the show is supported by the Forum for Autism, an NGO run by parents of autistic children. The performance will be a dynamic showcase of 15 different forms of dances from all over world, including some novel styles like bboying, belly dancing, kathak yoga, krumphop, ladies folk, lyrical hiphop, samba and polka. The highlight will be a unique performance by autistic children.
Aanchal Gupta, founder-director of AiM, said, “It has been a memorable experience teaching a variety of dances to kids with autism. We have had so much fun over the four months of training.
My team, comprising a therapist and two choreographers, along with my sister, have been a great support.”
“It’s not easy to teach dance to autistic kids because they have a neural development impairment, which is characterised by subdued social interaction and communication. However, looking at these kids perform now seems like they were meant to dance,” Gupta said.
Prety Kutty, mother of Prathana, who is suffering from autism since birth, said, “It’s been wonderful seeing our kids perform so well.
Initially, we were sure that our kids would be sent away, as it seemed quite impossible for them to go on stage and actually dance. But the team treated our kids normally, even though it’s not easy to manage these children as they need to be handled with a lot of patience. I am surprised that our kids can perform so well, it has been a eye-opener.”
Gupta said, “A month ago, I was a little skeptical, and used to wonder if the lights or the loud music would affect their performance. But now, I am confident they will rock the performance. They are so full of energy, and now no one would say they have a problem.”
Every year, AiM chooses a socially relevant theme in its efforts to promote dance amongst various sections of the society. AiM 2007 revolved around challenging arthritis; in 2008, it embraced street children; last year it urged people to fight cancer.
“This has been a humbling experience and it feels great to be associated with these kids,” Aanchal summed up.
The event is supported by Vivek Oberoi. It will be hosted by VJ and singer Raageshwari Loomba, and will include a guest performance by Taufiq Qureshi on drums,along with Sandhya Mridul with partner Javed Sanadi.
The show is on July 24 at St Andrews auditorium, Bandra, at 4.30pm & 7.30pm. Call 98201 83231.
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