So, what’s your dance personality?

A dancer is a dancer it is said, but today with over 45 years of dance experience behind me I can guess a dancers personality by just knowing what television serials they often like to watch. Whether it’s respite from a hectic day at work, or a sad excuse for a social life, or a refuge from daily chores and nagging, what you flip on to watch in your time-out says a surprising lot about you as a dancer. Your fixation towards a certain sort of programming can reveal interesting insights into your dancer personality type. Here I have not included the Sports and Music genres owing to their generic appeal across masses, so figure out where your dancer TRP stands.

Soaps
If you love to see daily soaps, then you are an emotional dancer. Family bonds and relationships are top priority for you. If serials such as Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, Balika Vadhu or Pavitra Rishta rock your world, you can be accused of being a die-hard romantic. You can do the romantic and love dances well and express it beautifully. Being overly sensitive to others emotions can make you appear timid and docile at times. High on sympathy, you are emotionally expressive. Watching these serials gives you comfort and you often use these serials to get ideas about resolving a problem in your own life and implement it greatly on the dance floor. Young men who watch soaps are suspect mama’s boys who tow the family line and are unlikely to rebel.

Reality Shows
If you’re hooked to over-the-top melodramatic reality shows, you will seldom find others interesting enough. You make for an inquisitive, curious person with a competitive streak hidden within. You are a dancer, who has the zest to learn more and more, also you love to show off your skills especially at a competition. Just like your shows of choice tend to be slightly aggressive and melodramatic at times. If you happen to bang your car into someone else’s on the road, chances are, you’ll be the first to jump out and create a scene. Taking blame isn’t your strong suit, and you are known to derive vicarious pleasure watching the lives of other people. Loud and boisterous, you’re not the first to show sympathy either. You are a complete lover of dance who does not care about what people say when you dance, you just dance. Watching shows such as Roadies, Emotional Atyachar and Big Boss, Jhalka AND Dance India Dance makes you feel less guilty about the shortcomings in your own life and the dance floor.

Travel and Cookery
If you have watched Khana Khazana with atmost sincerity and Instead of drooling over Madhuri Dixit on Food Food Maha Challenge, you actually watch the show to learn good cooking. Travel shows fire up the explorer in you, with your mind ticking away, trying to find a way to get yourself there. A highly creative dancer, you love life pretty much as it is, you love to discover new dance forms and try to learn them with sincerity. You believe in pushing limits and like experimenting. Not big on cribbing or sulking, you’re quick to get people out of depression. You are the life of all dance parties.

Educational
You are often accused of being a documentary-junkie. Channels such as National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet and History are your fix, watching anything else on TV feels like a waste of time. Not big on parties, you are an intense dancer with an equally strong personality and a clear agenda to learn more in life. Knowledge based on facts is fuel for your mind. You are an intelligent dancer who loves to get deeper into the form by knowing more about its origin and development and you may look down upon people who watch mindless shows, in another word people who just dance without thought. In the pursuit of perfection, you have a fundamental need to go ahead of yourself. Borderline introvert, you can become a social dancer whenever you need to introspect.

Crime or Thrillers
Shows like CID, Crime Petrol, Savdhan India and Adaalat fascinate you, then you are no dull cow. Reading between the lines comes naturally to you. You believe you have been gifted with a third eye. You are constantly looking to challenge yourself as a dancer, be it at work or on the dance floor. You are an extrovert and like to be a step ahead of others. You are a fighter and want to prove that you can do better on the floor compared to the average Joe in your class, you are more aware and alert about what is happening around you. You don’t buy theories easily and don’t gossip as a dancer. You only trust first hand information given to you by your teacher or the choreographer.

Sitcoms
Light-hearted easy-watching sitcoms such Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma, F.I.R, Sex and the City and Friends appeal to your liberal lifestyle and blend with your broad-minded ideology. You feel like a queen or a king on the floor. Having achieved a certain status and financial stability in life, you believe in individual freedom and give enough breathing space to your partner. You don’t mind treating yourself, a brownie or a fun dinner with friends if you have rehearsed a lot is common for you. You may still have some unfulfilled dreams and are unable to make deep connections with people. But you still live life on the floor kingsize.

Paranormal or Horror
When you are asked to switch on the television the only serials you flip to are Aahat, Fear Files, Ssshhhh…koi Hai, Maano Ya Na Mano and ones on similar lines. Then hungry for adventure you have an intrinsic need to explore the unknown. You love to try new forms of dances, with your esoteric interests, if an idea or dance form interests you, you are likely to investigate it till you find convincing answers and get to a school that teaches you the correct techniques. You often employ your imagination to look for answers which are beyond rationale. However, you may get easily carried away by data about the dance which appeals to you but cannot be verified. This can make you gullible, easily influenced and vulnerable. You love to be over the top in the dance and have exaggerated movements as you relate well to reincarnation, ghosts and vampires or subjects dealing with the supernatural.

Cartoons
Dancers who love to watch cartoons are looking for a quick escape from the hard reality of their times. Watching cartoons helps them revisit their childhood and nurture their inner child, reflecting a strong belief in simplicity and innocence. You work hard on the dance floor and also in life and have a good sense of humour. You can be a very good comic dancer and show your fun side to the audience when you dance.

News of the World
Dancers who are hooked to the ‘breaking news’ phenomenon, have an active thought process and like to indulge in discussions about their dance form with intense intellectual stimulation. You may get over-analytical at times and flaunt your intelligence about knowing your subject well; want to be seen, heard and respected. Sometimes when you get excited, you don’t listen to others and miss their point. So be more patient as a dancer, calm yourself a bit, as performing on the dance floor needs determination and loads of practice, yes the audience reaction can surely be a ‘breaking news.’

Sandip Soparrkar is a well-known Ballroom dancer and a choreographer who has been
honoured with National Achievement and National Excellence Award by the
Govt of India. He can be contacted on [email protected]