DANCING WITH ENAAKSHI KOTWAL

I have been invited as judge to various dance competitions of schools and colleges, so I thought of sharing an experience and as well as some points which students can pay attention to, when they participate in a dance competition. I recently, was invited as the judge for Inter-school dance competition conducted by Nrityanjali for Mumbai Schools. I was touched by the gesture of the team Nrityanjali. The way everything was conducted was heart warming. It makes me realise that human touch is important in everything. If we are able to create warmth and touch someone's heart, that always stays in our memory. Students from different schools participated in the competition. It was a western dance competition for junior and senior students respectively. The efforts of the younger age group touched by heart. Some of them had really taken efforts and worked on the constume, props and small little details related to the performance. I was really happy and touched by the thoug...

This song from Jab Harry met Sejal is a beautiful upbeat number. The best part about the song is, its folk lyrics and music. We love the music, the beats, almost everything about this song. This is the reason, why we picked up this song to dance to. Hope you enjoy it. Happy dancing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCbhgrl1iAQ

Bollywood dance is an amalgamation of various dance styles like Indian Classical, Indian Folk and some western styles like, Hip Hop, Belly Dance, Jazz etc. Bollywood dance is mainly inspired from Indian Dances. It is influenced from various Indian Cultures, festivals, traditions etc. India is land of diversity and this diversity also presents itself in the form of dance. Every state and region has their own dance styles which is influenced by the culture of that place, so Bollywood Dance is inspired from the rich dance culture and traditions of our country. Lately its also being influenced by the western dances. My endeavor is to keep the true identity of this dance intact and here I am presenting Bollywood dancing on Chikni Chameli. Chikni Chameli is a fun number with folk beats. Hope you enjoy and try this out. You can also go to the tutorial section and learn Bollywood steps or a choreography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=660UAHZU4Vc

I love the grace Indian classical dance Kathak and Egyptian classical Belly have. They are extremely graceful and elegant dance styles.This choreography is inspired from Indian Classical Kathak with elements of Belly Dance subtly thrown in. My effort is to fuse the styles in such a way that they become one.  Performer: Shama Gandhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_bqDojS3Gs

Dancing is an expression of self. Its about how a certain song makes you feel. I always imagine what a particular song brings out in me, the feelings, the emotions and then accordingly I create my dance. If a song makes me feel beautiful and makes me fall in love with myself, I celebrate that feeling and if it brings out a darker side of me then I allow that to come out. We have heard this one before. Recently Bollywood has been in the phase of, churning out old numbers. Most of the recent hits have been remakes of old hits. This clearly proves that certain songs will always remain in our hearts. Hence forth the newer version, still creates an impact. Raabta is one such song. For me this song is celebration of love, soul connection, beauty, loving yourself, accepting yourself the way you are. Just sit in a relaxed environment, dim the lights, play this song and think how beautiful you are, internally and externally. Try expressing this through movement, look at your hands with...

My latest video is on the song, "Baarish" from the movie " Half Girlfriend". My imagination is very vivid. When I hear a song, I have a picture, sometimes a story that comes into my head. This is my interpretation of the song Baarish. I never had the fascination to copy the same moves of Bollywood songs, I always loved to interpret the song, and present it differently. I love belly dancing, hence the choreography has veil work of Belly dance, and I feel that the beauty of veil work, can be compared with the beauty of rain drops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKKECGgiHgY

I am so much in love with Shahrukh Khan's Zaalima from Raees that I couldn't resist dancing to it. I woke up one morning with this song playing in my head and my feet just could not stop. This song brings me alive and I enjoy every single beat of this song. I feel the music flowing through me. There are certain songs that just make you go crazy and you fall in love with them, and this is one of them. I have done a BELLY, BOLLYWOOD fusion on Zaalima and its dedicated to my love and craziness for Shahrukh Khan. Hope you enjoy it!! You can also follow my dance journey on Instagram. Instagram Handle: Enaakshi Kotwal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz7HXN3tZJ8

Watch snippets of my performance at the 2017 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, in form of a small film. Pre and post production: Manish Sarser, Camera and edit: Chaitanya Naik. Will soon upload full version of each performance. I gave a 20 minute performance live on stage at the Cross Maidan venue on February 11th 2017, depicting various elements of  Egyptian Belly Dance, in its authentic and purest form. My performance included: 1. The Veil 2. Raqs Sharqi 3. Raqs Asaaya 4. Kathak & Belly Dance Fusion 5. The Fan Veil Come and learn with us at the White Peacock Dance Studio. Call us for courses on +91 96191.86406 / +91 9821512603. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX2CvrgpWSo

Have you ever noticed, that sometimes out of the blue, your friend or someone you really value in life says something, which creates an uneasy feeling and sometimes or most of the time, it is for no apparent reason. You feel where did this.come from and why did this person say something like this. Many a times in life we feel like this. How can we deal with this?? 1) Feel your feelings: It's good to feel your feelings. Why you feel this way, what is the reason. Most of the time, the things or words which are merely harmless, stir up things inside us. This at times is because of past hurts or are our own issues and personalities. Some of us are sensitive creatures,  some of us have been hurt in the past, or someone has wronged us earlier,  and if the situation or words are little close, it will bring up all the past hurt. So inner inspection, introspection is very crucial. 2) Look at things from that persons perspective: We all have different beliefs systems, different up...

As a performing artist, I had this realization today and i thought of sharing it with you. It is one of those things, which just came and hit me like a boomerang. When we are in an artistic field its good to draw inspiration from others and learn from them, but usually what happens is that, in the process of inspiration, we want to replicate, what they are doing. We want to copy. If we all copy, how will new things come into being? Learning and looking up, for inspiration is good, but trying to completely copy someone, their style, because of competition, or what others tell us, is not always correct. I feel, we as artists need to think, what is my style, where does it come from. We all have certain strengths, which we need to focus on, at the same time, working on our weaknesses. Trust me originality counts, if not today, but if you keep working at it, it will definitely. It is always good to experiment, and go commercial, but at the same time, keep your creativity intact. We sho...

I will be performing and bringing out my love for the Egyptian style of Belly Dancing at Kala Ghoda Festival. Please come and watch me perform on 11th February, 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm at the cross Maidan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8GLAqDc27c