The Indian Dance

Last Saturday night the four of us Americans in Bhubaneswar ventured out for a night on the town.  So we piled into an auto-rickshaw and headed out to the Presidency Hotel.  It was a pre-Valentines Day party (because who needs Valentine’s Day anyway, right?) called Red Riot.

There were drinks, DJ’s, and dancing.

Of course the dancing isn’t anything close to that boring, repetitive “bump-and-grind” thing we have in American clubs, where if it doesn’t look like sex on the dance floor then you’re doing it wrong.  Dancing here is, quite simply, the epitome of free-spirited movement.  There are absolutely no rules for what’s cool and what isn’t, and it’s beautiful to watch.

It’s a carefree assortment of body movements to the beat or otherwise.  Throw your hand to the left.  Spin in a circle.  Pelvic thrust.  Literally anything goes.  It seems as if all social barriers are left behind once you hit the dance floor here.  It’s absolutely entertaining to watch, but the real fun comes when you throw yourself in the middle of it all.  There, in the center of that amorphous mob of moving bodies, a beaming smile forms on your face.  And in your mind you start to think, I look ridiculous right now, but who gives a shit?!  It’s awesome.

If you have the slightest inkling of dancing, then India is where you should be.  I’ve never seen such unself-conscious dancing in my life.  The only rule is to move your body and have a good time.