In this dance workshop, learning need not end when the fun starts

POWERDANCE

For the past 27 years, Douglas Nierras Powerdance has conducted summer dance workshops for children, teens and adults. Religiously, that is, through political regimes, the evolution of fashion and social norms and natural disasters.

I have tutored two and a half generations of stars in Philippine show biz, spawning a slew of professional dance teachers, all of whom call me “Teacher.”

The joy of teaching—seeing students learn while enjoying themselves, then presenting them to parents and friends in a performance staged professionally—fueled our enthusiasm each time.

Fulfillment

Some of our students ended up taking dance seriously, making us realize that the joy wasn’t “simple” joy; it was, in fact, fulfillment, for both myself and my company.

It was a fantastic feeling to realize that we were having fun teaching dance, and the students were having fun learning! The results were more than all that combined.

Maybe it was because we believed both the teaching and the learning of dance had a responsibility attached to it. We could instill discipline and moral values—dependability, decisiveness, among other things—in others.

While mindful of all that, we never cut down on the fun—the joy and sense of achievement were kept alive, and the students unabashedly gave them back to us.

Thus, we recognized a tall order that stared us in the face. A “mission.” Big word. Someone said this was synonymous to “advocacy.” Bigger word!

As we carried on, more students came through our studio doors, more exceptional teachers—in the end, more fulfilled “ordinary” individuals who nursed an extraordinary desire to express themselves in what they saw was an art form. Through our doors, through the years, dancers flowed.

This “mission-advocacy” haunts us now. We may never shake it off. So, once again, we are holding another dance workshop this summer…for the sheer joy of it.

(“Dancestruck Season 2,” The 2015 Douglas Nierras Powerdance summer workshop, is set at Shaw 500 Zentrum Mall, Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City. Call 8712296 or text 0915-1258645.)

Douglas Nierras is the founder, choreographer and artistic director of Douglas Nierras Powerdance. He is the first and only International Grand Prix winner for Creative Contemporary Dance Choreography.