As I climb up the stairs of this two-storied house at Jawahar Nagar with Sajna Najam, we can hear a group dancing boisterously to a fast number from Tamil flick, Kanchana 2 . Students of an engineering college in the city are sweating it out to the beats of the song. Sajna takes a look around the room and sits down for a chat on the stairs.
“This is not my team, but I know their choreographer and so they are practising here,” says the state-award winning choreographer. This 1,000 sq ft room is where she steps it up with her dance troupe, Zarinans, to choreograph numbers for reality shows, mega shows, corporate events, weddings and temple festivals. “This has been my dance studio for the last five years. It is here that my team of 30, which has 10 girls, works on new moves and steps. Before that we used to take halls on rent whenever we had to rehearse and that was quite difficult. Having a permanent space makes a lot of difference,” says a beaming Sajna.
The spacious, well-lit airy room with two cots, a music system and a few chairs is Sajna’s pride. In fact the dancer is in high spirits while talking about her workspace in spite of her ill-health. “We do some difficult and tricky steps and so the cots are kept to avoid nasty fall,” she says. The wall-mounted mirrors help the dancers reflect on their moves.
She believes in having the right frame of mind to choreograph a piece. “If I am happy, my mind becomes my creative space. I can choreograph irrespective of where I am. But it is at the studio that I try them out. There are occasions when I try new steps with a few of my students at home. Later we rehearse it with the full team at the studio,” says the 44-year-old who has been in the industry for the last 14 years.
When they don’t have a show, Zarinans get together in the evenings for practice. “Some of them are studying and some working and so we arrange the classes accordingly. My creative space is incomplete without my team. We have a lot of fun, teasing each other, arguing, fighting… The learning happens in between all the hustle and bustle. I like it that way. After all, they make me feel young and energetic!” she says.
The group has to keep on experimenting with changing trends in choreography. “Nowadays choreography is more about acrobatics or using the props. However, I am more of the conventional type, focussing on expressions, graceful moves and steps. But we have to go with the flow and also perform numbers that has scope for performance, especially fast numbers in Tamil and Hindi,” says Sajna.
She gives ample time for her semi-classical productions as well. “In fact we are working on our programme at Attukal Devi Temple in connection with the Pongala festival later this month. I have been doing it for the last six years or so,” she adds. It was one such performance with celebrities at the temple that gave her the big break. Later, reality shows helped her scale new heights before she started working in films.
So has life changed now after winning the state award [for Vikramadityan ]? “Not much. I am not flooded with offers. But more people have started recognising me,” she says with a smile, even as she pose with élan for a snap in her dance studio.
(A series that explores the workspace of creative people in the city and its suburbs)
