KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
Martha Graham once said, “Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” And there is no denying that dancer Shashank Duggal is very dedicated and passionate about his art form.
An IT professional, Duggal has been teaching dance for over 15 years. “I started my dancing journey with Bollywood choreography. I used to do the choreography for shows in Delhi,” says Duggal, who has since trained in dance forms like salsa, bachata, and meringue.
His love for tango began when he accidentally entered a tango class many years ago. And when his dance students requested that they wanted to learn couple dancing, Duggal decided to learn tango himself.
Since then, the dancer who has been trained mostly by teachers from Argentina, has travelled to countries like Croatia, Brazil, America, Australia, Greece, Singapore to learn the finer nuances of various dance, to teach it better.
When he moved to Pune, Duggal formed a tango community and started a school there. And after relocating to Delhi for a short duration, he is now in Goa running a tango school called Tango Connections and takes classes on the weekends. Alongside this, he continues to work as an IT professional.
Recently, Duggal took his love for the tango a step further when he represented India and Goa in the World Tango Championship in Argentina in September. This was the first time that India was represented at the 15-year -old annual championship held at Buenos Aires. This is one of the biggest tango events in the world where more than 600 couples from all countries compete.
“I learned about this championship from my tango tutors who generally participate in these championships. But I could not participate in this championship previously because I never had a steady partner. I was teaching and learning alone,” he says.
Things changed last year when Duggal met his dancing partner, Saya Date from Pune at aTango Socials held on World Dance Day. “I was watching the previous year’s championship videos and she showed interest in it and was curious about it. Then I told her this is what I want to do- represent India in this biggest tango championship and she agreed to be my partner,” shares Duggal.
Talking more about the championship, Duggal states that training began online since January this year.
“I was in Goa, my partner was in Pune, and the teachers were in Argentina. We selected the teachers who were the last year’s runners- up in the same championship. After having some online sessions, me and my partner would try and meet up as often as we could to practice,” he says.
However, they quickly realised that this was not enough. “There were a lot of distractions for me and her. So after six months of online training we thought of going to Argentina two months before the competition and devote the maximum amount of time solely to this,” he says.
After self funding their trip and stay, Duggal and his partner made most of the time in Argentina and focused on tango. “We were training for eight to nine hours every day. This included two hours of classes and two hours of rehearsals. The rest of the time went for self-practice and attending tango social gatherings,” says Duggal who was also working remotely alongside.
And their championship experience was very memorable. “Given that this was the first time that someone from India was part of this championship, the people of Argentina were surprised and happy at the same time to learn about how this dance was spreading in India,” he says. The judges at the championship too, he adds, were surprised to see a couple from India. “After our performance, lots of people from the audience came running to get pictures clicked with us. We felt like celebrities,” he says, adding that he was also felicitated by the Indian ambassador to Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Duggal is now all set to begin a new beginner’s batch in tango from October 8 onwards. “I am also planning to introduce tango nights once a week where all tango dancers can meet to dance and socialise,” he says.