That night, lying on the bed, with every inch of his body burning like fire, all Charan Pradhan wanted to do was dance. A spinal injury that nearly cost him his life had him bedridden. Throughout that two years, devoid of any movement, Charan desperately longed to express himself. It didn't strike him as odd that it was through dance that he wanted to achieve that. “I knew from early on,” says Charan, “that if there was anything that could completely 'heal' me, it was dance. All I had to do was get out and start working towards that goal.”

Which, he did.

Years later, when he knew he had achieved what he had always wanted to, he came back to Nepal from the UK. He wanted to share that gift. If the therapeutic properties of dancing had healed him so much, he reasoned, sure it'd do magic for others too. On April 23, 2010, dancing sure did weave its magic when he performed at the Dancing for Peace programme with special needs children from Asha Bal Bikash Sewa (ABBS-HDCS), Child Worker in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), SOS-Nepal, Bhaktapur and Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center (SIRC).

 

Dancing for Peace is not a production, it's a process through which children prove their abilities to overcome obstacles.

 

Though he had always wanted to pursue dance academically, he started out as a student of journalism. Something that he gave up for good. "I knew from earlier on what I had to do," says Pradhan. Much of that knowledge came from his brush with serious spinal injuries. "I knew that if there was anything that could cure me it was dance," says Pradhan. "It's strange how I came into that conclusion but it seemed right."

A hunch? Gut feeling? Call of destiny? It didn't take him long to embrace his true calling. He did what he could to be with his first love: took a year-long course from Nach Ghar (National Arts Academy in Kathmandu), worked as a performer in Bajra Hotel and even opened up a dance institute. And, that was when things started to get interesting. "The year-long stint in the Nach Ghar," says Pradhan, "increased my thirst to learn more and more about dance." He found the right kind of program in Oldham College, UK, where he enrolled soon afterwards for a Higher National Diploma.

There he started to work closely with children with disabilities. With the encouragement and guidance of his professor, he soon started to unravel and understand the healing power of dance. "I knew first-hand how they felt and how hard it is to cope with their condition," he says. "I drew from my own experiences and searched for ways through which the graceful movements of dance could be used to reach their inner being, healing them in the process."

Dancing for Peace was a result of this search. "This programme is not a production but a process," he says, "It's a process through which the children will prove their abilities to overcome obstacles. As with every dance form, this is also about expressing themselves."

 

A child rests his prosthetic limbs at the door of the rehearsal area as the performers take a break in between practices.

 

A successful performance is more than just that - it liberates the performers from their perceived physical limitations, develops their confidence and affirms their potential to contribute to society.

 

But you just don't waltz into their world and make them dance to your tunes. "Trust," he says. "I make an effort to establish trust with each and everyone of them. Only then can they allow you to heal them. It's just like going to the doctor. They cannot prescribe anything to you if you keep your troubles to yourself." Backstage, the children's faces light up when he is around, listening to them, moulding their moves, their expressions, connecting with them, a sacred bond that could be felt by the audience.

Moments before they are scheduled to go on stage, the entire group gathers in a circle. Charan thanks everyone, asks them to take a long breath and remember the stage, their parts. He tells them to be themselves, to express themselves, without holding themselves back and dance like no one is around.

And they do just that.

 

Photographs by Rishi Amatya and Sanjana Shrestha

 

This post was originally published in V.E.N.T. in October 2010.