When we think of Ballet, we picture a beautiful and graceful girl in tutu dancing on the tip of her toes to a soothing piano music. However, ballet is not only for girls and this is exemplified by ShubhangSakpal of LDAB – The Ballerino of the Month.
Shubhang has been training at LDAB for over two years. His initial training started with MsParand (Senior Assistant Teacher at LDAB), and later his training progressed under Ms Neha (Artistic Director, LDAB). Prior to lockdown Ms Neha had conveyed to him that his technique is fantastic, and that he will be giving his CSTD Examinations in 2020 not for Grade I level, but for Grade II level. This news brought him tremendous joy, but was short-lived as the whole nation went into a lockdown in March 2020. After a few weeks of uncertainty, when he heard that Ms Neha will continue the ballet lessons online, Shubhang was one of the first ones to enroll for the Online Training Program. Thereafter there was no stopping him. Technical issues, poor connectivity, bad flooring, nothing kept him from logging into every online lesson. He managed to have 100% attendance throughout the lockdown.
In November 2020 Shubhang appeared for his first ever ballet examination. It was special in a lot of ways. Not only was this the first time he was demonstrating his ballet technique before an international dance faculty, he was going to be part of history! Where most ballet schools cancelled ballet examinations in light of the pandemic, LDAB was the Only Ballet School in India which was providing this opportunity to its students through Live Stream Examination. And Shubhang was thrilled to be part of it!
Shubhang is a dancer in the true sense. He is trained under various dance forms such as Hip-Hop, Contemporary and Bollywood. He lives dance! In addition to Classical Ballet he has also started training in Indian Classical Dance form – Kathak because it will help him become a better dancer.
Ms Neha is in awe with Shubhang’s dedication. She recollects a discussion she had had with him where he was so passionate about improving his technique that he decided to do a certain exercise 50 times a day! Ms Neha had to tell him not to be too hard on himself and to enjoy the journey of becoming a ballet dancer. “I have noticed how his passion rubs off on others around him. When he comes to the studio, he immediately starts his warm up and stretches, without wasting time. The other students in his batch see his seriousness and also follow his lead. I see him going places if he continues his ballet training the way he is currently!” says Ms Neha
Outside of the ballet studio, Shubhang is an introvert. His favourite topic of discussion is dance (no prize for guessing!) He has various future plans and all are connected to dance. Professional dancer, Ballet teacher, Dance Therapist, these are only a few of the various goals he has set for himself. We wish this extremely talented and inspiring ballerino great success for his future.