DR. MARTIN D’COSTA
Dancesport Champion from Goa By Nancy De souza
For a full-fledged resident doctor at the Sanjeevani Hospital, Vasco da Gama to win the 5th All India Dancesport Championship is certainly no mean achievement. While medicine suggests serious business, ballroom dancing brings to mind having a fun time, twirling and swirling around the dance floor with one’s partner. But there’s nothing further from the truth as Dr. Martin elucidates.
Most international dance champions start early, as young as age six! But Dr. Martin got interested in dancing in his late 20′s about the ..time when he started courting Flossy, now his lovely wife. Wanting to learn to dance, the young couple initially bought instructional tapes that taught ballroom dancing and started off. Soon Dr. Martin developed an insatiable passion for dancing and went all out to learn the A to Z of dancing, which process has not yet stopped.
When he first started to tango or waltz, Dr. Martin discovered that he was almost a natural and almost everyone admired him and Flossy each time they took to the dance floor. After a stint of working in Mumbai, he returned to Goa and friends egged him to start a dance school that taught authentic ballroom dancing. Although Goa is the most westernized Indian state with many Goans dancing weddings and balls, such institutions were pretty nonexistent. So Dr. Martin started “Dance Illusions” five years ago at Vasco.
As passionate as he is about dancing, Dr. Martin is equally enthused about teaching the correct techniques in ballroom dancing. He joined the All India Dancesport Federation and soon started the Goa Dancesport Association. As he explains, ballroom dancing is not merely a method of chilling on the dance floor but an art form and a physical sport which involves not only proper techniques, footwork, line figures and flow craft as well as being attuned to the music and keeping to the beat.
Ballroom dancing is divided into two categories, Latin and Standard. The Latin dances include the Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Jive and the Paso Doble while the Standard dances consist of the Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep and the Viennese waltz. Each dance has its own steps, music, technicalities, syllabus and even examinations!
In order to teach properly and to train his students to qualify for Dancesport and other competitions, he has invested in studying advanced dancing skills and regularly visits Asian champions in Bangkok and Singapore for personal lessons. This investment in time and money paid rich dividends in that he and his team won the 5″‘ All India Dancesport Championship held in Mysore in June beating Maharashtra which includes more than 10 dance schools! Besides, Flossy and he were Gold Medalists twice in earlier Dancesport competitions.
As part of his contribution to society, Dr. Martin has held special 10-day classes for the prisoners at Fort Aguada Prison and at Sada Jail where he taught around 55 students totally.
Dr. Martin now holds regular classes in Vasco, Margao and Panjim in Authentic ballroom dancing. He has around 30-35 student-clients of various age groups. They include doctors, teachers, engineers, executives, Naval officers and school children. His social ballroom dance classes, held on Sunday mornings at Margao, are tailored to his clients’ requirements where he teaches social ballroom only
Dr. Martin makes every effort to learn, practice and teach with perfection authentic ballroom dancing, all this between his work and his family. He hopes that in future Goans will dance the International Style of ballroom, the authentic ballroom and that Goa will always be National champions. The Sports Authority of Goa needs to recognize this achievement and encourage team Goa financially Let’s applaud Dr. Martin D’Costa, Goa’s very own professional Dance Master and Indias Standard Dancesport Champion!
