Step up and dance!

She did her first cat walk at ‘Mr and Mrs Super Model India 2018’ show in Hyderabad recently where she experienced walking like a model on a ramp with live audience around her. Invited as a MC for the event, she ended up as a model after her audition when the impressed organizers requested her to wear the robes and make-up of a model and walk the ramp. “That was my first experience though I have acted as Isabel in the Konkani movie Nacho-ia-Kumpasar,” quips Cliszma Aniuska DaCosta, a multifaceted movement professional in Goa who wears many hats at just 25.  

With her philosophy of life, ‘Be, live, love and inspire’ whatever she indulges into, be it Zumba, Pound or Dance and Music Therapy, it becomes only a modality to fulfil this bigger purpose. At Zumba her clients are between 14-50 years with few exceptions, while Pound mostly attracts the youth or young adults till 40 and these are the people who have inclination towards rock music. While her Dance and Music Therapy is open to all, kids to senior citizens.   

In Goa, Zumba is very popular with a network (ZIN) of 113 plus Zumba instructors however, so far Cliszma is the only Pound instructor or Pro in Goa, certified from Scotland, UK. A Dance and Movement (DMT) graduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), she has started ‘Dance Heals’ to work with different spectrum of society creating a platform to heal through movement. Under the name Cliszma’s Fitness Squad which functions in Margao and Panjim, she conducts Zumba and Pound fitness community classes. “I wish to reach out to improve mental and physical health in Goa and India with holistic approach to fitness,” she expresses.   

Blessed with the potential to move, sing and act from childhood, she intends to use her talents positively to nurture the value love with the people she interacts. And Cliszma’s passion for movement and the somatic knowledge gained from movement practice fuels much of her work today.   

It all started when she was 12, behind the locked doors she moved fiercely, she felt unstoppable. She moved like there was no tomorrow. Every part of her body came alive; it did her a lot of good that words couldn’t explain put together. At 17, when Cliszma was selected to represent her youth group in Spain for the World Youth Day, she got connected to her purpose in life for the first time. At a youth convention she unknowingly led an international crowd with her movement at a music concert.   

She recalls her turning point in Spain, “Soon after finishing my dance performance I walked in the crowd as the concert was about to begin. Standing right in front of the band as they played some amazing Spanish music, I couldn’t resist myself from dancing. After some time as I was dancing, I happened to turn behind. And, to my surprise the whole crowd was following my steps. Their faces were lit with joy. In that moment, I was both shocked and surprised. Shocked because I couldn’t believe it and surprised as I was able to move a crowd. Youth at that concert were from US, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and they complemented me for my dancing. That day, I knew I could move others and that it brings joy to them, that day in a subtle way universe told me it was my calling.”  

Back home, Cliszma’s foray into dancing, singing and acting had begun at a very young age without any professional training. At school, she participated actively in competitions and gatherings and won numerous prizes. “I also won Miss Personality award at state level Goa Youth Eye Contest but I wanted to pursue Dance and Music Therapy (DMT) as a career,” she adds. But that was an alien concept in Goa. Her parents knew nothing about DMT. But teenager Cliszma didn’t deter. She knew what she wanted to be.  

Her need to actualize her passion lead her to leave home at the age of 19 to go to Mumbai to train herself in Dance Movement Therapy at TISS; as she waited one year for the course to arrive in Mumbai. Her professional journey began at 20, when before graduation she was selected to teach at ‘The Akanksha Foundation (NGO) in Mumbai where she worked two years as a Primary and Primary teacher with under-privileged children. “It is an NGO that runs an English medium school project in Mumbai in collaboration with BMC schools,” she quips.  

Cliszma worked and studied to support her passion as she didn’t receive financial support. Simultaneously, while studying DMT at TISS she has interned with JEET- Health Centre for special children, YUWA – a community centre for the adolescent girls from the under- privileged background and Khula Aasman, an art based NGO that worked with women who are destitute, homeless and who have faced domestic violence.   

While working she trained in Ballet, Contemporary and Jazz to improve her movement repertoire at ‘The Dance Worx Company in Bandra.   

Mumbai came with a lot of challenges and vital learning. The skill to survive with limited financial resources she made at the NGO to going without dinner for 4-5 months. Her life had changed overnight from comfort to making ends meet. Her burning desire, her belief that she is worthy and her passion for life kept her going. Her experiences in Mumbai made her value her body and embark on a journey of holistic fitness, which made her get a Zumba Certification in Pune before returning to Goa. Seeking new learning made her travel to UK to continue her learning in dance therapy. In London, she made a journey to Scotland to get herself a certified as a Pound Pro.  

“Going hungry taught me to respect food, going homeless thought me to value my home. Today what I am, is because of  my struggles and my victories. The courage, I had to go out there and do what I do. I am extremely grateful to be born to my parents who trust me, who gave the freedom to explore but also taught me responsibility.