Pics: Abhijith N Kolpe

Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Sep 13: Certified aerial dance instructor Susan Misquith hailing from Padil has come forward to train four transgenders living in the city.

Priya from Bengaluru, Honey from Raichur, Rekha and Sandhya both from Bellary who are now residing in Kaana Surathkal are being trained by the 24-year-old instructor.

The four always had a desire to learn dance from a right trainer so they could perform in any event. That is when they approached Mohan from Excellent Dance Academy.

Prior to Covid, Mohan had approached Susan to train the transgenders. Unfortunately, Susan could not commit herself to train them due to academic commitments.

Speaking to daijiworld, Susan said, “In July 2022, the transgenders were desperate to learn Bollywood dance form and approached me. I am training them since then. Two of them are picking up the steps very quickly while two others are slow learners.”

Susan is a BCom graduate from St Aloysius College. She is the daughter of Sandra and Conrad Misquith. Susan was inclined towards dance from a very young age. Soon after her 10th standard, she was noticed by Yaaz Ibrahim of Fitwood. Susan has transformed herself into a professional dance trainer in the last 6 years.

Susan travelled all the way to Bengaluru from Mangaluru during the weekends for aerial certification course under Adithi Deshpande, founder of Fly High aerial art. She is the first certified aerial silk artiste in Mangaluru.

“As a dancer, I wanted to experiment in dance and learn different dance forms which was in my bucket list. It is difficult for people to learn these kind of dance forms in Mangaluru. I learnt this dance form so that I can train others as well,” says Susan.

Priya, one of the transgenders training under Susan said, “Since the last one-and-half months, we are being trained by Susan through Mohan. We always wanted to learn dance. People should accept us in the society. We want to come to the mainstream and want people to treat us in a normal way so that they can invite us to perform. We are tired of begging and working as sex workers. We are so happy to learn from Susan who teaches us every step very patiently.”