NORMALLY, EMOTIONS have a huge impact on dancing, at least from an expert's point of view. In fact, it is believed that dancing is one way of expressing your mood, sadness, joy, anger as well as fear.

Last week, when I saw a Swiss national freely performing on the streets of Kigali without minding the onlookers, I could immediately sense these were not normal dance movements, it had something to do with emotions being portrayed, although without direct dialogue.

My thoughts were not far from what was going on in her mind.

Viviane Probst says when she dances, all sets of emotions come up. Dancing for her, is the moment when she can really express herself in different ways through the body.

"It is all a mix of emotions; dance may help the healing process as a person gains a sense of control through possession by the spiritual sense in dance, therefore it’s not only about the movement there is more to that.

Viviane Probst dancing at the Imbuga car-free zone.

It is all about mastery of movement, escape or diversion from stress and pain through a change in emotion, states of consciousness, and physical capability as well as confronting stressors to work through,” says Probot. 

Introducing the dance in Rwanda

Probst is more into contemporary and healing dance at the moment. Contemporary is all about  a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical, and classical ballet.

 Contemporary dancers strive at connecting the mind and the body through fluid dance movements.

On the other hand, healing dance is coming back to your feelings, and emotions and putting outside of yourself, to reconnect to your soul simply as a way of choosing your power.

It also aids trauma release by eliciting emotions that can be discharged and expressed through movement.

After visiting Rwanda one year ago, Probst fell in love with the country and loved the fact that the country was still developing. She therefore felt the need to introduce something which wasn’t known by many around.

From her research, she also says that the other reason she is introducing these kinds of dances is that it’s all about healing, especially among Rwandan people.

"Knowing Rwanda with the history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, through the dance movements’ therapy, it will have a great impact on people’s mood, especially the young people as it is also known to help in reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety,” she says.

Also, through her street performance, she found out that most young people were interested in knowing what exactly the dance was about and its importance, something that makes her believe in herself as far as helping people is concerned.

The onset of her career

 The 27-year-old says dancing has been a special part of her life since the age of eight. Dancing warmed up her heart, and it’s something that requires unique art that only requires passion.

Her background was in acrobatic Rock’n Roll career,where she was the 4th world place at the ranking list in 2018.she was into that until last year.

While in acrobatics she didn’t have enough time to do other dances she was passionate about. She now believes that she has time to concentrate on healing and contemporary dance as she already has skills in it.

"I have chosen these forms of dance because it's more of performance on the stage, it means when doing it you are creating your own show as it involves impressive movements that capture the audience or public,” she says.

 Moving forward, the dancer aspires to come up with a show by collaborating with other local artists to make a team of dancers and form a project.

 She also aspires to use education in movement and teaching to help anyone who loves movement regardless of age to tap into their power.