I grew up learning that dance is a mode of conveying culture, tradition, folklore and spirituality to an audience. The goal of dance as described in the Indian Classical Dance, which I learned for thirteen years, is to deeply move the audience. In my time as a dancer, I’ve had only one occasion to feel the ecstasy of transcending the space and time I was a part of, and that was after many years of training. In the short 15-minute period before this was being shot, I learned what samat, or sufi dancing is supposed to look like, though I have a long way to go in terms of training and understanding Samat dancing in its entirety. I look forward to the liberating feeling of transcending the physical aspect of movement to reach the spiritual dimension of dance.