Mumbai: Her career began with a sizzling dance sequence, 20 years and nearly 60 films later, actress Madhuri Dixit says it's dancing she enjoys most.

"Dance is a lot of things to me. It's very spiritual to begin with," Dixit told The Times of India newspaper Monday. "For me it's like an expression of everything that I am."

After a few nonstarters, Dixit danced her way to superstardom in 1988 in a short skirt, lip syncing to the song Ek, Do Teen, in the film Tezaab. She went on to become one of India's highest paid actresses in the 1990s.

Dance has always been an important part of most of the characters she has played, including in the 1997 hit Dil to Pagal Hai as well as her most recent role of a courtesan in the 2002 release Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Dixit, 39, has trained in Kathak, a traditional Indian classical dance form.

Following her marriage to a U.S.-based Indian surgeon in 1999, she took a break from acting and had her two young sons.

Currently, she is in Mumbai filming her comeback film and dancing her heart out again in Aaja Naachley which is being produced by Yash Chopra.

She said she was relaxed on the sets since she knew her sons were in the care of her in-laws and her parents who live in Mumbai.

"My kids love it here, they have both sets of grandparents, their cousins are here and I know they're well taken care of," said Dixit.