As I begin to write my first article I wonder how I came so far in this journey of dance of 29years? What attracted me towards this art form? Looking at the dances in the Hindi movies! I was attracted towards Bharatanatyam style as I saw Hema Malini, Vyjayanthimala Balii, and many more. I was attracted towards their costumes and jewelry and obviously make-up as every girl likes to dress up.

But after years of training in the field of Bharatanatyam, with ups and down and hoping one day I will be famous like them I worked hard towards achieving my goals. I used to perform but at the end I was not satisfied.

But I felt a sense of satisfaction only when I looked at this art form in a spiritual way. I started looking inwards rather than exterior. There is a glamour attached to this art, where you see audience applauding at the end and sometimes giving a standing aviation. But an experienced artist is the one who performs for the supreme and with the satisfaction that his/her art will bring that energy to get you(audience) closer to that supreme consciousness. You become the medium to uplift the audience to a higher level. As a dancer if I make my audience feel what I felt then I have been in achieving the goal.

There is lot of dedication and discipline that goes in this art. The journey of dance is not restricted to classroom training of 10 or 13 years. Arrangetram (debut solo performance follows years of training) is not the end but it’s just the beginning of a beautiful journey of Dance.

There is much more and beyond that, as we cannot say how many books are there in the biggest library similarly there is no end in learning art. The journey of getting knowledge is from a master and not from online course or watching videos, knowledge is the experience that one gets from the master. Learning dance should not be a hobby class or a form of exercise but there is more to it. When a child learns dance he/she learns a form of yoga, learns mathematical calculation while learning Tala (beats) even learns the mudras (hand gestures) which brings out energy, mudras opens one’s imagination. By learning different mythological stories, a child stays rooted to the Indian culture. They learn the philosophical approach towards those stories and with this they restore our age-old traditions.

In conclusion the journey of dance never ends, its an ongoing process which leaves you with a beautiful experience and a sense of satisfaction and hunger to learn more.