I Am an Amateur Dancer and This Is Why I Make Time for My Passion

If you look at me, you probably would not think that I am a dancer. And it is true. I am not. I work for a start-up.

But I have dancing for the most part of my life. I am what people call an amateur dancer. I started learning Bharathnatyam when I was six years old. But my training was interrupted frequently because my family and I moved around a lot. So, I never really developed the skills and form of my other more trained peers. My biggest regret would be that I did not even have the Arangetram (or debut) that most Bharathnatyam dancer works towards since the first day of class.

My biggest interruption happened in university. Classes, studying, extracurricular activities all got in the way of a dedicated training. I was not completely out of touch with dance though. I took dance classes sponsored by school clubs (far cry from actual training) and performed in school. Still, four years without training is hard to jump back from.

Fresh out of college, I felt that familiar itch again: wanting to dance to my heart’s content but, at the same time, follow a structured path. Structure is important to me because I want to feel like my dance journey is going somewhere.

Thinking about rationally, it is not a good time to start serious training. I am a broke college graduate trying to look for a steady job. I am doing an internship, which is paying for rent and food. I have no savings to speak of. Plus, because I have not trained in so long, I will have to work harder than my other classmates.

Yet, for me, it is now or never. There will always be excuses for not to start training. Being serious about Bharathnatyam or any other art involves time and money, which will always be scarce resources. So, I decided to take a leap and begin my journey back into Bharathnatyam. Because you have to give your passion a chance.

On that note, welcome to my blog! I will be writing about my dance journey and encourage you to the same. Stay tuned for a post about my first dance class in almost four years.