"I will be honest - I had no idea if dancing could bring any money at all" - Priya Varunesh Kumar

by Princy Mehta
"I was always a good student in college, the types who don’t study much but still manage good grades! :) I interned at Microsoft and after graduation, joined Musigma as an analyst. I was good at that stuff.  But just because you are good at something, do you really have to do that for the rest of your life? No. After eight months at Musigma,  I decided to pursue dancing full time, without a plan in mind. The year was 2010. The mood was wild.


I will be honest - I had no idea if dancing could bring any money at all. At the same time, I didn’t derive much confidence from my family. My father for example did not really understand dancing as a career at that time (even though he wasn't unsupportive as such). Whenever asked about what I was up to, he would tell everyone that I was into event management!

So yes, I struggled for acceptance from people around. Even my friends thought I was "crazy" to leave a cushy job so quickly. After a point though, I just stopped caring about what anyone thought of my career. I was sure of what I wanted to do, and I knew that I would figure it out.


With time and effort and a lot of hard work I was gradually able to bag paid performance opportunities; I was able to make a living from dancing as a career. I even got into Dance India Dance and made it to top 12. After that, even my dad switched to saying “my daughter is a professional dancer”. All this while, no ounce of fear dwelled in me. I don’t think of myself just as a dancer or a performer. I am an instrument for creativity, and creativity is  endless.

Today, other than professional performances, I also create Indian fusion choreographies. I am even working on developing an online curriculum for Indian fusion dances across the world. My times also goes in working with my mom in establishing her lifelong dream of having a merchandising business - it’s about creating bespoke dance skirts. Life for me is always about finding the next thing that stirs one’s creativity, and make one alive."

- Priya Varunesh Kumar, Gandhinagar

Follow her on - Instagram, blog and Youtube Channel

 

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