My Parents Were Skeptical When I Took Dancing As Career: Amrita Joshi

18-May-2018

In the world of Classical Fusion, Amrita Joshi the founder and Lead performer of AJ Dance concepts is a familiar face. Trained in Indore, Pune, and Mumbai under Puru Dhadhi ChiJi, Manisha Satheji and Uma Dongraji, she is famous for versatile performances across the country, having been associated with various corporate events and shows. Recently, the 30-year-old artist was a proud winner (and a recipient of the Gold Trophy) of Best dance choreographer for stage shows and Best Dance performer at EEMA Spotlight Award 2018. The talented Amrita who is on cloud nine, shared her experiences and her current state of emotions, in a quick tete a tete with us.
Excerpts from the interview;-

It is the first time ever in the history of EEMA Spotlight awards that the Gold has gone to the same person for Choreography and Dancer. Anything to say on this?

It is indeed a pleasure, an honour and more than that a humbling experience for me for being recognized both as a dancer and a choreographer. I believe one has to be disciplined and dedicated enough to be able to teach oneself before he or she teaches others. I am glad that the industry could visualize that element of creativity, discipline, dedication, and passion in my creations and honour me for that.

Your advice to budding choreographers

A good teacher or guru is of the prime importance for one to understand choreography. A good dancer necessarily will be good at choreography. One has to be very knowledgeable and versatile to mix the lyrics, the sound of music, the setting  of the same. Most importantly is being an open-minded and experimental. This only comes by experience and assisting your guru and experimenting and evolving.

 Did your family support your career choice?

My family was very supportive initially while I was learning classical dance during my school and college days. But when I quit a full-time job at Yashraj to take dancing and choreography as a full-time career, like all parents they were a little worried and skeptical. And truly it was very challenging and tough, not only financially but being accepting in an industry who was non-filmy. However, God has been kind and hard work and persistence paid off which not only made my ends meet but also gained respect and recognition.

Your Future plans?

My future plans are to continue doing this and grow in this industry, do massive shows not just across India but across the world. Also, I would want to choreograph and maybe produce a live musical show alone or in collaboration with a renowned world choreographer.

 Top three dancers you love in Bollywood?

Top three dancers I love in Bollywood are Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Madhuri Dixit

Did you always wanted to become a dancer? Or there was something else going in your mind before indulging into this field?

I always wanted to be a dancer and a choreographer, never once did I doubt my choice, intent or decision.

 

 Spotlight Awards presents a forum where pioneers, individuals, organisations, old associates and new entrants get together to share their experiences, ideas, accomplishments and achievements together under one roof, what’s your take on this?

I think Spotlight awards are one of the best things that EEMA has created, where not only do peers and industry colleagues judge you and recognise you for your hard work and effort, but it also provides such a great platform to meet, network and collaborate with your peers in the same field or allied fields. I would like to take this opportunity to thank EEMA, the entire Jury and all my colleagues in the event industry without which I would not have achieved what I have and been where I have been.

Are you a strict teacher?

Yes, I m.

What hurdles did you face in this profession?

Hurdles were so many and so frequent that it would take a book to write them all, from professional to personal, from moral to immoral, from physical hardships to emotional stress, from expecting respect and remuneration and so on so forth. But I am what I am today because of all that and have learned along the way and would not want to live in those trivial roadblocks, but live in a brighter, happier and peaceful future for myself, my fraternity, our industry and the people at large.

How serious is dance education in India?

Students or parents are not at all serious about Dance education in India. It is perceived as a hobby and side activity and not as a mainline possible professional option. The reasons for the same are lack of opportunities in career in this field, unlike the west. Also the social stigma associated due to respect that the field and the artists deserve. I have been fighting all of this and have proved that one can be honest to the art, actually merge classical with popular dance forms and create respectful acts and performances with grace and élan. I hope we as individuals can see the options, respect, opportunities, and creativity in traditional dance forms for entertainment and choose this as an option for life and career.

When did you start dancing- Age

I started dancing at the age of 5.

This should definitely inspire and give hope to all those women out there. :)

To hire Amrita Joshi for your events and weddings, check out her Eventaa profile

https://eventaa.com/AmritaJoshi

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