"When You Stop Practicing, You Stop Growing as an Artist." - Abhishek Chaudhary

Want to become a writer at Eat My News? Here is an opportunity to join the Board of Young Leaders Program by Eat My News. Click here to know more: ​ bit.ly/boardofyoungleaders

1. Tell us more about your background and journey.

I am Abhishek Chaudhary. I belong to a middle-class family. I loved dancing and has been doing it since I was in standard 3rd. At school time, I started it only as a passion and never thought of pursuing it as a career but after school, I realized that Dancing is much more than just a hobby for me. 

So, I took professional training and after 3-4 of years of practice, I started giving workshops at colleges and made YouTube videos. One of my YouTube videos crossed 1.4 million views. So, I am also working on my YouTube channel. Till now, everything is going great.

2. When did you first decide you wanted to pursue dancing and how did you start?

As I mentioned, I thought of pursuing dancing as a career only after my schooling. So after 12th, I joined a dance studio for professional training, before that I always thought that I was a better dancer among my other batch mates. 

But, only after going to the studio, I realized that there were far better dancers than me and then I decided that I want to become a better dancer and for that, I needed professional training. Only after the training, I started my career as a dancer.

3. Who is your favourite dancer and why?

I like many dancers but if I had to choose one then there is no more favourable than a teacher. My favourite dancer is also my teacher Ankit Sati Sir, who trained me. He is my inspiration and always helps me with everything. 

We are still together, he always guides me and tells me so much not only about dance but even about professional, personal and social life too. So, yes he is my favourite dancer.

4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a dancer?

You get opportunities in every field, in dancing too. Even if you are not in a dancing career but you are a great dancer, you can become a dance choreographer in Bollywood, a dance teacher, or you can choreograph dance societies of different colleges. 

You can even start your own dance studio or you can organise dance camps if you have good contacts, to be honest. There are many options in every field. You just need to create your own opportunities.

5. Is format training requires or one can train themselves purely on the basis of talent?

Formal training is necessary for every field. Even if you are doing a job, you need knowledge and training for that. People do internships to get a better idea about their respective job and to be capable of it. It is similar in a dancing career too if you want to pursue dancing as a career then you will have to go with formal training. 

Nothing will happen without that. Yes, people learn through many platforms like YouTube but live sessions of training are very helpful and it is important to know about some things from your teacher.

6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring artists?

The advice that I would like to give is to never give up and continue your training. These are the two most important things to remember. Because the strength of never giving up makes you a successful artist and training is always necessary. 

Even after you become a very successful artist, you will always need training. When you stop practising, you stop your growth. Learning is needed throughout your lifetime. So, keep practising, keep training, and never give up.

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

Generally, I don't read much. I don't have much interest in reading. Usually, I do dance. I spend my whole day dancing. Books were never my friend and I never find them interesting so I can't name any book that is my favourite.

Interview by - Kriti