1. Tell us more about your background and journey.
I am Nikita Goyal, who has done bachelors and master’s in computer science but always has a passion for achiever my dancing dream. I was never able to forget the day, that I joined the dance classes so many times but I never able to complete the training because I got ill. Sometimes my parents do not allow me because they think dancing is not a stable profession but still, I perform as the main lead in my school annual functions in dancing.
Then, I used to dance in my college fest, I participated in dance competitions in my college. I was not able to go further because of not availability of money and coming from middle-class family it was difficult to convince my parents. I always used to think when I will get the time to achieve my dream and my freedom for dancing.
To get my freedom, I thought I have to move out of India because if I stay in India, I will never be able to achieve whatever I want. So, to pursue my dance, I took masters in computer science in the United States. I took dance classes and learn contemporary from the professional trainer for almost one semester. That was not enough for me because I am not able to achieve what I want to learn.
I always want to learn traditional and modern dance form mixture. I always want to get training from Broadway dance centre New York, the dream world of dance. Now, I have completed my masters looking for jobs and pursuing my dance classes in Broadway dance centre virtually to become expert in dancing. I am looking forward to opening my dance studio one day.
2. When did you first decide you wanted to pursue dancing and how did you start?
When I was a kid, I used to dance on almost every song whatever my parents play. Whenever I hear music, I was never able to stop my feet from doing dance and making steps in my heart. I went to kathak classes when I was 7 but I was never able to complete those classes because I got typhoid and my parents never allow me to pursue my dancing dreams.
I used to dance on my own, learning from YouTube and choreographing family wedding. My friends told me the excitement they used to see on my face when talk about dance is unimaginable. Ya, this is how I came to know I want to pursue dancing.
3. Who is your favourite dancer and why?
My favourite dancer is Shakti Mohan. She is Dance India Dance season 3 winner. She has her own dance studio Nritya Shakti studio in Mumbai. I treat as her my mentor. I can relate her journey of becoming a dancer as she came from a middle-class family as I am.
She went to Bombay to study engineering, but she took dance training from the famously known dance Terrence Sir. I always want to get the training of the dance from her. She inspired me to achieve my dreams no matter whatever happened.
4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a dancer?
There are a lot of opportunities that one can get: showcase your dance on social media so it gets noticed by a famous artist in the industry. Create your own dance channel where you teach dance. Try to get in reality shows where you can showcase your talent and people will appreciate it.
Moreover, you can open your own dance studio. There is a lot of competition in the dancing field, we dancers look for only one opportunity that can take us to our dreams.
5. Is format training required or can one train themselves purely on the basis of talent?
The formal training is not essential but if you have the training of the dancing, it is better because by practising and by learning from the expert artist, your dancing skills become more precise, disciplined and look graceful. Without training, If you have enough passion for dance or you have a git of art then only you can survive.
6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring artists?
My piece of advice would be: whatever you do, even the small step in the dance, try to put all your mind and heart in it, because learning different dance forms doesn’t matter, learning only one with full disciplined can give you success because the quality matters the quantity doesn’t matter.
A dancer's dance has the ability to tell beautiful stories through their expressions and dancing. This is the most beautiful thing about doing the dance.
7. Which is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book is ‘How the secret changed my life. Real people. Real Stories’. by Rhonda Byrne. I believe everything in our mind is a magnet. Whatever we believe from a true heart, we always get that whether it is positive or negative. If we attract positive thoughts, we attract all the good things in our life and if we think negative in our thoughts, we attract all negative happenings in our life.
I believe that in any situation either good or bad, our reaction to those situations makes it good or bad. In this book, the author gives real-life stories of the people who have used the secret and get whatever they want in their life. In my experience, I am using the secret in every inch of my life and its working and is taking near to my goals.
Interview by - Sonam
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