Today’s post is from BollyX instructor, Pragyan! Read what this long time dancer has to say about Body Empowerment and how her journey with dance as evolved.

When you do something with perfection they say, “It runs in the family”. For me it not only runs in my family but it RUSHES through my blood. My mother, Rajlaxmi, used to be a great dancer and a super athlete. While my elder sister absorded the athletic genetics, I happily succumbed to the traits of dancing, making my mother happy on both fronts.

She would proudly ask me to perform in front of guests to Madhuri’s Ek Do Teen when I was 5 years old and give me corrections and improvements on my steps and expressions later on.

I started to learn Martial Arts and Oddissi (classical dance from Orissa, India), but soon my lungs were captured by asthma, putting a halt to my spurring
activities. But my feet never stopped. My youngest Aunt Bijaya Laxmi, an excellent Bhangra performer, started teaching me Bhangra when I was 11 years old. Thanks to her and her dancing skills, I continued to dance throughout my childhood. I was a hardcore performer and choreographer throughout my academics and I danced Bhangra like no Punjabi did.

I was madly passionate about dance. I still remember those flaming eyes of my Father when I mentioned it to him about joining Shiamak Davar’s school in Mumbai and I never dared to mention it again. For him, studies came first. I moved onto pursue my education and started working. I then got married and then my world revolved around my son – those tiny hands and feet left my heart and soul mesmerized. I loved being a mother and I never realized that dance had become a faded part of my life.

I moved with my family from India to California in 2012. Till the year 2016 I was a full time mother and wife. While being a house wife and running around the home, my body got layers of jellies and bellies.

It wasn’t until I witnessed some ladies preparing for a dance event that my nerves started tickling me saying,”Go girl, teach them how to swag out”. Dance came back into my life and I started teaching dance to a group of friends. I named my class, “Bang Bang” and started teaching kids too. But by some stroke of luck, my family moved to Arizona.

I discovered BollyX through posts on Facebook. The strong presence of Bhangra in BollyX urged me to go for it and I’m so happy and lucky that I did. My husband Abhishek became a driving force behind starting my journey of dance again and I became one of the first BollyX instructors in Arizona! BollyX has reignited my passion again.

Being an instructor is great because you have the chance to inspire others. My body feels not only fit, but I feel more powerful and vigorous. That 50 minutes of dancing to my favorite songs makes me happy and thrilled. Some of friends said me,”You need to get stronger and healthier if you want to dance”. But I am thankful to BollyX for embracing me and proving that “You get stronger and healthier when you begin to dance”.

Today, I am a BollyX Rockstar because it REKINDLES MY PASSION!!!!!