Once Albert Einstein said, “We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.” This quote aptly fits on the ex-journalist Prachi Jawadekar Wagh who is now a classical dance teacher.
Prachi was a journalism student and worked more than eight years in the journalism field. She is now a Kathak dance teacher at Chhandam Nritya Bharti in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Prachi completed her graduation from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce, Mumbai, and then a Masters's in Mass Communication from Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune.
In a talk with CitySpidey, Prachi shared, “I started learning Kathak when I was 12 years old but it did not continue for too long. It continued just for 2 years under Archana Joglekar. Then I stopped. When I completed my graduation in mass communication, I joined Aaj Tak and then I joined NDTV, so I had a nice and enriching career as a journalist for about eight to nine years.”
She then became a professional Kathak dancer. She said, “Towards the end of eight years, I had actually started learning Kathak again with my Guruji Pandit Chitresh Das. I always wanted to get back to doing Kathak but it was not working out with my work schedule.”
“So in 2010, I decided to take it seriously and make it a priority to restart and learn again. I was very lucky to find the right guru. Pandit Chitresh Das and Seema Mehta were my guru, who made it possible for me to work and have a family. They helped me to continue my training and my studies simultaneously. Then as time went by, I realised that this is really my passion. From 2017, I am teaching at the same institute where I studied Chhandam Nritya Bharti,” she added.
Prachi said, “Classical dance can not be a time pass hobby. If you really want to do it then you have to devote yourself to the art form.” Prachi dropped journalism and took a risk without knowing whether she will be successful or not. The love for dancing helped her in taking that risk.
“My husband also supports me a lot. He always said, don't think too much. If you think that you are made for your passion then you should definitely do it and then success will automatically come towards you,” she said.
She continued, “Dance is a very very important tool in our life. I feel what I do today is very meaningful. It is a spiritual exercise to teach classical dance. It also gives you a focus and discipline in your life. I also see positive changes in the life of other people who are associated with dance. They automatically learn to be more disciplined in whatever they are doing. They learn to value mental and physical health and fitness.” According to Prachi, dance is a beautiful gift of our tradition as it improves our mental and physical health.
April 29 is celebrated as World International Dance Day. On this day, we celebrate the spirit of dance and also appreciate this beautiful art form. It was founded by the Dance Committee of ITI, UNESCO, a partner for the performing arts. This day also marks the birthday of the creator of modern ballet, Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810).
It is celebrated to raise awareness about the benefits of dance. On this International Dance Day, Prachi said, “In the present scenario, you don’t have a stage or audience around you. It is important time to work on your weaknesses and practice to overcome them.”
