
Meet the Artist | Parbati Chaudhury

In her own words…

I graduated in August 2012, and then took around six months to consider part-time career options related to my degree (BSc Biomedical Sciences), since I was aware that dancing full-time was going to be tough financially, especially in the beginning. However, I soon realised that it was going to be a compromise on all fronts unless I committed to one career path fully, and chose dance.
I also started assisting Urja Desai Thakore (my Kathak tutor) in her Kathak classes.
In doing so, I have since been involved in various initiatives such as the peer mentoring at Chelsea & Westminster Performance and Patient Engagement Progamme, workshop leading for the Camden Schools Dance Festival (2014 & 2016), Sportivate (June-July 2014) and Spotlight (October-December 2014).
I believed that once organisations like Akademi (which has been a vital link to the wider dance sector) and Urja knew that I was serious about dance, I would be considered more seriously and that was the case. One such opportunity was being selected for the R&D stage of Urja’s Pagrav Dance Company production, Detox, which went on to being presented as part of Akademi’s CHOREOGATA in February 2014. This whole production process involved grasping contemporary dance technique, which has helped me to start incorporating different dynamics to my dance practice too. Nina Head at Akademi was particularly encouraging after the CHOREOGATA performances and commended me on having taken myself out of my comfort zone.
