A New Venture – @PraveenaUK

It was common belief amongst most people that I enjoyed dancing a lot hence I took part in several dance shows and competitions. This was not enough for me. I wanted everyone to realise dance for me is more than just a hobby, a workout or a social activity. I see it as a culture, language and religion of its own. I find it an extremely powerful tool to communicate with. Every movement should convey an emotion. Every stance should have a reason for existing. Additionally, I wanted dance to give me a professional standing in the same way my education currently is.

This motivation is what pushed me to want to take it a step further and showcase my passion for dance to a wider audience. I was very scared to set up a public Instagram account. The thought of everyone being able to view my work scared me. I felt quite comfortable and safe just being where I was with regards to dance, even though deep down I knew I wanted to do more with it. I knew that with a public account solely for dance anyone and everyone can view my work and critique it. That scared me a lot. However, it was at that point that I realised that as an artist, if I cannot take feedback well then what is the point of me even calling myself one. I toughened myself and told myself that any good comments should be taken to my heart and any feedback should be taken to my brain. This way I would feel driven to push myself, and stay focused about what exactly I wanted to achieve with dance. And with this drive was born PraveenaUK.

Only two individuals knew about this before I started it up and those two were the ones who identified the potential in my dance as more than just being about something I share for personal fulfilment. They believed that everyone should see it and appreciate the work I was doing. Therefore, I can imagine that it must have been a bit of a shock for my family and friends when I did start it up because for them it must have been like it came out of nowhere. No actually, PraveenaUK was born from months of contemplation about what I can actually do with dance other than choreograph, perform and teach.

My thoughts about starting up a blog came to me around a month after I had created my public profile. Why? Because I felt that uploading dance covers alone was not enough. I did not feel like I was making a difference to anyone’s way of thinking about dance. Therefore one evening I sat down with a cup of tea and started writing everything I had on my mind about my relationship with dance, and there it all began. It is important for me say at this point that I will not be blogging about dance alone. No. I will blog about anything which makes me think. However, my drive to build my dance portfolio is what initially got me into it, so I will be blogging about dance quite a lot.

PraveenaUK is about my current journey as a dancer. For me, it is more than just about uploading videos of me dancing; I want my blogs about dance to be just as important. Through videos I can showcase that I can dance. Through writing I can showcase why I am a dancer and what dance means to me. The combination of videos and writing is what is making me fulfil my aim of wanting to show people how empowering the arts actually are. I am working on building a side of me which I was scared to explore. Now that I have begun that journey I feel a lot more at peace with myself. And most importantly I feel driven to carry on.

Therefore on that note, I would like to remind you that if you have a desire to do something new and different. Do it. Do not be scared. If it is successful, brilliant. If it is not so, then no worries; it is an opportunity for you to learn. That is what this journey called Life is about.

Advertisement